Any packrafters in the Northeast US? Where do you packraft?

Hello People of the Packraft! Anyone here from the Northeast US - ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI, NY, PA, NJ and DE? Where do you usually packraft? I’ve seen a fair number of packrafters in the West, but haven’t heard much about packrafters in the Northeast.

Hi SeaOtter, Im assuming your wildswalker?

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Some of the posts are older but are a GREAT read for where to packraft. Some of the posts are pretty descriptive and include put ins and take outs and most of the users are pretty good about replying to a DM and are out floating pretty regular.

Especially handy are any posts that say “Trip Report”

Also there is a trip planning and partners request section
Trip Partners/ Planning? - APA Packraft Forums

Again, the forum is loading lder posts first so some of the newer stuff isnt showing yet. I even had to sign up again as my old account wouldnt let me sign in.

If your down south a ways and want to meet some of our paddlers send me a message.

All these paddlers are in the NYC/NJ/New England ish area and are pretty active with paddling, have packrafts etc.

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Hi @SeaOtter (and all),

Welcome to the APA forum, if you’re new here! The forum is in transition at the moment, as we’re in the process of migrating it to a new platform that should be generally more searchable and user friendly. Thanks for bearing with us while it’s still work in progress.

APA’s team has been aware for a while that the East Coast (and some other parts of the country) could use a bit more representation when it comes to packrafting resources. We hope to start addressing this by forming APA Regional Chapters later this year. Our goal is to support volunteer organizers who are interested in bringing together packrafters in their region. (BTW - as part of that effort, we’ll be looking for forum moderators willing to help maintain forum content tagged for their region.)

We’re a little ways from launching the APA Chapters, and this forum is still the best resource we have to connect with other packrafters and getting trip ideas. But if you have questions about APA, want to sign up to be notified when there’s further news on an APA Chapter in your area, or even want help get the ball rolling in your part of the world, feel free to drop me a direct line at joseph@packraft.org.

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Hi @SeaOtter, welcome!

As more content gets migrated over from the old forum, you’ll start to see some of the stuff I’ve posted about the Adirondacks. I have some more to add as well, I’m relatively active up there. In NY another fun trip is Letchworth State Park where the Genessee runs through a deep gorge. There are also lots of opportunities in the Catskills, of course. The Green Mountains and White Mountains of VT and NH have tons of opportunities, especially during spring snow melts. Pennsylvania has lots of rivers if you can catch them after a rain. The Lehigh has regular whitewater dam releases during the summer, and is a fun road-accessed run. I’m in NJ and I love the Delaware Water Gap where I can hike out the AT and paddle the Delaware back. There are too many options in Maine to even know where to begin.

It’s impossible to describe all the packrafting possibilities in all the states you’ve mentioned, but there are plenty of ways to get creative! Get some maps and start poking around. And take a look at this: https://easternpackrafting.com/map/

Darren Kazemi and I started developing this interactive packrafters map to record trips we’ve done or ideas we’ve had, and users can submit ideas and routes of their own. If you come up with something good, send it in. Or let us know if you go out and complete one of the “proposed routes.”

Lastly, if you’re on Facebook look me up in the group “Packrafting USA” because that’s where I post a lot of my trip plans, route ideas, and it’s a great place to connect with other east coast packrafters.

Welcome SeaOtter! Yes, eastern packrafting is a bit different but it allows for some unique trips with such a versatile boat! As you can see there are a few of us. I have hiked/paddled in Alaska and Canada often but my home is in MAINE. That being said, I love local packrafting: Baxter State Park and Dead River offer great rivers. Maine Public Reserved Lands (Donnell Pond) is a great place to hike from lake to lake and paddle across each of them. The Pleasant River goes through the Great Heath and on to the sea. There are many fun creeks that end up dropping you into the ocean.

I look forward the the development of Regional Chapters! I can post more detailed trips once the new forum is up.

Hey @croebuck great to hear from you, and I’m super interested to hear more about adventures you’ve had in Maine. Particularly Baxter.

I’m the APA Northeast Region Rep and I’m organizing a Northeast Roundup this summer (July 8-10, 2022) in Jim Thorpe, PA. Click here for more info and to register. Hope you all can make it!

HI @EricC …sorry for the late reply. I’m still figuring out if they have this forum fully up and running yet. So glad to hear there will be a NE Roundup! Wha hoo. Not sure if I can make it yet…it sounds great.

Yep seems like the forum is working well. Shoot me an email at eric@packraftingadventures.com if you want to chat.