Teens to Trails

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Teens to Trails

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Teens to Trails connects middle and high school students to life-changing outdoor experiences.

We do this by helping to establish and support outdoor clubs in high schools across Maine. ?

10/14/2026

Check out the offical trailer for Life Happens Outside, premiering in just over a week!

For over a year, the team at No Umbrella Media has been joining the Mountain Valley High School Outdoor Club on outdoor adventures and following Teens to Trails programs, capturing what makes these experiences so meaningful to students and the bigger story of why Outdoor Clubs matter.

The world premiere of Life Happens Outside (Director's Cut) is coming up on Saturday, October 24, at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, the community the story follows.

Join us for the film, a selection of films from the Maine Outdoor Film Festival (MOFF), and a Q&A with MVHS Outdoor Club members and the filmmakers.

Doors open at 5:30 PM, with the program starting at 6 PM. Tickets are $10, and admission is free for MVHS students. Get your tickets and find more details here: https://teenstotrails.org/event-list/lhofilm

10/13/2026

Want to see what happens when passion for the outdoors spreads across Maine? 🏕️

Life Happens Outside, a new film by No Umbrella Media and presented by EGCU Community Partner Teens to Trails, tells the story of the Mountain Valley High School (MVHS) Outdoor Club in Rumford, ME. 🎬

For more than a year, the No Umbrella Media team has joined the MVHS Outdoor Club on outdoor adventures and Teens to Trails programs, capturing what makes these experiences so meaningful to students and the bigger story of why outdoor clubs matter.

The Director’s Cut premiere will feature a selection of films from the Maine Outdoor Film Festival, a raffle benefiting the MVHS Outdoor Club, and a Q&A with the filmmaker, students, and members of the MVHS community. 🍿

📅 Saturday, October 24
📍 Muskie Auditorium at Mountain Valley High School (Rumford)
⌚ Doors open at 5:30 PM, program begins at 6 PM

Tickets are $10 online or at the door, and free for MVHS students. Tickets and more event information: teenstotrails.org/event-list/lhofilm

10/09/2026

What an awesome weekend for adventures out on the water!

We were lucky to have Will Steinharter, founder and lead guide of Osprey’s Echo Sea Kayaking, lead three days of paddling for Teens to Trails teachers and students this past weekend.

It started this past Friday with an Intro to Sea Kayaking workshop at our Outdoor Leadership Conference in Rome. Paddling techniques, boat outfitting, and some solid time on the water, light rain included!

Saturday, six students joined Osprey’s Echo in Stonington for a skills clinic through our new Adventure Ready: Student Skills Training program. They worked on trip planning, navigation, and paddling, and every one of them got to play both the swimmer and the rescuer in capsize drills.

Sunday rounded out the weekend with a day of paddling just for teachers - away from their clubs. Seven educators from Dedham Middle School, Belfast High School, Ecology Learning Center, Brooklin Elementary, Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary and Middle School, and Deer Isle High School got outfitted in Stonington and paddled out to Hell’s Half-Acre, a MITA island. They explored the intertidal zone, checked out the campsites, relaxed on a beautiful beach, and swapped ideas for getting students outside. Heidi O’Donnell said, “I left inspired to get my students out for an overnight at some point in the future. We will need to work out logistics and funding, which can sometimes be a barrier, but the tour gave me a lot of confidence to attempt a plan.”

Thank you to Will and the Osprey's Echo Sea Kayaking crew for leading the way, and to Maine Island Trail Association, whose Community Access Fund made the teachers’ trip possible.
📸: Will Steinharter

10/06/2026

Last Friday we spent a beautiful fall day at Pine Tree Camp in Rome for our annual Outdoor Leadership Conference, all about conversation, connection, and community in the outdoors.

Dana Anderson, Executive Director of Valo, kicked us off with a keynote on the vital work educators do for young people across Maine. Her words stuck with us: “A conversation becomes a relationship, a relationship becomes belonging, a group of people that belong to one another become part of a community.”

Throughout the day, advisors joined hands-on sessions on everything from creating inclusive outdoor clubs and Leave No Trace to fly fishing and starting friction fires. They also spent time in regional roundtables, swapping ideas with other advisors and partner organizations. Some light rain rolled in toward the afternoon, but it didn't slow down the kayak and canoe trainings, wilderness first aid, and so much more.

