Shin Pond Village, Maine

Nestled in the heart of Nothern Maine, Shin Pond Village is a family-onwed resort where you can escape, relax and enjoy the outdoors. Join Jared Christie, Polaris Adventures Content Manager, on a visit to Maine and be prepared to stay for the weekend. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Polaris Adventures Podcast. I'm your host, Jared Christie. When a new year begins, I think about new places to visit. That might mean a big trip or somewhere right in my own backyard. If you're like me, you want to try something new, then today you're in luck, because we're headed to the remote area of northern Maine. Please welcome to the show Blaine King, owner of Shen Pond Village, and the man who has promised me I will see a moose on my visit, or he owes me 100 lobster rolls. Blaine, how are you? I'm good. How are you? All right, so two questions for you right off the top. How often do you actually see a moose? And number two, do you love lobster rolls?

SPEAKER_00 0:41

So yeah, I'll imprint into both. Moose pretty often on the snowmobile trail, a lot less frequently in the cars than we used to. Grooming at night, especially, they love the groomed easy walking surface of the sled trails. Uh it's not uncommon to see them on snowmobile, but it's definitely at night in the groomers for sure. And as far as lobster rolls go, you can't live in Maine and and not uh be a fan of lobster rolls or be a fan of introducing them to people who come visit for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Yeah, lobster rolls for me are like uh in and out burgers. You don't get them so often, so it's a real treat when you do. Exactly. Well, I'm thrilled to have you on the show today because Maine is a special place, but you're not on the coast. You're actually closer to Canada than New Hampshire. Why don't you tell people about Shenpon Village, where you're located, and what makes your place so unique?

SPEAKER_00 1:28

So we are considered northern Maine, but a lot of people north of us would say we're not, uh, because Maine's a big state. We are in Penobscot County, which uh stretches quite a way south of us, or in the very tick top of Penobscot. I can throw a stone into Maine's Arustack County. Um Arustack County is pretty well known for potatoes, that's their claim to fame. And also it's it's a county that's so large, and the only one above me, it's actually larger than the state of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Uh, and that's just one county north of us. Um that area is renowned, well known for snowmobiling, 180 inches of snow, you know, annually and things. And a bus in New Brunswick, we're five hours from Boston drive times, obtainable from you know, the core and the population of New England.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

I imagine some of the first questions you do get is where are you and how long will it take to get to you? Because you're three and a half hours north of Portland or Bajaba. So you're up there.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Did I say that correctly, Bajaba? You said it just like a Taurus would say it with the H at the end, yeah. Or the main accent, one or the other. Yeah, we're uh so Bar Harbor, Canadian National Park, Lobster Boats, or you know, two and a half hours from there, or three and a half hours from Portland, like you said, um, or five hours from Boston, you know, en masse.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

So a lot of places that are fairly well known and big, but aren't too far from you.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

No, not far at all. Um, a lot of people come and visit Maine and they they do Bar Harbor, they do the coast, you know, the rugged Atlantic Ocean for the for that scene, but then they'll come inland. Um, because it's really kind of two mains. You know, you've got the lobster boat rugged coastline, and then you've got the vast forest that we offer from this point, north and west.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

This is a family-run business, and the history of Shinpon actually goes back more than a century.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Yeah. Um used to be, you know, original logging sporting camps for hunters, and um where our main building sits, two have sat before it. Uh my parents started the business in our main building here in 1982. But the the we still have an original cabin that dates back to the early 1900s, you know, original logs. A lot of them were too far gone in the 90s to to keep them all, unfortunately. Uh so we rebuilt each uh through the late 90s, early 2000s, and have added new ones. But those old ones, you could see the snow dust blow through the walls, so they were a little too far gone. But it's it's it's kind of disappointing not to have that old nostalgia, but also kind of good for those who need the warm place to sleep at night.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Yeah, that's fun. Well, now that we know where you're at, it's the middle of winter in Shin Pond. You're in the snow belts, and there's 14,000 miles of interconnected trails up there. I mean, gosh, tell me when it's time to ride where we're going.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

