We can all agree that your team could use some time outdoors, relaxing, having fun, and bonding. Here are a few corproate retreat ideas you might consider when planning your next group event. This works for any unique group of people who want to get away, bond & have some fun.
Corporate Retreat Ideas
1. Challenge
Present your team with a physical challenge and the adrenalin they feel will do wonders for camaraderie and bond them together with a memory they will never forget. Listen below to find out how Camp Katahdin groups encounter a specific four-wheel challenge called Killer Hill.
2. Blow off some steam
Step out of the office and feel the stress leave your body. Now, add an element of fun and bingo! Your team is suddenly all the way decompressed and ready to engage. What better way to blow off steam than shooting a gun? Keep reading to find out how our shooting pavilion is the perfect safe and fun environment for your next group activity.
3. Recharge
If you’re wanting to recharge your guests, the food better be good. After a day of adrenaline pumping adventures, you’ll want to keep your guests going with food, a comfortable place to relax, and maybe a few shenanigans for fun. Definitely listen to our latest podcast below for a quick idea of how we do food, shenanigans and campfire fun at Camp Katahdin.
Hey by the way, we are expert corporate retreaters. We wrote a free guide to help you get started on planning your next event. Click this image to read more:
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Our corporate retreats, family events, weddings, mancations, gal’s getaways, and executive teams come away rejuvenated and bonded with fond memories. Listen to our podcast or read the transcript below as we describe the secrets to our successful corporate retreats and unique group events.
Here’s a quick podcast with our favorite Nate Humphrey and Brian Wilson.
Scroll through our group event pics below while you listen:
Check out our free guide available for immediate download. Click here:
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Podcast Transcript
Brian Wilson: Hey there Brian Wilson with another one of our series chat fests about your next adventure in Northern Maine. Nate Humphrey, head honcho and outdoor authority with Camp Katahdin in Patten, Maine is back with us once again, this time with 3 killer ideas for your next corporate retreat.
Nate we’ve talked some about a great concept of a corporate retreat at Camp Katahdin. Why don’t we spec out say 3 of those? Since your right in the heart of Maine’s notorious ATV Trail Riding Season, how about telling us about how those hundreds of miles of ATV trails, especially the infamous Killer Hill that you referenced a couple of conversations ago, and how perfect that is for the team building aspect of the corporate retreat?
Camp Katahdin group on their way for a long four-wheel trail ride.
Nate Humphrey: Not only are we in the heart but we’re in the prime of the season to call us today. I mean literally we can get you going next week. We are right in the middle of the season and trails have dried out a little. So, bring your goggles with you or a helmet, to keep the dust out.
But you know the trails are in full swing. The clubs are doing a great job up there keeping the trails groomed, cleared and smooth and the signage is up and it’s well marked. And the opportunities are endless on the ATVs and ATV Vacations. And I believe you just mentioned the Killer Hill, did you?
Camp Katahdin ATV group
Brian Wilson: Yeah. Well you mentioned it. I’m not going to take responsibility for that.
Nate Humphrey: Well, Killer Hill is not for the faint of heart and I do have 2 brief stories by a bunch of us who were up there over the holiday Memorial Day and having a good time. And our head chef came out with us on a ride. He had a beautiful Can-AM 1000 4-wheeler and we’re thinking we may have to take the keys away from him. He almost became a casualty of Killer Hill.
And then we were headed up Killer Hill and it rained, a brief rain shower. And now a Polaris ranger, myself, my wife at the wheel captaining the ship and my kids in the back. And well if we didn’t flip the side a little and perhaps get a little bit stuck. So we had fun.
They do call it Killer Hill because you do have to pay attention but it’s… I’ll give you a little secret. It’s not really all that deadly. It looks more intimidating than it actually is but it’s a lot of fun.
Another Camp Katahdin group crossing a bridge. Killer Hill not pictured
Brian Wilson: When I started riding back 20 some odd years ago at some property back in Central Pennsylvania, we had a killer hill or a killer mound. I don’t think it necessarily reached the epic proportions of yours but there had to have been a couple hundred yards and this was a before Suzuki.