Thank you to Northeast Bank for sponsoring, to all our presenters and participants for making the day possible, and to Pine Tree Camp for being such wonderful hosts again this year!

09/30/2026

The Wiscasset Middle High School Outdoor Club made it up to Acadia this past week for a fun trip of hiking and soaking in some of this great fall weather here in Maine!

Although it was a smaller group, including our very own Youth Advisory Council member Xoe, that didn’t stop them from making the most of their time in the park and getting out on a number of trails and exploring a number of places, including Thunder Hole, Jordan Pond, and the Bubbles Trail up to Bubble Rock.

A pretty great way to kick off the year, and we’re looking forward to seeing what outdoor adventures their club gets into next!

📸: Molly Carlson

09/29/2026

With school back in full swing, Outdoor Clubs are venturing out on their first trips of the year, and the Orono High School Outdoor Club kicked things off with an awesome weekend at Flagstaff Lake!

Nearly 30 students and their advisors spent the weekend exploring the area, playing games by the lake, taking in the fall foliage, and enjoying plenty of fun back at Flagstaff Lake Hut.

This experience was made possible through our outdoor trip giveaway program, which gives Outdoor Clubs the opportunity to receive free outdoor experiences each month through our partner organizations and outfitters. A huge thank you to Maine Huts & Trails for making this trip possible for the Orono High School Outdoor Club!

One student’s reflection says it all: “I didn’t even know there were places like this in Maine.”

📸: Katie Quirk

09/28/2026

The 2026 Outdoor Leadership Conference is this Friday (10/2)!

Join fellow teachers, Outdoor Club advisors, and outdoor educators at Pine Tree Camp in Rome for a day of learning, sharing ideas, and connecting with others who are helping Maine students get outside.

This year’s theme, Conversation, Connection & Community, will explore how meaningful conversation can help create stronger relationships, foster belonging, and support positive outdoor experiences for students.

October 2 | 8 AM–3 PM | Pine Tree Camp | $50

There’s still time to join us! Registration and the full agenda are available here:
https://teenstotrails.org/outdoor-leadership-conference

📸: Emma Pierce

09/24/2026

We're thrilled to finally be able to announce Life Happens Outside, a new film by No Umbrella Media, presented by Teens to Trails, telling the story of the Mountain Valley High School (MVHS) Outdoor Club.

For over a year, the team at No Umbrella Media has been joining the Mountain Valley High School Outdoor Club on their outdoor adventures, as well as joining Teens to Trails programs, capturing what makes these experiences so meaningful to students and the bigger story of why Outdoor Clubs matter.

The first opportunity to see this exciting new film (Director's Cut) will be at the world premiere, showing right in Rumford, the community the story follows. The evening will also feature a selection of films from the Maine Outdoor Film Festival, a raffle benefiting the MVHS Outdoor Club, and a Q&A with members of the MVHS Outdoor Club and the filmmakers.

We hope you can join us to celebrate the first showing of Life Happens Outside on Saturday, October 24 at Muskie Auditorium, Mountain Valley High School. Doors open at 5:30 PM, program at 6 PM. Tickets are $10 online or at the door, free for MVHS students.

Learn more and get your tickets here: teenstotrails.org/event-list/lhofilm

09/22/2026

For Miles Bisher, being an Outdoor Club advisor is all about helping students discover something they can carry with them long after their school years.

At Bucksport Middle School, that has meant creating opportunities for students to camp under the stars, catch the aurora borealis from the beach, sea kayak for the first time, ski and snowboard, and take on challenges that push them outside their comfort zones. Since starting the club, he's grown participation from just over 40 students in the first year to 65 in the second, while finding something new to try together each year.

But for Miles, it's about more than the adventures themselves. He believes the experiences students have outside can help them become more confident, caring, and connected people, and hopes those experiences become a lasting part of who they are.

“I want my students to get to a point in their lives where doing things outside becomes an integral part of who they are, what they do, and what they stand for.”

Miles is the latest advisor featured in our People Behind the Adventures series. Read his whole story on our blog!
https://teenstotrails.org/blog/the-people-behind-the-adventures-series-miles-bisher

📸: Miles Bisher

Address

179 Neptune Drive
Brunswick, ME
04011

Telephone

+12077250800

Website

http://www.TeenstoTrails.org/

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