Anywhere and everywhere, annual rental sled mileage averages on rentals, not even personal sleds, averages 3,500 or so miles per sled on 40 units. So like people aren't just coming and going on a 50-mile leisurely tour. You know, the people that drive this far north are snowmobilers, either renters who have ridden a lot and want to experience northern Maine, or there's a lot of people today that have, you know, decided not to own and income and rent from a facility like us who offers the best product in line with what they would own, they still own. And those people log a lot of mile. You know, they show up with their helmet fill, they show up with their clothing, and they're ready to go.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Right on your Shin Pond website, you've got video of people snowmobiling, trails being plowed. On your site, you've got a restaurant, all the good stuff for a long weekend and more. Talk about some of the amenities you guys offer and how many people come back year after year after year.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

Yeah, I mean, that's a huge part of our business, uh business in particular. During the wintertime, when people stay, we've gotten into a great pattern of over 70%, I would say, rebook the same weekend or week or whatever for the following year. So we give first refusal to all our guests who stay all year round. We won't book more than a year in advance for that reason. Um, and it's what's created a high return rate and and a lot of repeat guests. But when they get here, we have everything they need. We have gas, OEM oils, restaurant on site, um, retail store, we sell climb, you know, their hands are cold, their gloves are worn out, and they've just been putting it up. They can they can get everything they need right here. So that's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. Where do your writers come from? All over. I would say the most dense area would be Massachusetts, um, the Greater Boston area, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, you know, especially when those New York and such aren't getting the the Lake Effect snow that they're getting this year. We we see a lot of those guests too.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Is Shin Pond the number one destination in Maine for snowmobile riding?

SPEAKER_00 6:16

I'm biased, so in my opinion, absolutely. And and anyone who's stayed with us, I would say most all agree as well.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

All right. Well, winter does end eventually, and say I'm not a fan, but I've always wanted to come to Maine and see the coast, Bar Harbor, lobster rolls, all the fun stuff. I've got to imagine you guys are loaded with summer activities.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

We are. You know, we rent UTVs and slingshots in the summertime too, May through October. Not as many ATV miles, but still over 7,000 miles of ATV trails that are also mostly interconnected. So you can ride a lot of miles in an ATV. Takes longer than sawmobiles because the trails aren't groomed as flat and smooth. So average speed's less. But um Yeah, there's Baxter State Park is in our backyard. Mount Catadin is that's the end of the Appalachian Trails. You know, a lot of through hikers hike from down south and hike the whole Appalachian Trail over the course of six months. That's not for me, but it's it it ends right in our backyard. And then the International Appalachian Trail begins where it where it ends and goes up into Canada, Newfoundland, and passes right through our property. So it's all outdoor recreation, camping, hunting, fishing, boating, ETVing.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Let's start with the off-roading. I've done some coastal riding in Maine, but not where you're at. What's the riding like? What are the main destinations that you can go to?

SPEAKER_00 7:36

Yes, Maine's got a lot of the state of Maine has purchased a lot of old railroad beds when they get retired and they end up being multi-use trails. So, like you talk about down east Maine, that's a lot of the miles that you can ride in down east Maine are old retired rail beds, um, which is great because it connects a ton of towns, these people to the trails. In an area like this, we are sharing timber owns. You know, we luck fortunately all the land around us is most all the land around us is privately owned. Most of it is privately owned for harvesting timber. And we're very, very fortunate that the landowners in our area see the economic value in allowing stone wheel clubs, ATV clubs to have permission on their land to have trails and maintain the trails. We work with them closely when we have to move or reroute due to logging operations. It's a constant, it's all the time. But it's great that they are so willing to do so.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

I've written in down east Maine, and that's kind of a really unique location, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 8:32

It is. I mean, it's uh you can cover so much ground, you know. You think about train tracks and where they take you and the straightness and things of them, but it connects so many communities. Up here, it's more world in this. You know, you're not in the blueberry fields, the blueberry bearings that you have down there on the coast, and then touching the coastline. Up here, it's very wooded, it's very remote. You know, if I were to leave here and do a hundred-mile ride, I would leave our facility and never see another business for 75 miles for gas or something, you know, to go wow go north from here.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

How much is that a real treat for people that don't realize you can get sort of lost that way?

SPEAKER_00 9:13

It is. You know, I think that's what brings people back to an area like this. You know, I say all the time, we we tend to take it for granted until I'm doing something like this and I really think about where we live and uh the people who come in and enjoy it and what they say to us, and you know, you you get complacent. You know, we all do as people where we're from and things, and um we constantly are reminded based on our guests, you know, that they share how about how great an experience they had, whether it be a review or just a conversation in the restaurant. It's really rewarding.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

I hear names in places like Warren Falls, Historic Bible Point, Windmills Falls, and Roberts Mountain. It sounds like a lot. Are those the cool places that people go to ride?

