Experience of a lifetime.

Backpacking on the Superior Hiking Trail

Dates: August 15–17
Cost: No Additional Fee (transfer students with 24 or more credits: $450.00)
Physical Exertion Rating: Vigorous
Essential Eligibility Criteria Type: Backpacking
Description: This short 3-day, 2-night backpacking trip is perfect for people of all skill levels. We’ll be hiking along the scenic Superior Hiking Trail, taking in the breathtaking views of Lake Superior from the Minnesota North Shore during the day, while enjoying tasty backcountry meals and sharing leisurely evenings around the campfire with new friends.

Lodge-based Outdoor Adventure Sampler

Dates: August 15–17
Cost: No Additional Fee (transfer students with 24 or more credits: $450.00)
Physical Exertion Rating: Moderate
Essential Eligibility Criteria Type: Rock Climbing, Outdoor Recreation Sampler and Forest Lodge
Description: Spend 3 days and 2 nights exploring and enjoying the many hidden gems around Forest Lodge on Lake Namekagon. You’ll spend the evenings enjoying home-cooked meals, chilling with new friends, and taking advantage of all the amenities of the rustic lodge. Then head out into the surrounding north woods each day to try out local canoeing, swimming, biking, hiking, or rock climbing opportunities!

Namekagon River Canoe Camping

Dates: August 19 – 21
Cost: No Additional Fee (transfer students with 24 or more credits: $450.00)
Physical Exertion Rating: Moderate
Essential Eligibility Criteria Type: Canoeing
Description: Join us for a fun three days and two nights paddling down the scenic Namekagon River in western Wisconsin. We will travel at a leisurely pace downriver by canoe, stopping at established National Park Service campsites along the river each night. Delicious backcountry meals and memorable campfire conversations will be enjoyed as the river slowly meanders by.

Forest Lodge Retreat

Dates: August 19–21
Cost: No Additional Fee (transfer students with 24 or more credits: $450.00)
Physical Exertion Rating: Mild
Essential Eligibility Criteria Type: Outdoor Recreation Sampler and Forest Lodge
Description: We welcome you to join us for a relaxing getaway at the scenic and historic Forest Lodge facility on Lake Namekagon. Enjoy 3 days and two nights of fun activities with new friends while getting to know one of Northland College’s field campuses. We’ll indulge in home-cooked meals, explore the property’s many trails, and paddle out onto the surrounding lake. Each evening is spent indoors, with hot showers at the ready. We’ll be ‘camping’ in style!

Superior Hiking Trail Backpacking Expedition

Dates: August 16–21
Cost: Additional $350.00 (transfer students with 24 or more credits: $700.00)
Physical Exertion Rating: Vigorous
Essential Eligibility Criteria Type: Backpacking
Description: Join us for a great mix of challenge and fun as we hike for five days along the scenic Superior Hiking Trail, part of the greater North Country Trail—the longest National Scenic Trail is the US (twice as long as the AT or the PCT!). Come take in the breathtaking views of Lake Superior from the basalt cliffs of the Minnesota North Shore, enjoy backcountry meals, and share leisurely evenings around the campfire with friends you’ll likely keep for the rest of your college career.

Namekagon River Canoe Expedition

Dates: August 16–21
Cost: Additional $350.00 (transfer students with 24 or more credits: $700.00)
Physical Exertion Rating: Moderate
Essential Eligibility Criteria Type: Canoeing
Description: Join us for five days of leisurely river paddling and camping along the beautiful Namekagon River (one of the first eight National Wild and Scenic Rivers). You’ll have the opportunity to enjoy freshly prepared meals at our river-side campsites each night while getting to know your new backyard in style!

Sylvania Wilderness Canoe Expedition

Dates: August 16 – 21
Cost: Additional $350.00 (transfer students with 24 or more credits: $700.00)
Physical Exertion Rating: Moderate
Essential Eligibility Criteria Type: Canoeing
Description: Join us for five fun-filled days of exploring Michigan’s Sylvania Wilderness by canoe—referred to by many as Michigan’s micro Boundary Waters Canoe Area. We’ll paddle from lake to lake each day, basking in the fresh air of the Upper Peninsula and reveling in the satisfaction of paddling and portaging. Each evening we’ll settle into our campsite under a blanket of stars and hear the echoing calls of loons.

Check out the 10 Things you Need to Know for Orientation

Registration

After you’ve submitted your registration you’ll receive a confirmation in your Northland email (make sure to check your new email address) which will include information on what to expect, a letter from your leaders, and a suggested gear list. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to call or email us!

