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Borestone
Mountain Audubon Sanctuary
Welcome!
Encompassing more than 1,600 acres in western Maine, Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuar offers a spectacular array of natural features, including rare older forest, three crystalline ponds, exposed mountain rocks, and sweeping views.
A seasonal trailside Visitor Center on the shore of Sunrise Pond includes interactive displays and information about the area’s natural and human history.
Accessible only by boat or on foot, Borestone Sanctuary’s historic Adirondack-style lodges on Sunset Pond accommodate rentals for groups as well as public nature programs.
Trails from the sanctuary entrance offer a popular,
family-friendly hike to Borestone Mountain’s two highest peaks.
Wildlife and Habitat
- Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary is near the
southern end of Maine’s “100-Mile Wilderness” forest.
- Uncut for more than a century, its forest is unlike much
of the region’s spruce-fir and northern hardwood forest,
which has been cut for timber every 50-70 years.
- Lack of mature forest habitat in Maine makes
Borestone a special sanctuary for wildlife. Goshawks
wing through deciduous stands of trees to prey on
grouse. Pine martens seek nesting red squirrels.
Canada lynx, following snowshoe hare, leave tracks
visible in snow. Raccoons, owls, woodpeckers, and
other species nest in tree cavities.
- Particularly in early summer, birders can look for yellow-
bellied sapsucker, red-breasted nuthatch, boreal
chickadee, several vireos, winter wren, hermit thrush,
white-throated sparrow, and eight to ten warbler species
(including Blackburnian, Cape May, and bay-breasted).
- Common ravens and turkey vultures regularly soar
above the mountain’s exposed granite summit, while
peregrine falcons appear along the cliff faces.
- Borestone’s three clear and deep, spring-fed alpine
ponds are fishless, offering unique habitat for invertebrates
and amphibians, including beavers and the
dragonflies that eat mosquitos and black flies.
Although fish-eating birds are uncommon at the
ponds, Borestone visitors sometimes hear loons calling
from nearby Lake Onawa.
- Visitors also can see and hear bullfrogs, leopard frogs,
gray tree frogs, and red-spotted newts.
- Lining Borestone’s trails are blueberry and hobble
bushes, as well as wildflowers ranging from earlyblooming
dog-tooth violet to late-flowering whitewood
aster. Mushrooms proliferate in early fall. A
variety of mosses and lichens grow in wet areas and
on rocks throughout the sanctuary.
Trails
Among Maine’s most popular hiking destinations, Borestone Mountain offers a moderately strenuous
climb that culminates with spectacular 360-degree views from two peaks at nearly 2,000 feet. With binoculars,
hikers sometimes see moose feeding below.
Connected trails are marked with blazes and lead 2.5
miles from the sanctuary entrance on Bodfish Road to
the top of the mountain.
Base Trail—This 0.8-mile trail begins from the
shale-covered access road, at the first kiosk to the left.
It winds through mature forest and back to the access
road, which continues another 0.2 mile to the Visitor
Center at Sunrise Pond.
Hikers may also walk up the access road 1.3 miles from the sanctuary entrance to the Visitor Center. An overlook easily approached from the Base Trail and access road offers an expansive view of Greenwood Pond.
Summit Trail—From the Visitor
Center, the 1.0-mile Summit
Trail follows Sunrise Pond’s
shore before climbing steeply
through spruce and, in its final stage, over exposed rock.
Hikers emerge after 0.7 mile
onto the summit of the mountain’s
West Peak, with the highly
recommended choice of continuing another 0.3 mile to the East Peak.
Thanks to the Maine Conservation
Corps, 130 stone steps help hikers
ascend. There also are two steel
hand/footholds set in rock.
View or download trail information here. (PDF)
Hiking fees help Maine
Audubon maintain the trails at Borestone.
- Maine Audubon members as well as children under six hike
free
- $4/nonmember adults
- $2/nonmember students, seniors, and each participant from
school and other groups
History
In the early 1900s Robert T. Moore managed a fox ranch on what is now Borestone Mountain
Audubon Sanctuary. Aided by the Canadian
Pacific railway station on the edge of his land, he
sold award-winning pelts to auctions in New York.
In 1909 Moore hired noted Bangor architect
Wilfred E. Mansur to design the Adirondack-style
lodges on Sunset Pond. Lodge guests today
can still savor quiet evenings in front of a stone
hearth or on porches overlooking ponds.
Moore bequeathed Borestone to the National
Audubon Society in 1958, and gifts by his son and
daughter and other donors enlarged the sanctuary
to its present 1,639 acres. In 2000, the National
Audubon Society transferred Borestone Sanctuary
to Maine Audubon.
Today, beautiful Borestone
Mountain is the center piece of
Maine Audubon’s only North
Woods Sanctuary. Thanks to Maine Audubon and the surrounding community's support and involvement, more than 4,000 hikers every year have access to this treasured mountain.
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Borestone Mountain Art Exhibit and Sale Through August 31, 2009
See details and slideshow

Detail: Lodge at Borestone by Bobbi Heath
Visit
Us
Hold your next special occasion or
meeting at Maine Audubon
Contact us
Elliotsville Plantation
(207) 631-4050
June-September
(207) 781-2330
October-May
Visitor Center Hours:
9 a.m.–dusk daily, Memorial Day–October
Sanctuary/Hiking Hours:
Open to the public, dawn to dusk, year-round
Directions
Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary is located on Map 41 of Delorme’s Maine Atlas
Coming from the north or south, take Route 15/6 to Monson. Turn left (heading south) or right (heading north) onto Elliotsville Road. After 8 miles turn left, after the bridge, onto Bodfish Road. Parking area is approximately .2 miles on the left, after the railroad tracks. The gate and trailhead are on the right.
Stewardship
Our sanctuaries and centers are a tribute to the generosity, commitment and
active involvement of private individuals, foundations and corporations.
You, too, can become a steward - from clearing trails and leading
nature walks, to donating land and funding - and by doing your part
to help protect wildlife and wildlife habitat.
To ensure an enjoyable visit for all as well as to protect wildlife and wildlife
habitat:
Please,
- stay on trails
- carry out all litter
Please, NO:
- pets
- hunting, trapping, collecting
- fires
- camping
- alcoholic beverages
- off-road vehicles
Thank you!
Save the
Date
Full Moon Canoe Tours
July 5, 6 & 7
Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center
Scarborough, Maine
Moonlight Canoeing
Monday, July 6
Fields Pond Audubon Center
Holden, Maine
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