packraftmaine

03/08/2026

Registration is Open! Link in and bios

Join us for a powerful and joyful day on the water, led by Alejandro Strong, owner of Packraft Maine, and Saige Purser, an experienced Indigenous river guide and educator, and Skowhegan Outdoors. This event is designed to create a welcoming space for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, LGBTQIA Folks, as well as their allies, to connect with rivers, build confidence in whitewater paddling, and reclaim our relationships with land and water through adventure, community, and care. We anre organizing a Community Paddle, an Introduction to Whitewater, and a Paddler Meetup

Community Paddle is an unguided group paddle for intermediate and experienced boaters. This is a chance to meet other paddlers and enjoy a beautiful Class II stretch of the Penobscot from Orono to Veazie.
Introduction to Whitewater is for people looking to try whitewater for the first time, or improve their confidence on the water. We have a group of instructors and safety boaters excited to get people on the water!
Paddler Meetup meet up with other paddlers after paddling to share stories and plan your next paddling trip!
This is a free event to get more people on the water. Don’t have your own gear? No worries, we have boats and paddling gear for people!

Feel free to reach out with questions and ideas!

01/28/2026

Was fun talking with Lizzy Scully about bikerafting, packrafting, and running a guide business.

In episode #16 of The Packrafting Life, Lizzy Scully chats with Packraft Maine's Alejandro Strong about his love of bikerafting, the new route he is establishing across his adopted state, the growth of the sport on the East Coast, the plethora of opportunities to packraft within a few hours of where...

01/18/2026

3 events to get on your calendar for the summer!

This years paddling day will be Sunday July 12th on the Main Stem of the Penobscot (Bangor Area). This is a free event meant to get more people on the water! Reach out with any questions! If you are a paddler who is excited about sharing the joy of Maine whitewater contact or

New for this year, we are partnering with .the.valley and NYC to offer a 1 day BIPOC bikerafting workshop July 16th and a 2 night BIPOC bikerafting trip July 17th-19th. We will be sharing trip details and registration info soon.

12/22/2025

Midge and Hammy packrafting last summer.

It is the day after the solstice and the days are starting to get longer. In these lengthening days at the end of the year, I hope you all have a chance to slow down with people that matter to you. If you have looked through our blog or signed up for our email list you know that I’m not great about regular update. The last of these year in review posts I did was in 2022. Oops! The truth is I am excited to get this out there. Lots of good stuff happened this year and we have some new things planned for next year. Read the rest on our blog, link in Bio!

If you do end up on the website here is a little nudge to visit the Trip Store!

Packraft Passes are available till the end of the year. You can buy day trip or overnight trip passes, saving you considereably on the cost of a trip.

Workshop registration is also on sale till the end of the year.

11/21/2025

2026 Workshops dates are up!

Prices are discounted till the end of 2025. Sign up soon!

Swiftwater Rescue 4/25-26
ACA Level 4 whitewater rescue workshop, focused on giving you the knowledge and skills to respond to serious moving water emergencies.

Bikerafting Workshop 5/30
An introduction to bike and packraft travel, A short multimodal loop covering the basics of carrying boats and paddling gear on your bike, loading bikes onto packrafts, and tips for planning bikerafting adventures.

Whitewater Packrafting 5/31
For beginner and intermediate paddlers, covering basic whitewater paddling maneuvers, scouting rapids, whitewater hazards and safety, and packraft specific techniques.

River Running Workshop 6/6-7
Combining whitewater rescue and paddling, 2 days of paddling and lessons focusing on giving you the skills and confidence to lead others on rapids.

11/18/2025

It’s that time of year again, Packrafting gift certificates are up on the website. Passes are good till the end of 2026. This is a good chance to get a deal on a day trip or overnight trip for yourself, and friends.

You have the option of buying day trips passes or overnight passes.

Buy 1 pass to get yourself a solo trip.

Buy more passes to put together a group trip.

Visit the website to learn more

Reach out if you have any questions.

11/10/2025

Spent the weekend biking in the Jackman region, scouting some potential routes for the Cross Maine Bike Adventure, and tagging along with on a potential Where to Ride route.

