Two 15-year-old boys have been praised for their survival skills after they found shelter and started a fire in subzero temperatures when their snowmobile became stuck in deep snow in the Maine wilderness.

Ty Howard-Gotto and Jonah May, both from Rhode Island, took a wrong turn as they traveled 15 miles from Mexico, Maine, to Howard-Grotto's grandfather's home in Andover at 7.30pm on Monday.

The duo accidentally headed down a trail that had not been cleared and their 2007 Arctic Cat Firecat snowmobile became stuck in deep snow, according to the Maine Warden Service.

Stranded, the boys walked a short distance before discovering a shed with a golf cart inside and used the cart's gasoline to start a fire, WCSH reported.

Survivors: Tyler Howard-Gotto, left, and Jonah May, right, sought out shelter and made a fire after they became stranded in snow in Maine while snowmobiling. This image shows them after they were found

As temperatures plunged below zero, they made sure to bundle up before sleeping inside the cart.

'I had my clothes bag with me,' Howard-Gotto told WCSH. 'I stuffed my T-shirts, whatever, underwear, as insulation and zipped it up.'

The youngsters said they helped each other through the ordeal.

'I was a little scared,' May said. 'Started thinking about my mother and that stuff, but Ty kept me in line, told me we gotta make a fire and push through this.'

Wardens began looking for the missing due early on Tuesday after Howard-Grotto's family alerted authorities.

But their search was called off around 10am after a motorist came across the boys, who had started walking to look for help, and drove them to their grandfather's home.

Stuck: The snowmobile, pictured, got stuck after they failed to take a turn. But luckily they found a shed and used gasoline from a golf cart to start a fire. They next day they flagged a motorist down for help

Both boys were hungry but otherwise healthy, and had no signs of hypothermia.

Howard-Grotto said he believes his survival skills saved them.

'Anyone else in those woods that didn't have the set of mind and the skill set, they wouldn't have made it out there,' he told WCSH.