City: Cherryfield, ME

Category: Parks & Recreation

Telephone: (207) 827-1818

Address: T10 SD

Description: Donnell Pond has a reputation as being a party zone, a place where kids—and many adults, too—go to drink, boat, and camp. And it is that. But this wild swath of public reserve land 12 miles east of Ellsworth covers more than 15,000 acres, and much of it is woods, so there’s plenty to enjoy away from the yahoos on the lake. In fact, the state owns frontage on Tunk and Spring River Lakes as well, and most of Schoodic, Black, and Caribou Mountains. The landscape here feels almost like the North Woods, rugged, piney, largely undeveloped. Not to be confused with the Acadia property of the same name, Schoodic offers enviable vistas of the mountains of Acadia and is accessed by old logging roads and a trail. Those grown-over tote roads wander here or there, making for easy hiking, and a network of trails climbs Black Mountain, which is a little over 1,000 feet. Primitive campsites are available on all of the bodies of water.