I was riding Suzukis at the time or anybody else for that matter provided any sort of automatic transmission. So I’m curious. Is it’s a lot easier now to just hit D and the gas and just keep your wheel’s straight and not have to worry with that little pedal on your left foot?
Nate Humphrey: Well it’s true, very much so. And a lot of the machines have what is called ADC an automatic downhill control. And it’s a version of four-wheel drive that uses an engine break if you will. So you don’t have to use any braking at all. You start down the hill, you let off the gas and you are in 4-wheel drive and it will just slowly decelerate the machine and then climb down over the rocks and the terrain.
In Killer Hill like your hill is probably only a couple hundred yards. It is a single track. You know, only one vehicle can pass at a time. But since it’s also a bypass for people that get to the top or at the bottom so they just don’t want to do it. So there’s a nice, easy trail to go around it.
I have taken hundreds of people down Killer Hill, I haven’t lost anybody yet. The closest was our head chef.
Nate Humphrey: Because Killer Hill is right on the rail road bed which you can use going in to a coming out which has been used going into or coming out of the tunnel Patten. But you can also– once you hop on the railroad bed, you can head south towards Sherman Station and up the Cow Team Road team road and there’s a whole southern section of trails you can get that beautiful view.
Brian Wilson: Do you have a set of rules for conduct and manners for Killer Hill? I’m thinking with respects to the team building within a corporate retreat, would we say for example would pointing and laughing at your boss would that be pretty much a bad idea or are all the gloves off once you get out there in the wild?
Nate Humphrey: Well I guess it depends on the team, and the relationships they’re in. But perhaps I wouldn’t point and laugh but that’s up to you.
Brian Wilson: Well with the ubiquity of cellphones who knows what maybe captured for posterity? I also had a question with respects to helmets and goggles. Does Maine have a helmet law requirement for such adventures?
Nate Humphrey: Less than 18 years old are required to have a helmet, yes. And it’s also a good idea because you know? Some of the trails are single track so there’s trees and the occasional ditch or whatnot. There’s another thing that the helmet does particularly helmet and Goggles. If you’re riding in a group and it gets a little dusty, well it protects you from the dust and the dirt.
Brian Wilson: In our last conversation, we were talking about the ATV season. I got the impression that you actually were kind of proud of your epicurean dust that you fed to those behind you?
Nate Humphrey: Yes. True, true. I like to make a nice gourmet serving of Northern Maine dust.
Brian Wilson: Well it sounds like a great activity getting everybody on a team out there and the challenges for that was the scenery and the cruising. That must be a great thing. Let’s move over to the shooting side. It’s not unusual for corporate retreat venues to have a shooting feature like trap and ski. I’ve seen them around the country.
But Camp Katahdin’s shooting pavilion is way beyond that. How about running down the menu of shooting activities that you have up there Nate and how a corporate retreat would benefit from utilizing them,
One of our Camp Katahdin Groups enjoying themselves on a ride.
Nate Humphrey: Well that’s the great part about our property and thinking about corporate retreats. Mancaptions or even let’s not forget the all-girl getaway. You know the property is great for that from ATV-ing, the snowmobiling, to the shooting, to the mountain biking, to the hiking, or we got it all, really fishing trips. We do stock a couple of types of ponds.
But the shooting pavilion which is located in what I call the battlefield, you know it’s really nice at the pavilion that we built. And it has a spectator area and a shooting area. And we have ranges from a closed-end pistol range out on to about 285 yards is our farthest target away. In that same field but on the other side is where we set up sporting play.
Camp Katahdin Shooting Pavilion
And it’s very informal. It’s a couple of throwers that are remote controlled on the range and so anything from the sporting clays or if you want to go shot gunning to shoot a little bit of a hand gun, to the longer rifle range.
It’s kind of funny as I said there was a group of us up there over the holiday, and then the following weekend, we had a father and son retreat. Just a couple of business associates were out there with their kids and they pull out the pistols start shooting at…we had set up a boards between two other boards about maybe 7 or 8 yards away.