Highlights of the weekend included:
First Snow of the season
Views from Coburn
Returning to an area I haven’t adventured in for many years
Riding with friends
Meeting (not to mention, the chicken soup, pancakes, Northwoods hospitality, and not having to sleep in a tent)

If you haven’t spent time in this area get up there! Miles of bike-able roads, great paddling, countless Mountains with great summit views, and free camping. Perfect place to add to your Cross Maine Bikeraft adventure, connecting the Flagstaff Region to the Moosehead region

10/27/2025

We are refreshing out fleet. Here is a chance to get a good deal on a carefully used packraft. In order to get more people packrafting in Maine, we will be doing a local sale in Orono this weekend, before opening sales online. Reach out for more details.

We have a mix of boats including:

-8 Custom SB Caribous with: whitewater thigh straps and backrests, TiZip, medium weight fabric, 2 years old. Most with no issues, a few with pinholes that have been repaired. Zippers have shown no issues. I has a tear in the bottom of the floor (not into the tubes that has been sewn and patched.
-4 Gnarmules: whitewater thigh straps and backrests, TiZip, medium weight fabric, 2 years old. Most with no issues, a few with pinholes that have been repaired. Zippers have shown no issues.
-2 Foragers, with middle seat. No damage, and zipper has shown no issues One is 4 years old, One is 2 years old.
-2 Explorer 42s without Tizips, No damage
-1 Gnarwal SB Large, with Tizip. No damage, Zipper has shown no issues
-1 Custom Caribou SB with whitewater thigh straps and backband, tizip and lightweight fabric, zipper holds, but has small leaks, could be aqua sealed and will last for a while, or sent to Alpacka for repair
-1 Classic Large SB with whitewater thigh straps and backband, tizip and lightweight fabric, zipper holds, but has small leaks, could be aqua sealed and will last for a while, or sent to Alpacka for repair

-Aquabound Shred breakdown paddles made for packrafting!

10/02/2025

After making my way through the new video series Be WaterWise, I was inspired to put together a few thoughts on Packrafting Safety. You can find the videos on the APA YouTube Page. They are worth a watch, they do a great job of covering safety basics for paddling, especially rivers. Rather than review the topics covered so well in the videos, I figured I would add to the safety conversation, by covering an additional topic: open water crossing.
Bikerafters crossing Second Roach Pond

Weather
Current conditions?
Expected changes?
Fetch and all the Lees
Where is the wind coming from?
Where is the wind going?
Route and Group
Does everyone know where you want to go?
How might wind and waves change your route?
Will everyone be able to stay together?
Weather

Reading the weather is a difficult skill that takes years of practice in that particular area. I feel lucky when I get to aeventuate with people who know a place well. With just a change in wind direction, or cloud type they already have an idea of how the weather is likely to change. Even when we aren’t traveling with the attuned, we can still pick up on a few cues and use them to make informed choices.

When I am paddling a route that I know will have some larger open water crossings I try to ask myself a few questions, starting even before I get there. Running through my mind as I approach the point I want to start the crossing:

With windy Fall days here in Maine, I have been thinking about this topic a fair amount recently. On a few recent bikerafting clinics I relied on a rubric, I learned a long time ago as a canoe guide. It was a big help in making sure we made the safest a well as most efficient crossing possible. Thinking about open water paddling in this way is helpful no matter what boat you happen to be in on that trip. By answering a few questions about the three things below you are setting yourself up to to fully assess the risk you are about to face.

Read the rest at packraftme.com on the blog

09/29/2025

Is Fall the best time to adventure in Maine?

Definitely in my top 4 seasons. This last weekend was full of all the things that make this such a great time of year, being a part of great community, catching up with old friends, and meeting new people.

Friday and Saturday were at Medawisla lodge for Rambler. Starting a bikeraft clinic circling Second Roach Pond Friday, riding one great routes on Saturday, then heading from a Dark Sky Park to Sanctuary, finished up with a bikeraft scouting trip on the East Branch of the Penobscot in

Fall weekends are booked out through the end of October, still some spots for Weekday day trips if you want to get out there.

09/25/2025

Getting out for a first bikerafting lap with from we are already planning more trips.