ATV Vacations
Apologies to Willie, Waylon and the Boys! I know they couldn’t wait to “…get on the road again”, but I don’t know if any of those guys were ever all-terrain vehicle Off Roaders. They would have loved it!
For dedicated riders, it’s hard to imagine Northern Mane’s thousands of miles of dedicated trails! (They double as snowmobile trails come winter). With so many that go on and on for so long, it naturally raises the enticing question: Why not ATV in Northern Maine?
If you’re already into the excitement and (occasionally messy) fun of off-roading, the season just opened and those trails have your name on all of them!
Personally, I was first attracted to ATV Vacations after buying our first 2 Suzuki Quaad Runners in the mid-1980s for fun and chores on some mountain land we owned. Some friends were already into it, even then!
A group heading out from our Camp Katahdin -an ATV lodge in Northern Maine
They’d trailer their Quads behind their motor home and head out west to a friendly park. Using the motor home as their base, they’d wander the hills and valleys, fish the lakes, camp out and just have a helluva time! Now they have Camp Katahdin on their Next Adventure list!
Over the years, we’ve gone from Suzuki to Kawasaki to Polaris to Honda. Frankly, we’ve never owned a bad one! As the machines became more sophisticated, we moved up to Electric Start to “automatic” transmission to Selective 2WD/4WD to power steering and lots of other goodies.
One thing we realized we could not do without: a winch! all-terrain vehicles are All. Terrain. Vehicles. But there will always be that ginormous mud puddle, snow drift or Dismal Swamp that leaves you no other choice than a good pull! And besides, Friends Don’t Let Friends Get Stuck! When your plans call for an all-terrain vehicle, spend the few extra bux for a good winch. If you already have an ATV or UTV but no winch and you’re planning an all-terrain vehicles Vacation, make it your next move before you leave. You can thank me later!
A group of ATV riders stop at our shooting range for some target practice before they hit the trails.
Before you hit the road…
Or rather leave the road – get to know your new friend. There is actually little significant difference in one from another. Ground clearance, instrument layout, and seat size/comfort pretty much cover the variables. You want to be able to safely control your machine when the “highway” stays behind. Learn the basics about turning and limits to climbing.
All-terrain vehicles are great, powerful and versatile but even with 4WD, they generally don’t do vertical stream banks well. In 1991, I received a set of drenched hunting clothes and a heaping helping of embarrassment back at the camp after my ATV “hunting partner” showed what it could not do taking on the bank of a roaring stream on the way to my deer stand.
Actually, it made the 90 degrees straight up the bank – right to the point when I slid off the seat and backwards into the aforementioned stream. Indelible Lesson Learned!
ATV Vacations bring you Independence!
With 4WD, there are very few places you won’t be able to go, even under less-than-ideal conditions*. And with literally thousands of miles of those Maine trails, you’ll want to go everywhere on all of them! As a novice, take some “fam tours” (familiarity tours) in the tamer confines of Camp Katahdin to get a real-time sense of what you’ll be finding on the trails.
A Camp Katahdin ATV group heads towards some local trails, passing Mt. Chase in the distance.
More good news:
If you find this all very exciting (you should – it is!), but you haven’t wrapped yourself around your own all-terrain vehicle yet, Camp Katahdin’s all inclusive pacakges have got’cha covered with fine Polaris machines on the premises!
Even if your ATV Vacation isn’t All ATV at first, a few trips around Camp Katahdin and around the little town of Patten, Maine, will have you at your local all-terrain vehicle dealership pronto and back for your all-terrain vehicle Adventure on all those trails! (By the way, all of Camp Katahdin’s all-terrain vehicles have winches!)
Pictured: Denney Lodge sleeps 15 at Camp Katahdin
If you’re an experienced Off-Roader, check the Camp Katahdin web site. Listen to my conversation with Nate Humphrey about ATV Season. And pay a visit the Patten ATV Club web site.
You can also click right here to find out more about available dates are rates:
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Unfortunately, poet Robert Frost left us a few years before all-terrain vehicles hit the market. But, unknowingly, he captured the essence of the Off-Road adventure:
No doubt!
Take an ATV vacation! It will be the first of many!
*Note: Private Property and road use laws still prevail – even in the Maine woods.
Pictured: Living area in Denney Lodge. The lodge also has a chef’s kitchen, a boardroom, and more- new and top of the line everything!
Have questions about rates or availability? Your best bet is to give us a quick call at 800-621-8203 or write us a note by clicking here:
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