Some sporting sporting clays around the board, right? It’s fun to shoot with your pistol. So these 2 gentlemen break out their 2 pistols and they start shooting and then there was a group of us there watching,
And they’re not hitting anything. And a couple of people kind of looked to me because I was just kind of like getting everybody started and bumping everybody out. And I said, don’t worry, don’t worry. They’re not missing. They’re only firing warning shots. They’re going to start shooting soon.
Of course the group began laughing and that was a good time so.
Brian Wilson: But I have a memory that mentioned in one of our conversations awhile back that you had one or more individuals that were either available or coming on staff who were tactical instructors. So that some real hard core learning and practical application could actually take place while participating in this corporate retreat.
Private instruction for one of our Camp katahdin groups
Nate Humphrey: We do particularly if it’s somebody who to wants to book for a corporate venue, talk to us and we’ll get to know you and see what your wants and needs are. And we can find an instructor that will best suit what you’re looking for from military, law enforcement, traditional NRA civilian. And anything in between. We got a pretty good list of people that we can call upon and draw upon that can offer some very informative and educational classes.
Brian Wilson: You know we always hear the expression at the end of the day. So what about that? The gang has been out on the ATV trails, spent a bunch of time at the range, sporting clay’s maybe do some of that tactical shooting instruction and so on. So it’s time now to kick back and relax.
Now it needs to be put out there that you and your camp Katahdin brethren have a reputation for creating some pretty spectacular ways to do that whole end of the day thing like bonfires, things that go boom. What about that? Confirmed? Deny? What do you think?
Camp katahdin’s Denney Lodge
Nate Humphrey: Well it’s been said that we have made some things go boom. There is a legend around town where we broke a few windows, maybe even a mile or so away. But you know that’s for another day. But no, at the end of the day, definitely you can enjoy a great meal because if it’s a smaller group, 15 or less, the main lodge, Denney Lodge.
If it’s a larger group, you know, we’ll have a tent in the events fields. And then of course in the event field is where we always do the very large bonfires and gather around the bonfire. So storytelling and other shenanigans and definitely is a good time.
It’s really fun when we have kids up there too. Like on a father-son retreate where a family is up there. You get the bonfire going in the field and the kid will start a man hunter game. So where they’ll go hide in the woods with a flash light and seek each other out. It’s a lot fun.
So we’ll put up a few lights and we’ll get a kickball game going something like that. But definitely something for everyone and at the end of the day it’s very relaxing, very enjoyable. And you kind of set the tone for what you want the activities to fire.
And I should announce, breaking news on the construction at the Denney Lodge, we are erecting its very own fire pit for over there too.
Brian Wilson: Wow, when will that be completed?
Nate Humphrey: Well I suspect it will be done within the next couple of weeks. You know it won’t be as big as the bonfires we had in the events fields but it’ll be nice quaint little setting to smaller groups at the lodge.
Brian Wilson: Got you. So you can bring your smaller marshmallows.
Nate Humphrey: Yeah sure. That’s right.
One of Camp Katahdin’s recent group events
Brian Wilson: Yeah, well I got to say getting your people together for team building event with a corporate retreat at Camp Katahdin couldn’t come at a better time or a better place. So for all of you listening, get all of your questions answered. Get your reservations made by getting in touch with the gentleman right there, Nate Humphries. All your contact information is at CampKatahdin.com.
If you’re not the one who can make this happen send a nice, helpful note to your boss at your company special events coordinator with a link to this podcast at CampKatahdin.com. Throw in Nate Humphrey’s contact number which is 800-621-8203 to help your boss overcome their natural inertia. Nate thanks again for your time, thanks for great information. Sounds like a really great time all around.
Nate Humphrey: Always a pleasure and let’s go up north!
Contact Nate Humphrey to check rates and availability here
or call direct: 1-800-621-8203
Thinking about planning a hunting trip? Here’s a free guide on what to expect and what to pack:
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