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Yeah, that's you know, those are all destinations for people. Everyone loves to have a destination. You know, there are those ones you all mentioned are within just a 30 mile radius of of our property here. So that's a you know, people can make a day ride of all those location out of all those locations, or they can make an overnight or a long day ride, you know, 10-hour day ride out of from here to Holton and back, where, you know, I mentioned other services, restaurant, gas, things like that. Um, and they'll do 150 miles, you know, over the course of six to eight hours, depending on speed. Are people surprised that there's so many miles of trails up there? Yeah, I think that's what brings people back. Uh you know, where they're from, they might be able to ride, but it's more of a it's more of an ATV park situation, right? You've got such a small block and you see the same thing. And that happens even here. You know, you kind of when you're here and you're riding, you get to come and go the same way. But because it's such a vast area and the reroutes and things that take place because of logging operations, you could ride to the same destination one year and then differently the next because of a reroute. So that's actually an advantage we have of having to reroute trails.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

You've got some relatively new news as you guys expanded in 2025. The nearby, and I'm gonna try to say this, Millinocket. Is that right? It's spot on, Millinocket. There you go. Tell me about that. Where's that at?

SPEAKER_00 11:18

So Millinocket is uh about an hour drive south of us. It's uh on the other side of Baxter State Park. So like we're on the north entrance to Baxter State Park. Millinocket's on the south entrance. Millinocket sees a lot more visitors due to the higher population of like seasonal camps around bodies of water and things down that way. There's more hotels. It used to be a mill town, so a lot of homes too that have become Airbnbs. So it it used to be a bigger community than like our our local town ten miles from us. So it has it has more to offer in terms of options for people to come and stay. And they have they've made some connections and ATV trails in particular over the last year that have made it make sense to open our second location down there offering side-by-side UTV rentals and and the slingshots. Um, you know, it's scenic with Mount Catatin as the backdrop for for slingshots and ATVs, but still plenty of off-road riding like out of this location, too. Yeah, it's uh it's well known because of Mount-Cataton. Like if you're gonna go climb Mount Cataton, even though I'm near the North Gate, if we were gonna do it from here, we'd still drive to Millinocket and drive in the south gate of Axel State Park. That gate sees probably ten times the number of entrances up than our end because of that climb. So, and then again, a lot more second home, seasonal homes for people because big bodies of water down there with a lot of them. So it makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Exciting times for you guys. You've been renting for a really long time, but it was back in the summer of 2018 that you joined Adventures. Why make the switch over and how's that been?

SPEAKER_00 12:59

Yeah, we've been renting for over 30 years from starting in the mid-90s into the early 2000s, had a brief pause there when I left for college, basically. Um, it was just more than I think my parents wanted to try to do without me because it was my passion. I was a driving force for for some mobile rentals back then. And then life happens and can't wait to leave, but not that much long later with a family and kids that you can't wait to get back. So 2018, I've been back for a year or two, built our house here to stay, and read about or heard about adventures, started looking into it, talking to the team, and the the platform just offers so much built into it that when you try to do it on your own, it simplifies it. You know, there between insurances and and damage waivers and things that are a part of the program, and having, you know, new current model year or within a couple year machines at all times is not only difference making for us as a business, but also the the end user, the renters.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

It's funny you say you left for college where you can take the kid uh out of out of you can take the kid out of Maine, but you can't take the main out of the kid or something like that. It just it pulled you back in.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

It it did. You know, you go work for other people when you grew up in a family business and and you you I don't want to say you you have a different work ethic or a different mindset on work, and you find yourself working so hard for someone else, and you know you have another option that you left, and your parents are starting to think about what they're gonna do with the next phase of your life, it it can quickly suck you back in.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

Well, Blaine, there's only one thing left for you to do today, and that's to promise me a moose next time I'm up there.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

I will promise you a moose, and I will promise you fresh lobster rolls uh within a few hours off the boat, even though we're two and a half hours away. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

Well, Blaine, thanks so much for being on the show today and enjoy the rest of your winter. Yes, thank you, Jared. Be sure to like and follow the Polaris Adventures podcast wherever you listen to your podcast, and we will talk to you again soon. Remember, you belong out here.