Northern Forest Canoe Trail

PO Box 565, Waitsfield, VT 05673
802-496-2285
info@northernforestcanoetrail.org
www.northernforestcanoetrail.org
Trail Overview:
Incorporated in 2000, the Northern Forest Canoe Trail
is a non-profit, membership organization whose
mission is to
celebrate the rich human heritage
and diverse natural environment of the Northern
Forest by establishing and stewarding a water trail
tracing historic Native American travel routes
across New York, Vermont, Québec, New Hampshire,
and Maine.
The idea for the Trail was born in the
1990’s
when Native Trails, Inc. researched the traditional
east-west water routes used by Native Americans and
early settlers in the Northern Forest Region. The
Northern Forest Canoe Trail organization was formed
as a way to translate this route research into a
recreational, community, and regional resource. From
the outset, the Northern Forest Canoe Trail has distinguished
itself as a can-do, action-oriented non-profit, committed
to making the Trail accessible for recreation, expressive
of regional culture and heritage, and meaningful
in very concrete ways to the local communities through
which it passes.
2006 was a milestone year for NFCT,
with the completion of our map series, the publication
of our first book, and a wonderful burst of media attention,
including a Sunday
New York Times article (9/10/06) that
observed that the Trail “may be the most important
thing to happen to the northern eco-tourism trade since
the invention of gorp.”
In 2007, our focus is
on effective delivery of our mission. We have designed
three program areas that our small staff coordinates
with more than 300 volunteers along the length of
the Trail: