Northern Outdoors Review

Amazing nice cabins great rafting John was an amazing guide

Everything was well run and the guides had a bunch of great personalities. I'll be back for the Penobscot.

We stayed at one of the large cabins and did the white water rafting. It was a blast! Our guide was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. He obviously knew what he was doing and loved his job . He was energetic and fun loving and wanted us to enjoy ourselves. At the same time he educated us on how to raft safely and following the rules was paramount. It is a very well run, efficient program. The meal served at the end was excellent and ended our day nicely. Our cabin was basic but perfect for a larger number of people and cooking meals in house. I would recommend this company and especially the raft guides 100%. Tony was our guide and he was terrific!! I would go back again and again if I could.

I stayed here in what they call a Logdominiums (condo like) for 4 nights in March 2018 to snowmobile. Everyone here was friendly and a pleasure to deal with. Our room had radiant heating which works pretty well once it gets up to temp, but not great if you have damp/gear your looking to dry out. Other notes: room was clean, food is average, no cell service, wifi available in the lodge, great ITS trail access from the property, lots of parking for trailers. I would stay here again if I decide to sled from the Forks, ME. My only compliant was the noticeable displeasure one of the male employees showed when someone in my party asked them to get the fire going again. In our defense it was around dinner time and there were people sitting around the fireplace that thanked us for asking.

We had an amazing rafting trip. The guides take amazing care of their guests. We stayed in one of the cabins. It was cute, quaint, and comfortable. Plus, the food in the lounge and on the rafting trip, was incredible!

Great rafting company and the lodge is very nice. They brew their own beer, it's very good and made on site. The cabins are good, nice bedding and lots of hot water. Bring your own shampoo and soap though.

Awesome place! Direct access to the trail system! Clean cabins!

A turnkey operation from start-to-finish. Northern Outdoors made our white-water rafting trip down the Kennebec River a true joy and we didn't have to do anything other than show-up. Great fun!

Me and my dad ride snowmobile to this place and eat then ride back to bingham it's a great ride and it's an awesome spot to stop!

Were too start...7-14-18 Man trip with 4 United States Marine Veterans. Absolutely thrilling! We stayed at Abol Campground which Northern outdoors partners with and rafted the Penobscot River. We stayed in a bunk house, fits 6 comfortably and very clean. Everyone is very friendly unlike most places you go these days. If you choose to get a bunk house breakfast is included(nothing special but does the job to start your day right). We were blessed to have Todd as our Guide, Highly recommended (asking for him). Although I would love to tell you how great Todd was as a professional and has over 20 years experience, all of Northern Outdoors guide's did a great job that day. We were worried at first because we were the only group with 4 but they told us by only having 4 we would get to move a little more freely. They were absolutely right, we were able to do the wildest surfing on rapids I did not think was evan possible. The sights were amazing and this river is WORTH THE DRIVE! Overall if your looking for an adrenaline filled weekend check this place out. Also, we did the Kinnebbec during a turbine test in June 2015 with Northern Outdoors and that river does not have anything on the Penobscot without a turbine test. Lastly, we do thank Northern Outdoors for providing us with a great time and would not recommend any other rafting company out there. P.S If you are a hiker make sure to reserve one day of hiking Mt. Katahdin, I wasnt able too but am returning next year for a double dose. ENJOY!!

July 23. Did the Kennebec. Gorgeous outdoors. Loved loved our rafting guide Dana. Very knowledgeable and felt safe. He made the complete package!!!!

This place is amazing! I definetly recommend it! The employee Emily was very sweet. I kindly asked for another pillow. She said she will check down stairs and she did. There was none down there so she told me she would go to the other building to get one. She walked maybe about 10 minutes to go get me a pillow!!!! Thank you so much Emily!!

Great place to grab a bite, friendly staff clean and inviting enviromint and some of the best tasting beers in the United States

Fun experience, and really great guides. We rented an ATV from here and its a great experience.

Booked a room , average price for the area, The room was sadly below expectations. Super hard bed, just very old and neglected. Have stayed in the cabins in the past. Cabins great, rooms above the lodge not so much. Is a window that opens to much to ask for, for 200 a night? Friendly staff, great lodge.

Very clean cabins, restaurant nice popular menu and good foods, try their maccatoni and cheese with the lobster meat it "delicious"
Went rafting which was very safe and very professional guides, lots of fun
ATV trip was a special experience too

Great spot! I enjoyed staying 1 night in the camp tents and going white water rafting the next day. I wanted to do the ATVs but unfortunately they were booked for the day with a large group. The camping was beautiful and I was the only one there! The tents are petty nice, a little dusty but, hey, it's roughin it. If I wasn't the only one there I think I would say the site are a little close together. The white water rafting was fun. Our guide was awesome and the equipment was good. The lodge was cozy and a great finish to the end of the day. They had decent food, good beer and a hot tub!

We all had a great time. The staff was friendly and extremely knowledgeable. Definitely take the Whitewater trip.

Well, this was the 7th time that my wife and I rafted with Northern Outdoors, and the 5th time that we rafted the Penobscot, and as usual, we had a blast!

We had a crowd of 14 people (some return rafters, some newbies...) and everyone had a great time, and are looking forward to next year's trip. Great job by guides Term and Todd too!

This was the 4th year in a row that Term was our guide. We ask for him every year and we will be requesting him and Todd for next year as well. As long as the Mayans are wrong, we'll be back, and hopefully we'll bring more people! ;)

Scott W
Westboro, Massachusetts

Rating: 5 *****

Whether or not you are going to like Northern really depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a basecamp while hunting or fishing there are a number of options in the area and Northern probably wouldn't be my first choice. If you are looking for a younger scene for off-roading, rafting, and the bar scene then it is a great choice. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful and they were a pleasure to interact with. I held a group function there and everyone had a great deal of fun.

Christine was great and helped guide us to some awesome spots in the rapids. At first, was thinking the wet suit rental was a bit much for this time of year, but the wind toward the end validated our choice. The boat with a group who chose not to rent any wet suit look quite miserable!

Northern Outdoors relentlessly offers a fabulous whitewater rafting experience. From the registration process to the day of rafting trip, I can't recommend Northern Outddors enough. This is my sixth time traveling down the Penobscot with them and it simply gets better each year! They are sublime!

Great beer, really friendly and professional guides, delicious lunch on the river, hot tub after the trip was fantastic. Overall, it was a really nice way to spend a day in and around The Forks, Maine.

Fun whitewater rafting for the whole family (ages 11-41). We enjoyed our stay in the cabin tents as well. Highly recommend you choose Northern Outdoors for your outdoor adventure!

Amazing time. Great experience on the river the staff and guides where very friendly. The cabin was great plenty of room for all of us.

Went here on a whim to check out a new brewery for the Maine Beer Trail. I live in Monson so it wasn't that far. Great beer, and the burger I had was delicious!

Great place for snowmobiling, white water rafting and ATVing! My husband, myself and our 13-year old granddaughter love it here!

Love the wings, cabins are clean, people are friendly

It was a nice place to stay while hiking the AT, free shuttle and they let hikes use facilities for free. Hot tub!

My friends took me here for the weekend for my bachelor party. We had an absolute blast. The staff felt like friends you have known for years. The cabin was perfect, beds were comfortable. The rafting experience was the perfect mix of adrenaline and fun. Food was delicious, as were the beers from their brewery. Can't wait to go back!

The owner can shove off. I bought a room and was in the hot tub and she had me kicked out because she had saw me earlier in the day around 3 and saw me in the hot tub at 8 and I was obviously too drunk after drinking three Coors. Paid good money to stay in their rooms, I won't recommend this place to anyone.

it's was fun!
It was an amazing experience. I would definitely go back and do it again.
It was one the best experience.

The restaurant location is looking very nice. The food was delicious.

Amazing people, know how to have a good time, have great beer, and all safe, so get out and raft!

Fun place...Great place to relax after a day on the river!

Great place to stop and eat when taking a break from the outdoors

Restaurant Review-

Got there last night with some friends from out of state who were renting a camp on parlin pond. They had their 9 month old son with them we got seated around 645 got our first round of drinks then placed our food order....WAITED AN HOUR AND 20 MIN for our food which came out cold. Very disappointed after a $150 Bill. We were only offered 2 beers in 2 hours. I'm in the area frequently and sad to say we wont be going back anytime soon. I was bragging how good the beer was to my friend to be let down.

