Let Bear Pond in Waterford, Maine, Renew Your Spirit

Out and About in the Sebago Lakes Region of Maine March 18 to 24
March 17, 2010
Peaceful, Wooded Lakefront Setting on Brettun’s Pond in Livermore, Maine
March 21, 2010

Let Bear Pond in Waterford, Maine, Renew Your Spirit


The ice slowly melts on Bear Pond in Waterford
Nestled in the western Maine Lakes and Mountains Region is Bear Pond in historic Waterford. Bear Pond is located only a mile and a half from Waterford Flats, the quaint center of Waterford where most of the buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The pond is surrounded by Bear Mountain, Hawk Mountain and Mount Tir’em, which provide a magical backdrop for a relaxing vacation.
At 218 acres, this small pond is Waterford’s deepest lake with a maximum depth of 72 feet and a mean depth of 34 feet. The water quality of pond is rated in the average to moderate category by the Lakes Environmental Association.

Lakefront Properties For Sale on Bear Pond, Waterford

View Vacation Rentals on Bear Pond

Bear Pond provides excellent habitat for cold and warm water fish. Anglers will find fifteen species here, including lake trout, smallmouth bass, splake, salmon and brook trout. Though the latter two spawn successfully in a branch of the main inlet called Mutiny Brook, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife regularly stocks them. During winter months, Bear Pond takes on the look of a village because many people ice fish here. For the rest of the year, you’ll find a steeply sloped, paved boat access on Route 35, which follows the eastern shoreline of the pond.There isn’t a public beach, but in the Lewiston Sun Journal’s March 7, 2010 report of the annual town meeting, Leslie H. Dixon wrote that Waterford voters, “went along with the Selectmen’s recommendation to keep a three-quarter-acre parcel at the south end of Bear Pond for public access . . . Officials said the benefits of retaining the land for residents far outweighed the money that it could bring in in taxes or through a sale. The parcel cannot be built upon.”Camp Wigwam, a summer camp for boys, sits among a pine grove and hugs the northwestern shoreline, while Bear Mountain Inn is set on 52 acres of the northeastern shoreline.Local lore gives us two stories about the name “Bear Pond.” One story claims it was named after a bear that was killed in its waters during early settlement. Another story is just slightly different–In the early spring of the late 1770s, a mother bear fell through the ice and drowned. Her young cub survived. We don’t know what happened to the cub, but that spring the mother’s body was recovered and the pond was named out of respect for her spirit.Whatever the reason, you’ll certainly refresh your own spirit when you spend time on Bear Pond. Fish, bird watch, kayak or canoe, tube, waterski, and stargaze. Hiking trails plus rock and ice climbing opportunities await on the surrounding mountains.Bear Pond is only one hour from Portland, 45 minutes from tax-free shopping in North Conway and minutes to the White Mountains. Let this inspiring setting satisfy your craving for lakefront property in a scenic, natural environment.

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