For dazzling fall foliage, abundant wildlife, extensive mountain vistas,and a unique connection to American literary history, Fryeburg’s Lovewell Pond is hard to top. Large stands of red maples offer a blaze of crimson. While on the water you will be able to identify a panorama of peaks from Mount Tripyramid on the Kancamagus Highway to Mount Madison in the Northern Presidentials. Kingfishers flit from tree to tree, their raucous rattling mixing with loon calls and the honking of geese.

This 1,120-acre pond has many cottages along the western and northern shoreline, but the eastern and southern shores are protected as part of the Brownfield Bog Wildlife Management Area and have no development except for two cottages tucked back into the woods.

Additional Images

A view of Mount Tom crowns the vivid autumnal colors blazing along the shoreline of Lovewell Pond in Fryeburg. Michael Perry photo

The State of Maine boat launch is located near the southwestern end of the pond. Follow Route 113 3 miles south of downtown Fryeburg. The gravel access road is located just before the parking area for the Mountain Division Rail Trail. Consult the Delorme Maine Atlas and Gazetteer (map No. 4).

At age 13, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published his first poem, “The Battle of Lovell’s Pond” – a four-stanza account of a bloody battle between English settlers and Abenaki Indians in September 1725 on the shores of today’s Lovewell Pond. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about the conflict in a short story from his book, “Mosses from an Old Manse.” Henry David Thoreau mentioned the fight in “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.”

A tree-lined channel leads from the boat launch a mile south to the broad and swift Saco River. This maple-lined channel provides an array of tree reflections and soothing coolness from the sun-splashed pond. We glided over artistic, reef-like sand formations created at times of stronger current. Oddly enough, this outlet channel turns into an inlet channel when the Saco is in flood stage. At those times the Saco floods back into Lovewell Pond, raising the level of the pond dramatically.

The pond is dotted with long, sandy beaches. Most are near the cottages, but there is a beautiful wilderness beach located a mile northeast of the boat launch. We spent an hour here sunning, swimming and scanning the line of mountains with our binoculars. One of the best mountain views is not a mountain at all but a dramatic round ledge called Jockey Cap just north of the pond. This popular short hike offers far-reaching views from its open summit.

South of the pond sits the steep profile of Burnt Meadow Mountain in Brownfield. From the southern end of the pond you will enjoy views to the east of Pleasant Mountain’s long humped ridgeline. Looking north you’ll see the whaleback contour of Mount Tom and its exposed eastern ledges peering down over the pond.

We arrived early in the morning under a cover of thick fog that eventually gave way to clear skies by mid-morning. It worked out perfectly for our 7-mile circumnavigation of the pond. We paddled by the cottages appearing mysteriously in and out of the mists, and enjoyed sun along the undeveloped portion of the shoreline. At the northern end of the pond we spied an immature bald eagle sitting on a dead branch in a tight cluster of red maples. A blue heron flew awkwardly into a nearby maple and a V-formation of 14 cormorants flew low over the pond heading south.

It was nice seeing other canoeists and kayakers out on the pond enjoying the warm 70-degree temperatures and mirror-calm conditions. Two adult kayakers were towing youngsters in their own small kayaks around the pond’s only island just south of the wilderness beach. Other paddlers were venturing down the channel to the Saco. We all had ear-to-ear smiles at our shared good fortune to be in such a beautiful setting.

By early afternoon cumulus clouds were riding up over the Presidentials, just touching the windswept summit of Mount Washington. We remained wrapped in sunshine.

Instead of heading straight home, consider venturing up to Jockey Cap for the 15-minute trek to the top. Or bring bikes to explore the paved 4-mile Mountain Division Trail. And don’t forget to pick up pumpkins at one of the many farm stands along your route home.

Michael Perry is the former director of the L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery Schools, and founder of Dreams Unlimited, specializing in inspiring outdoor slide programs for civic groups, businesses, and schools. Contact his at:

michaelj_perry@comcast.net

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