Had my bachelor party here 7/26 - 7/29 and it was just simply balls to the walls awesome. There was 7 of us, most came up in my fathers 35' RV, we chose the wilderness campsite so we could rage at all hours and not be disturbed by people looking for peace and quiet, great decision! The Wilderness site is about a qtr mile from the main campground and Lodge, which was fine because we would all pile into my buddys pickup and go back and forth. The site was basically a huge field with multiple sites laid right next to the Kennebec River so it was BEAUTIFUL! Def. bring mosquito and bug deterrent (obviously) Not once did any staff member come to check on us which we loved (nothings worse than feeling monitored) RV site had electric hookups which was great for my father so he could relax away from us party animals.

The lodge is fantastic, corn hole tournaments, awesome bar with GREAT craft beer! They brew their own beer at the lodge downstairs, it is very delicious. We dined at the lodge our first night after 7+ hours of driving we didn't feel like cooking. Food was A+!!!!!

The rafting was very cool, we were a rowdy group to say the least, the guide was very chill and laid back as we wrestled inside the raft trying to throw each other out of the raft even in the middle of rapids (which one of my groomsmen succeeded in doing so with me, it was a rush!) Hitting each other with our paddles, the guide couldn't have been better. Older guides would have screamed at us several times, def. made the experience very memorable letting us bicker amongst ourselves and have fun!

It's a total hipster ran place which makes it totally chill, we are by no means hipsters but being around hipsters is never a bad time. Everyone who worked there was cool and relaxed. Not a single complaint!

Shower house was clean and water was hot. Def bring gear and supplies, if you run out you're screwed, its about 45 minutes to the closest market of any kind.

You're cell phone WILL NOT WORK here!!!!! The wifi in the Lodge is REALLY strong so you can make calls in the lodge once connected, don't expect to be on your Facebook if you're camping, you will be disappointed.

Awesome campground! We are doing the Penobscot next year and hopefuly we find a campground as solid as this for that trip (Northern's campground at Penobscot doesn't have electric RV hookups so we can't stay there unfortunately but will use them for the rafting for sure!)

Thanks for making my big weekend everything I envisioned it being Northern Outdoors!

I got half rack of ribs they were a terrible cut of meat but the drinks were strong and my girlfriend loved her food

My experience was with some of My Brothers from The Wounded Warrior Project on September 20th-24th. There are so many different activities to do at Northern Outdoors that will fulfill your day easily. Our Guides at Northern Outdoors were Brandi, Luke and Parker joined us for a bit. And there's one more employee I'd like to mention and that's Charlie who works in the Restaurant at Northern Outdoors main Lodge. The employees I just spoke of were (THE BEST) hands down and I'd like to Thank them for the greatest life experience and achievements I and my Battle Buddies could ask for. Thanks again............

My wife and I went to Northern Outdoors to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary. We just wanted to spend a few days by ourselves in a remote cabin and we got exactly what we were looking for at NO.

We asked for and received the cabin farthest away from the main lodge. We had 3 days of undisturbed solitude and privacy. We weren t looking to go rafting or anything else they offer. Just time to ourselves.

The cabin is well maintained and furnished with all the cooking necessities and very cozy, clean and comfortable. There s a small fridge and stove to cook and a large microwave oven. The TV is connected to a satellite dish and we were able to watch the Sox playoff games (they won!) as well as watch some movies. We enjoyed one each of a breakfast, lunch and dinner in the main restaurant and the food, service and ambiance were wonderful.

All the folks we dealt with, from Brandi who checked us in to the servers and bartenders, were friendly, helpful and courteous beyond belief.

We plan on making Northern Outdoors our go to destination from now on and more than once a year!!

A big Thank You to all the staff at Northern Outdoors!!

Went white water rafting and hiking here, was a great way to spend my vacation with my friends! Staff was very friendly and accommodating, and the hot tub was splendidly relaxing

A beautiful location and absolutely fun experience white water rafting

Awesome time! My wife and I rafted the kennabeck river! Our tour guide Jay was awesome! He was experianced and fun to raft with! He deserves a raise! The food they cook for you on the river was delicious and the dinner we had at the facility was great as well! We will consider staying in one fb their cabins on out next trip up!

We had the most wonderful time rafting with Northern Outdoors! They accommodated our very large group who was there for a wedding with no problem. Or guide, Ashley, was amazing. She made the trip so much fun and did a great job navigating us on the river. I truly cannot say enough good things about our experience!

