FOP offers many different types of trips for incoming first-years. Trips vary in the activities offered, in addition to the distance, elevation, and difficulty faced each day.

Trip Types

Backpacking trips are six day hiking trips in the mountain ranges of either Maine, New Hampshire, or Vermont. Backpacking FOPpers and their leaders spend each day hiking from one site to another and experience a variety of mountainous terrain.

Switch-Service trips are six days longs and combine backpacking with trail work service projects. These trips allow FOP to give back to the national forests we visit through trail work and maintenance while providing a great opportunity for a FOP group to build teamwork and cooperation.

Switch-Canoe trips are six day trips during which FOP groups spend three days canoeing and three days backpacking in Maine. By "switching" from hiking to canoeing, FOPpers are able to see the beauty of the areas we visit both by trail and by water.

Trip Locations

On FOP, your backpacking, service, or switch trip will take place in one of several different mountain ranges in Maine, New Hampshire or Vermont.

Maine

All of our switch trips and several of our backpacking trips take place in Maine. Switch trips canoe on Flagstaff Lake or in the Rangeley Lakes Region on Lakes Richardson and Mooselookmeguntic. Switch trips hike on the Appalachian Trail in the nearby Bigelow Mountains. The Maine hiking trips also traverse the Appalachian Trail in different locations. Some trips will hike over the beautiful Saddleback Mountains, others will hike over and around Moody Mountain, while others still will navigate what is known as the hardest mile of the AT near Mahoosuc Notch in the Mahoosuc Mountains.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is host to both hiking and in-site service trips. FOPpers destined for New Hampshire will hike in either the White Mountain Range or along the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail. The M-S Greenway Trail is a gently rolling trail through Sunapee State park that provides an excellent introduction to hiking for less experienced participants. The White Mountains in New Hampshire provide varied terrain for all levels of hiker. Hiking takes place either on the Appalachian Trail or on WMNF trails.

Trips to the White Mountains head to one of the following wilderness areas: The Presidential Range/Dry River Wilderness, the Great Gulf Wilderness, the Caribou/Speckled Mountain Wilderness, and the Pemigewasset Wilderness. Trips may summit peaks including Mt. Washington and other Presidential Mountains, peaks in the Carter-Moriah Range, peaks in the Kinsman range and peaks in Franconia Notch State Park. In-site trip locations vary from year to year but are usually located within the bounds of the WMNF near rewarding hiking trails.

Vermont

FOP trips in Vermont spread out along Vermont's Long Trail - the oldest long distance hiking trail in America. While the trail stretches across the vertical length of the state, FOP trips concentrate along its southern half. The terrain is varied and elevation often changes abruptly. The trail itself crosses over several peaks, and there are other summitable peaks accessible by side-trails.