Cost

Your OO experience is automatically added to your total student bill—you do not need to send any additional payment upon registering.

Structure

Northland’s OO is student led and student designed. Leaders have completed an outdoor skills and leadership course, are CPR certified, and every trip has at least one leader trained as a Wilderness First Responder.

There is no previous experiences necessary for your OO experience, but please keep physical demands and essential eligibility criteria in mind.

Food

Meals are managed by Northland College’s food service provider, Chartwells.  Breakfast and dinner will be served in small groups on campus.  Lunch will be packed by Chartwells professional staff for you to take into the field for each day’s activity.

Equipment

Outdoor equipment, such as climbing gear, boats, lifejackets, paddles, etc. will be provided by Northland. You should bring:

• a personal day pack
• two water bottles with at least 1 liter capacity
• sturdy closed-toe footwear
• adequate rain gear

Why Outdoor Orientation

Northland’s OO program started in 1975 and was one of the first such programs in the country. The outdoor education and environmental studies departments initiated the first orientation to use an outdoor experience as a metaphor for orienting students to Northland. And it’s a tradition we proudly carry on.

Leader Training

OO has become a central aspect of the overall Northland experience, and remains unique among college orientation programs in that it promotes student design on every level.

Under the direction of faculty and professional staff in the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, two student coordinators are hired to oversee the program planning and the hiring and training of student leaders.

Student leaders complete an Introduction to Outdoor Skills and Leadership training in order to lead an OO experience. Additional considerations include their personal trip log as well as interpersonal and technical skill proficiency. After being hired, they spend most of the winter and spring terms working to design and organize all the details of their OO experience.

OO leaders return to campus several days before each group’s arrival day to complete a field-based training refresher and to wrap up final details. These leaders have invested many hours of hard work and creativity by the time you arrive.

Safety

Safety is the main priority of OO. We are intentional about training our student leaders with the necessary skills to prevent, anticipate, and if needed, respond to emergencies in the field. Every trip has at least one certified Wilderness First Responder leader, this is an eighty-hour professional training course. All leaders have been trained in the activity specific to their trip (ie. canoeing, kayaking, backpacking, etc.) and all have detailed knowledge about where they are going, as well as who and how to contact someone in case of an emergency.

Leader Support

Northland’s Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute will have professional staff and student coordinators on call twenty-four-hours a day, and will also have additional support staff on hand to assist with field calls of any nature. We encourage our leaders to contact us for assistance with anything.

Sustainability is an important aspect of the Northland College community. Outdoor orientation staff and student leaders make sustainability a core value when planning and implementing our experiences. We continually strive to put Northland’s outdoor orientation on the front line of sustainability in wilderness travel.

Most OO experiences are held within ninety miles of the Northland campus, taking advantage of our amazing local natural resources and reducing our transportation-based carbon footprint. Those that travel beyond this radius incorporate intentional practices to reduce or offset the impact of the greater transportation.

All of the fresh fruits and vegetables eaten on the trips are grown in the Northland community garden or produced locally in the Chequamegon Bay area. As much as possible, we try to purchase other food products locally.

Trip Participant must be able to:

• Understand verbal and/or visual instructions, including what personal gear to bring, as well as behavioral expectations
• Board, ride, and exit a van or other motorized transportation independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Communicate physical and/or emotional needs to leaders
• Eat and drink independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Manage all personal care (e.g. eating; preparing for bed and sleeping, meeting bathroom needs –to include using a flush toilet or an outhouse pit toilet; as well as attending to personal hygiene, etc.) and mobility needs independently or with the assistance of a companion who accompanies the participant
• Maneuver on uneven terrain with ascending and descending hills independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Safely utilize service trip tools independently using adaptive support if necessary or have a minimum of one companion who accompanies the participant who is able and willing to control tools

Trip Participant must be able to:

• Understand verbal and/or visual instructions, including what personal gear to bring, as well as behavioral expectations
• Board, ride, and exit a van or other motorized transportation independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Communicate physical and/or emotional needs to leaders
• Eat and drink independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Manage all personal care (e.g. eating; preparing for bed and sleeping, meeting bathroom needs –to include using a flush toilet, an outhouse pit toilet, or digging in the ground and then using a 6” deep ‘cat hole’, as well as attending to personal hygiene, etc.) and mobility independently or with the assistance of a companion who accompanies the participant
• Breathe independently without assistance of machines or electrical devices
• Move about a campsite independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Travel, independently with limited assistance or with the assistance of a companion who accompanies the participant, over various elevation changes and trail conditions including but not limited to rocky, uneven surfaces, mud, creeks, steep hills, and narrow passages
• Travel between 1 and 10 miles a day for up to 5 consecutive days carrying up to 50lbs or 30% of one’s own body weight without the aid of a companion
• Live in a physically demanding backcountry environment for the uninterrupted period of the trip length. Conditions of this environment may vary depending on trip location, anywhere from cold (below minus 20º F) to hot (above 90º F) and may include inclement weather.

