The Northern Forest Canoe Trail has a new, updated guidebook.
Officials with the Northern Forest Canoe Trail recently announced they have published the second edition of the trail’s official guidebook, the first revision since the publication of the first guidebook 15 years ago.
Completed in 2006, the Northern Forest Canoe Trail is a 740-mile water trail from Old Forge, New York to Fort Kent, Maine. The trail follows traditional travel routes used by Native Americans, settlers, and guides. It is the longest inland water trail in the United States.
The new installment of the trail’s guidebook features color photos submitted by professional photographers and NFCT paddlers, new GPS coordinates for all access points, 10 new recommended trips to help visitors sample sections of the trail, and a more user-friendly breakdown of the entire trail by section, separating trail history and local information from navigational details.
The new guidebook describes the route’s variety of flat water, swift water, and whitewater, and includes details about put-ins, take-outs, portage trails, campsites, and more.
Katina Daanen is the guidebook’s lead author and editor, with support from NFCT staff, volunteers and paddlers. Daanen is a dedicated two-time NFCT thru-paddler, one of fewer than 200 people documented to complete the full distance since the trail’s inception in 2006, and one of the few women known to have completed it solo. She is also the author of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail Through-Paddler’s Companion.
“Over the years, the official NFCT maps have continued to be revised to best reflect changes to the trail, whereas the guidebook only received minimal updates,” said Daanen. “The second edition is better aligned with the trail maps, the NFCT Trip Planner and the FarOut App — the latter two having not existed when the book was originally published.”
The second edition guidebook is available for purchase on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail website.