If you intend paddling the entire length of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail then you’d better start doing your push ups. That’s because the entire 740-mile length of the time honored route is now passable.

This is thanks to Native Trails, a non-profit corporation which began researching the old canoe routes back in 1976. They found that there was still a viable water route connecting the Adirondacks and northern Maine and in the ensuing years they paddled, poled and portaged what was to become the Northern Forest Canoe Trail.

The opening of the trail will enable travelers to fully experience the Northern Forest regions of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Quebec and Maine. It connects or has access to every major drainage in the northeast, and traverses a diversity of waterways, each historically significant to the region’s development.

It should be understood that the NFCT is not a wilderness trail. There are wild areas of great beauty on the route, but much of the trail passes through developed areas. There are no plans to change the nature of the landscape of the NFCT route. Were it not for the towns, mills, working forests and farms along the way the trail could not exist. Hence, only minor clearing of some of the portages has been done.

Paddling the entire NFCT takes about eight weeks and requires all the skills a canoeist can muster. Flatwater, whitewater, portaging, poling, both upriver and down, the traveler will need to handle it all. For those less experienced or lacking time for a complete passage there are many sections of the trail suitable for shorter, less demanding trips.

There are overnight accommodation, including motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, campgrounds and primitive sites, available throughout. For more information visit www.northernforestcanoetrail.org .

Have you tackled any part of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail in the past few years? Tell us about it now at the FlyFish.com Pennsylvania, New York, Northern and Western Jersey Area’s Forum