• Understand verbal and/or visual instructions, including what personal gear to bring, as well as behavioral expectations
• Board, ride, and exit a van or other motorized transportation independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Communicate physical and/or emotional needs to leaders
• Eat and drink independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Manage all personal care (e.g. eating; preparing for bed and sleeping, meeting bathroom needs –to include using a flush toilet, an outhouse pit toilet, or digging in the ground and then using a 6” deep ‘cat hole’, as well as attending to personal hygiene, etc.) and mobility independently or with the assistance of a companion who accompanies the participant
• Breathe independently without assistance of machines or electrical devices
• Move about a campsite independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Maneuver on uneven terrain with ascending and descending hills independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Wear all protective equipment recommended or required by industry standards
• Enter and exit boat/vessel independently or with assistance of a companion
• Remain seated and balanced, with the use of adaptive equipment if necessary
• Paddle independently using adaptive support if necessary or have a minimum of one companion who accompanies the participant who is able and willing to control a paddle and pull it through the water in order to propel the boat
• In the event of a capsize, independently hold breath while maintaining a sealed airway, get out from under the watercraft, turn and remain face up in the water with the aid of a personal flotation device
• Re-enter the canoe if capsized in deep water or make progress towards the shoreline independently or with the help of a companion
• Maintain a safe body position while attempting skills and activities, and have the ability to recognize/identify to others when such efforts would be unsafe given personal situation
• Live in a physically demanding backcountry environment for the uninterrupted period of the trip length. Conditions of this environment may vary depending on trip location, anywhere from cold (below minus 20º F) to hot (above 90º F) and may include inclement weather.

 Trip Participant must be able to:

• Understand verbal and/or visual instructions, including what gear to bring, as well as behavioral expectations
• Board, ride, and exit a van or other motorized transportation independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Communicate physical and/or emotional needs to leaders
• Eat and drink independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Manage all personal care (e.g. eating; preparing for bed and sleeping, meeting bathroom needs –to include using a flush toilet, an outhouse pit toilet, or digging in the ground and then using a 6” deep ‘cat hole’, as well as attending to personal hygiene, etc.) and mobility independently or with the assistance of a companion who accompanies the participant
• Breathe independently without assistance of machines or electrical devices
• Move about a campsite independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Maneuver on uneven terrain with ascending and descending hills independently or with the assistance of a companion
• Wear all protective equipment recommended or required by industry standards
• Grip a rope firmly, grasp the rock face, and negotiate upwards on a climb
• Be able to respond to verbal and/or visual signals
• Maintain a safe body position while attempting skills and activities, and have the ability to recognize/identify to others when such efforts would be unsafe given personal situation
• Live in a physically demanding backcountry environment for the uninterrupted period of the trip length. Conditions of this environment may vary depending on trip location, anywhere from cold (below minus 20º F) to hot (above 90º F) and may include inclement weather.

Accommodations will be made as long as it does not compromise the health or safety of staff members or other participants or significantly alter the fundamental learning outcomes of the program. Essential Eligibility Criteria are not intended to be exclusionary, but to honestly identify the basic and fundamental elements of trip participation that are integrally tied to safety and risk management considerations. These criteria are the essential skills that each participant is required to perform for safety in each type of program offered and are applied equally to app potential participants.

Please reach out to the Outdoor Orientation team to discuss your options or learn more about accommodations.

Trip physical exertion (difficulty) levels are rated from ‘Mild’ to ‘Moderate’ to ‘Vigorous’. These ratings describe the anticipated level of physical exertion required of a trip participant during each day’s travel (by backpacking, canoeing, etc.) or planned activity (e.g. hiking, paddling, climbing, etc.). All trips are designed to accommodate students who may be new to outdoor living or outdoor recreational activities as well as to keep the most experienced outdoors person engaged. There are options for each difficulty rating.

Yes, a companion can assist you during the trip to help you meet the essential eligibility criteria.