WILLOW CREEK — A new era for outdoor recreation in Willow Creek began Saturday with the grand opening of Northwoods Outfitters in the former Pendelton’s Hardware building on Main Street, the first full-service guiding and gear rental operation to set up shop in the downtown district.
Owner Julia Chen, a registered Maine Guide, cut a ribbon strung between two canoe paddles as a crowd of more than 80 residents and visitors looked on. The shop offers canoe and kayak rentals, fly-fishing gear, maps of the Mattawamkeag River Trail, and guided excursions into the North Maine Woods.
“I discovered this region during a college kayaking trip in 2011 and never quite got it out of my head,” said Chen, who spent a decade working outdoor retail and guiding in New Hampshire’s White Mountains before moving to Willow Creek. “We have this incredible watershed right at our doorstep, and visitors need a place to gear up and get reliable advice.”
Selectwoman Eleanor Vance praised the business as a cornerstone of the town’s emerging tourism economy. “This is exactly the kind of enterprise that will draw people off the interstate and into our community,” she said.
Chen, who also holds Wilderness First Responder certification, will operate the shop seven days a week through October. In winter she will supplement the business by teaching cross-country skiing at Big Rock in Mars Hill. A faint outline of the original Pendelton’s Hardware sign remains visible on the brick facade above the awning — a detail Chen said she may restore one day.
Northwoods Outfitters is the first new business to open on Main Street since the Dry Dock restaurant launched in 2010.