Perfect other than the bathrooms meant for the tent sites. Cabins are fantastic, staff is hilarious and welcoming, extremely fun.

Ate dinner and breakfast here. Camped in the tent cabins by the river. Rafted one day. Overall impression was that the organization was very well run. Safety on the river was exceptional (as was the shore lunch). Raft guides had great personalities and were very competent. Took my 11 yr old daughter for her first time ever and never had a worry. The restaurant food was better than I would have expected for an outfit like this. I can see why this operation seems to dominate the river rafting industry in the Forks. There were very many people who had rafted multiple times with this outfit.

The lodge is a fun place to eat and enjoy yourself. The utilities are a bit neglected but camp sites are easy to get to and spacious.

Awesome place. Great family destination or simply for a stop between Jackman and Skowhegan! Great Craft beers, cool menu, great accomodation. The central pavillion is great with all the amenities. Became a must stop for us with young kids on the 5h drive to Maine beaches...

Stayed at RV site two nights while on a rafting trip. Had a great time. Sites are very basic but they work. Facility at the lodge is good but they could use an extra staff person or two in the restaurant during busy times. Would go back again.

We stayed in a cabin next to the river. The view and calming atmosphere was wonderful. There was no Wifi in the cabin just at the main lodge. I wanted to "get away", but this bothered 1 son. The food at the lodge was pretty good. They had ATV rentals on premises which was a big plus. We are thinking about returning next year. It was a good "home base" to begin exploration of the region.

A little crazy. Nice comfortable seats to enjoy a beer in

Cozy cabins are very small and do not have AC. Also, pricey for what you get.

Great time!! Brought my boys 12&16 they had a blast!! Went during the week so payed half price...all around great experience!! We'll be back next year

The staff at Northern Outdoors certainly take care of you, from the people at the front desk, to the wait staff and cooks, right down to the guys who operate the groomers. The trails around the Forks area, are by far the best anywhere up in the Moose Head region, thanks to these guys from Northern Outdoors.

We came up and rode 2 times this past season, and we always have a great time, and we all say we can't wait to return next time!

Had fun rafting, chilling out in the hot tub, and exploring. Good food and great people!

My friends and I had an awesome time on the river. The guides were super nice and knowledgable. And the booking process was easy, friendly and personable. Definitely recommend!!!

We brought a bachelor party up for a weekend, and had a blast. The lodge rooms were clean, but are right above the bar, so they can be noisy. (We were warned of this when we made the reservation, but it wasn't an issue for our group.)

Beer and food at the restaurant was good, and the rafting was awesome. Our guide, Erica, was really knowledgable about the area, and did a fantastic job.

If you are outdoorsy and won't miss the internet/cell phone service, this is a great resort for you. The only place I had a signal was in the central lobby cabin, where they serve food. The staff is warm, friendly, helpful, and accommodating, especially for the large group I was with. It's a very rustic vibe, and there is very little around the area, except for lakes and scenic views. The rafting trip most of my group went on was raved about and the hot tub was exceedingly large. Great rates for the cabin, although I found the ATV-ing to be on the more expensive side.

The chicken in this place is absolutely fantastic but the cranberry barbecue sauce isn't a favorite of mine, the atmosphere of this place is great but I wish the barbecue sauce was just a little bit better

Just got back from trip planned with 12 of us, most first timers to rafting. Had the best experience with Ashley and Victor, fantastic guides made us feel safe throughout entire trip...northern outdoors made planning this trip easy, very well organized.. Will be doing again!!! Thank you for great trip from the MICU nurses!!!!!

I had a frozen suspension on my snowmobile and the staff at the front desk did everything they could to help me get it thawed out. Excellent customer service. The room was great. We were in the lodge above the bar area and it was surprisingly quiet even with the bar below. This was a great experience and we will be back.

We did the river float kayak experience. It was fun floating the Kinnebec River in an inflatable kayak. The river is pretty calm with a few areas of low level rapids. I would say the experience would be good for beginning kayakers. It was not stressful at all.

Loved the area and especially the dark skies for my stargazing hobby.

Awsome great food great cabins bad fly issue and alot of money and very good home made bluberry soda

Excellent food and they serve beer and ale from a local brewery.

Great accommodations for groups, incredibly friendly and knowledgeable staff, and a nice multi use lodge. Rafting trips are coordinated, controlled, and fun.