Fort Kent: Your Next
Snowbound Adventure
by Skyla Hamilton
Fort Kent is the gateway to your next
adventure that can take you anywhere. Leave it
all behind and get deep in the surrounding area in
and around the St. John Valley. Take in the aweinspiring scenery when you are snowmobiling
through the endless trail network or off trail, from
here you can go anywhere.
In the St. John Valley the snow is
accumulating at a rapid rate and all of the snowbirds
have already flown south. Now it is time for all of
the hearty snow-loving people to come up north to
play. Naturally being located less than halfway to
the North Pole, we in Fort Kent are blessed with
guaranteed snow even when other surrounding
areas are bare. We have been eagerly awaiting the
arrival of all of the skiers, snowshoers, ice fishermen
and women and snowmobilers.
Many of our volunteer trail crews have been
hard at work getting all of the trails prepared for
the grooming of the season. Bush hogging has
been completed and downed limbs and logs have
been removed so that safe enjoyable riding can be
enjoyed by all through the pristine forests, fields,
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WINTER 2013
and lakes of the Saint John Valley. There are over
2,300 miles of clearly marked groomed trails just
waiting for the novice to the extreme snowmobiler
to make their mark across the untouched tracks of
northern Maine.
We will not deny the fact that for our
southern Maine and New England riders it
is a drive; however, once in Fort Kent it will be
the destination of a lifetime. There are many
advantages to snowmobiling up and around the
northern most portion of Maine. The season lasts
longer than most due to the amount of snow and
the location lattitudinally. Many years our season
has extended past April 1. Fort Kent grooms its
trails which extend into towns such as St. Francis,
Ashland, Eagle Lake, and Canada to mention
a few. There are many extensive trail networks
which receive less traffic in comparison to other
locations “downstate”, as we say up here. There
are fewer accidents and the trails remain in better
shape because of the moderate use and impeccable
volunteer run grooming. There are two twentyfour hour gas stations located within the town