For my 500th - I'd like to dedicate my review to my TRW family!…read more
If you know me, you'd know that I've fallen in love with whitewater rafting, but not only that, but I also fell in love with Three Rivers' Penobscot Outpost in Millinocket!
I'll review the rivers individually later. But for now, I'm going to focus on the facility here. If you've been to the Forks location, you'll find that this facility is a little different in that instead of an open field for camping, there are individual camp sites. Most of the sites you'll have an out-house instead of a bathing house that you can go to. Be sure to bring your own TP! If not, you'll have to continually walk back to the main bathroom with actual plumbing in their main building. OR if you're like me, I just use the wilderness that we have available, it's called the woods/trees!
Each site has a fire ring along with a picnic table. And if you can afford it, they also have yurts, bunk houses, and platform cabin tents available. Yurts have plumbing in that you get a shower and a flushing toilet. I also believe the bunk houses have this option as well.
I absolutely love this facility for some reason. Might be the atmosphere. Might be the fact that I'm in love with the P'nob. Might be the fact that the staff here are AMAZING folks! They are seriously the most accommodating people I've ever met. We had a group of 4 that came up for the first time. The second time, we had a group of 16. And let me tell you, getting 16 people into a camp site is not easy, when your facility is already booked to capacity, but Tony and his crew did it! They gave us an amazingly huge site to fit all our tents and cars!
Seriously, always a great time! And even better if you hit up a theme night. They have Formal Friday Karaoke nights, Saturday Skirt Nights, and I believe Tuesday Taco, Wednesday Wing (?) nights.
The bathrooms are immaculately clean, I know they clean it at least 3 times a day, I know this because I've seen this! The only thing I would have them change if they could, is probably put up a privacy wall between the stalls and the showers. If that door swings open, pretty much anyone that walks by can see you change after you get out of the shower.
Other than that, I have to say I seriously like that their retail store is literally adjacent to the bar/restaurant, and that you have to enter through there in order to get to the restrooms and bar/restaurant. It kind of just brings all of it together.
The best part of the Three Rivers experience though are the guides. The guides are what makes TRW the best company to raft with. I've been rafting with TRW for about 4 years now and have never been disappointed. If you get a chance, request for Cody or Rhino to guide you down the river. They have the most experience with the river and will give you the ride of your life!
Additionally, for all you rafters, one quick tidbit if you thought you'd be getting your lunch/dinner after your trip like you normally would in the Forks, think again if you were planning on packing a snack/lunch! You actually pull over half way through the river trip to where the campsite is where the overnights stay, and the staff makes you your lunch along the river, which includes your choice of steak, haddock, chicken, burger or veggie burger, with rice pilaf, coleslaw, 4 bean salad, and a homemade chocolate chip cookie, served with lemonade and/or iced tea.
Just be careful of eating too much because you will be rafting a few more hours to complete the rest of the river! And well you also need to be able to fit back into your life jacket! Trust me, I've been there and had to readjust my PFD!
And don't forget, HAVE FUN!!! The P'nob is my favorite river by far! I heart it so much, I am doing it 3 times this year alone! And it made me think about becoming a river guide next season!
