Trip Types
- Backpacking/Hiking
- Kayaking
- Rock Climbing
- Ropes Course
- Snowshoeing
- Camping
- Adventure Education
- Custom Group Trips
Backpacking/Hiking
Summit Hike
What could be more beautiful than hiking through the mountains and forests of New England? Hike the unforgettable trails of New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts for the day while learning about the sights, sounds, and scents of nature. Share experiences and laughter with new and old friends and family members. Between snack breaks we'll play games and teach you about the natural history of the area.
Three and Four Day Backpacking Trips
Join OE for an exciting multi-day backpacking adventure to New England's White Mountains. Over the course of the weekend, we'll use basic camping fundamentals, map reading and navigation, wilderness safety, and proper backpacking. In a friendly group environment we'll venture further into the mountains and forests, attempting a summit hike of a White Mountain peak.
Requirements: Previous hiking or camping experience.
We offer backpacking trips of two levels of difficulty:
Kayaking
Join us for a fun-filled day on the water. Come kayaking along New England's coastline or regional lakes in the company of new and old friends. You'll paddle in a stable two-person kayak that we can adapt to meet your specific needs. Experienced staff will introduce participants to basic kayak safety, paddle strokes, and the excitement of traveling on the water.
We offer several types of kayaking trips:
Entry Level
Indoor Kayaking
Have a splashing good time: What better way to learn new skills or hone your kayaking techniques than in a controlled indoor pool environment? Experienced staff will introduce basic kayak equipment and safety, paddle strokes, and rescue techniques. You will get a chance to practice paddling and entering and exiting a kayak adapted to meet your specific needs. The pool session will give you the confidence and skill you need to paddle in the open water.
Outdoor Kayaking
Join us for a fun-filled day on the water as we paddle New England's regional lakes or rivers. Learn new skills or improve your technique and make new friends as you paddle a stable tandem kayak adapted to meet your specific needs. Experienced staff will introduce the basics of kayaks, kayak safety, paddle strokes, and the excitement of traveling on the water.
Intermediate Kayaking
Expand your kayaking skills and spend more time on the water. During this longer distance paddle we will introduce skills such as bracing to prevent capsizing and leans, which make turning more efficient. Learn how to reenter an overturned kayak and assist a capsized partner. Explore sections of local lakes and river abundant with beautiful wild and plant life.
Requirements: Prior participation on an OE Introduction to Kayaking trip or equivalent experience.
Advanced
Day Trip
For paddlers looking for a greater challenge, join us for an exciting full day on the water. We will explore areas not accessible to groups with less experience. Discover the freedom and security that on-the-water navigation brings to paddling longer distances.
Requirements: Prior participation on an OE Intermediate Kayaking trip or equivalent experience.
Overnight Trip
Have a fun two-day kayaking adventure on the water. Experienced staff will help you expand the kayaking skills you learned at the required Indoor Kayak Pool Session. Then spend an exciting day paddling a stable two-person kayak on one of New England's regional lakes or rivers. After paddling, relax by the water's edge after you and your new friends set up your campsite and enjoy a tasty outdoor meal.
Rock Climbing
Outdoor Rock Climbing
Come enjoy a day of climbing on some of the local mountains. Climbers of all abilities are welcome. Experienced instructors will be on hand to teach skills and assist in planning particular climbing routes.
Climb and Dine - Indoor Rock Climbing
Have you ever imagined conquering a huge rock wall? Take on the rocks to the extent you feel comfortable as trained staff help you improve your climbing skills in a fun and safe indoor environment. After learning the basics of climbing with new and old friends, we'll enjoy a healthy meal.
Ropes Course
Ropes courses are designed to provide experiences that highlight problem solving, teamwork, and leadership skills. The course consists of low and high elements. Success on the low course depends on a willingness to try something new and an ability to work cooperatively to solve problems. On the high course, the excitement of tackling a series of elements suspended 20 to 40 feet in the air while wearing a helmet and harness attached to a rope can be life transforming. No matter what your age or ability you will experience an adventure.
Snowshoeing
Get a new perspective on winter recreation: snow-dusted pine trees, the quiet serene beauty of the woods of New England, and you, smiling with friends while walking through the snow and feeling on top of the world. Explore the fields and forests of Massachusetts or New Hampshire while learning to snowshoe with an amazing group of people. After an invigorating hike, we'll warm up with some snacks and hot chocolate.
Family Camps
Treat your family to a relaxing weekend getaway. Take a guided hike, play games, go for a swim, roast marshmallows over a campfire, and sleep under the stars. Create a new family tradition while meeting other families and making new friends.
Adventure Education
Outdoor Explorations is partnering with schools and community organizations to provide intentional and inclusive Adventure Education programs. The goal of Adventure Education is to teach social and life skills concepts through indoor and outdoor adventure. The specific concepts for this program will depend on students’ needs and will be derived through collaboration with staff. Some examples of these concepts include teambuilding, communication, perseverance, resiliency, work force development, and self-determination.
The sequenced design allows for consistency and repetition in the concepts as well as an opportunity to establish relationships of trust among the participants and facilitators. Experiencing challenges through adventures while in a trusting and supportive environment allows people to transfer these social concepts back into their everyday life.
Custom Groups
Custom programs are for groups of ten or more and are tailored to your group’s needs. In addition to the programs listed below, other program types described on the OE website can also be booked as custom programs. For more information or to book a custom program, please call Outdoor Explorations at 781-395-4999 or 781-395-4184 (TTY).
WildWorks Community Service Days
Make a difference in your community. During our WildWorks community service days, OE partners with a corporate sponsor and community volunteers to beautify and make outdoor areas more accessible. In the past we have worked with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Bear Brook State Park, and Hale Reservation. In addition to the community service work that takes place, the corporate volunteers receive OE’s signature Inclusivity Training. If your company is interested in sponsoring a WildWorks community service day please contact us so that we can share our current project offerings with you. We look forward to working together to make a more inclusive environment.
Inclusivity Training
Break Down Barriers
“The problem is that accessibility is more than just removing physical barriers. What’s missing are the tools and know-how to extend beyond physical accessibility to full inclusion of people with disabilities, including training for staff, marketing, and programming areas.”
—Michael Muehe, Executive Director of the Cambridge Commission for People with Disabilities and Outdoor Explorations Board Member.
Outdoor Explorations has been a leader in the disability community for over 19 years and has provided interactive Inclusivity Trainings for organizations throughout New England. OE’s training helps to make an organization’s existing programs more inclusive and welcoming to people with developmental, social/emotional, physical, and/or sensory disabilities. Our training module can be applied to a variety of outdoor programs found at schools, universities, outfitters, non-profit organizations, community programs, and camps. A typical training includes an interactive session on including people with and without disabilities in adventure and recreational programs. We teach the specific skills to adapt your programs through hands-on activities. Sessions emphasize the importance of focusing on people’s capabilities and not their limitations. Professionals will come away from the training with increased confidence and flexibility, knowing how to break down barriers to recreation.
"We learned that we can do things that other families do. Since our trip with OE last year, we have tried camping on our own, something we never thought possible."
-OE Participant
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boots.
Outdoor Explorations 98
Winchester Street Medford, MA 02155 Email
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