Chosen By: Allison Wells, Senior Director, Communications Location: Gilead to Bethel, Oxford County Description: A six-mile excursion from Gilead to Bethel along a beautiful stretch of the Androscoggin River. The paddle, at a leisurely pace, takes three to four hours and winds through the spectacular beauty of the Mahoosucs, the northernmost extension of the White Read More
Paddling, Kayaking, and Canoeing
Maine has miles of rivers, thousands of lakes and ponds, and a vast coastline to explore. Grab your kayak or canoe and spend time at any of these locations, paddling around and enjoying Maine’s beautiful outdoors.
Tunk Lake Area, including Donnell Pond and Spring River Lake
Tunk Lake Area, including Donnell Pond and Spring River Lake Location: In and around Township 10 SD, 12 miles east of Ellsworth, Hancock County Description: The Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land unit includes mountains, pristine lakes, and remote ponds all spread out over 14,000 acres in eastern Maine. There are sites for camping along the pond’s beaches, Read More
Pocomoonshine Lake
A Land for Maine’s Future program grant helped the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife acquire land alongside the Town of Princeton’s boat launch on Pocomoonshine Lake. The increased lake frontage will allow for parking and a turnaround at this popular sport fishing site, and will create safer opportunities for swimming (situated farther from Read More
Presumpscot River Preserve and Walton Park Water Access Site
Before its waters were harnessed for dams and polluted with industrial waste, the Presumpscot was a clear and swift-moving river that plunged over 12 sets of falls in its 24-mile course from Sebago Lake to Casco Bay. Improvements in water quality have renewed recreational interest in the river, after decades in which people kept far Read More
Rangeley Lakes Region
The Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) program has helped to conserve three recreational gems in the Rangeley Lakes region. An LMF grant enabled Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust to purchase Bald Mountain from International Paper. The Trust subsequently transferred this 1,873-acre tract to the Bureau of Parks and Lands for management as the Bald Mountain Public Reserve. A Read More
Round and Long Ponds
Knowing that Round Pond was a popular destination for fishermen seeking bass and brown trout, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (IF&W) began looking for a water access site on its shores more than a decade ago. Finally, in 2000, the State had an opportunity to acquire an attractive, wooded 17-acre parcel, bordering Read More
Sebago Headwaters Preserve
With southern Maine’s landscape becoming more developed, the remaining large tracts of open space are an increasingly critical resource for wildlife and watershed protection. To conserve key lands in the Sebago Lake watershed Loon Echo Land Trust (LELT) asked the Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) program to help fund creation of a 1,558-acre Sebago Headwaters Preserve around Read More
Seboeis Lake
A Land for Maine’s Future program grant enabled the Maine Department of Conservation (DOC) to acquire 789 acres of mature woodland and 5 miles of undeveloped lake frontage adjoining its 12,900-acre Seboeis Lake Public Reserved Land. The State’s “Wildlands Lake Assessment” rated Seboeis Lake as of “statewide significance,” due to its sparsely developed shores and Read More
Sheepscot Pond
Recreational boaters and anglers have long enjoyed access to Sheepscot Pond via a boat ramp conveniently located on Route 3, midway between Augusta and Belfast. The pond, set amidst rolling, wooded hills in the southwestern corner of Waldo County, draws anglers in search of lake trout, brook trout, splake, landlocked salmon, white perch, smallmouth bass, Read More
