Note: This is moose country - go slowly! The dirt road to the boat launch is narrow and has BIG potholes. Be careful!
Parking: There are only a couple of places close to the launch that looks like dedicated parking spots. There are signs along the west side that says no parking, private property. Please remember to respect that. I was the only person there when I arrived ,but when I left there were a few other vehicles that people had just made fit in this area. A bit above the launch area is a separate parking area.
EEK I forgot to get pics of parking, sorry!
Launch: the boat launch is designed in a loop so that people can drive around then back their boats down the grooved cement ramp. The launch is wide enough for a vehicle and there was some space off to the side to 'park' my kayak while I parked the truck after unloading my kayak.
Fees: None
Bathroom: None
Wildlife: On my visit I saw a lot of birds including loons and red winged blackbirds. I saw beaver lodges and so much habitat that I imagine would be home to deer and moose. (The person who recommended this spot said there is often wildlife.) This place felt so untouched; I imagine a lot of wildlife calls this place home!
Notes: I LOOOOOOVE this pond! I was headed to the Moosehead area for a conference and was excited to possibly have the chance to paddle in that area. I had posted in one of the facebook kayaking groups I am in and asked if anyone had any suggestions and someone named James suggested Prong Pond.
I googled it and saw the shape of the pond and it seemed there were a lot of nooks and crannies to explore... my kind of place!
(Map from Google)
I can now say, after a ride on the Katahdin, Moosehead Lake is beautiful. And I Am sure some people would wonder why I didn't paddle there if I was in that neck of the woods. Moosehead is too big for me... when I kayak I like places with few to none power boats and like places where seeing wildlife is likely.
Prong Pond was perfect! There are a couple of structures, camps/homes, on Prong Pond that are barely visible from the pond, but for the most part, I would say that this pond is almost...untouched!
I got on the water around 8:00 a.m. To be honest I would have loved to be on the pond earlier - you all know I loooove being on the water as the sun comes up... but the night before I was over two hours from Prong Pond... so having gotten on the road before 6 a.m. to launch by 8 was pretty good.
When I arrived the water was so calm. I looked across the pond and was really excited to be there. I saw a couple of islands, some big boulders and even from the launch could see that the landscape varied along the shore.
There were places with thick evergreens...
Places with views of the hills!
There were huge boulders!
And some exposed roots...
An important note... there are many boulders in this pond and I admit I ended up 'brushing' against or up on many of them! I was so interested in everything around me I wasn't always watching the water and did not see the boulders that were just under the surface!
When I launched I debated which way to go... left or right... I decided to go right... I stuck to the shore so that I could explore it all! (In the map above, the green dot is the launch site... so when I launched I headed southeast.)
The reflections were incredible. I took a lot of photos and videos as I was taking it all in! One of my favorite areas was the 'arm' of the pond that shoots out towards 9:00 (If it was a clock)This seemed to be prime moose habitat. I did not see any, but would not have been surprised to have seen one at any moment!
The shores of this area were very marshy... and I saw hundreds of pitcher plants! I have seen a few of them in other ponds, but I have NEVER seen so many in one place...I think, if I had to name this area I would call it Pitcher Plant Passage!
If you are unfamiliar with pitcher plants... they are pretty fascinating - they are a carnivorous plant... kind of like the Venus flytrap. I saw them along the shore in other marshy areas on this pond as well, but this part was just astounding! (I think I may make a tiktok video just about the pitcher plants I saw here!) there is only one pitcher plant that is native to Maine.
Learn more here!
I kept paddling and enjoyed more forested areas and then into areas that were 'boggy'... I love the trees in boggy areas... they have such a different texture! In those areas I saw some signs of beavers, but did not see any of those busy builders!
As I got to the southwestern most part of the pond the temperature was rising! I was glad I had brought enough water! I admit that at that point I realized this pond is bigger than I expected... in my defense - Prong Pond, compares to Moosehead Lake is SMALL... but... compared to other ponds, it is BIG! It's all about perspective!
It was so hot that my camera got overheated...and some of the photos show it... like this one...
As I paddled back towards the launch, I knew, from the map, that I had another area to explore... the right leg of the map... and truth be told... as the temp was rising.. and my arms tiring, I thought about bypassing it and heading straight for the launch.. but I also REALLY wanted to see what may be there.. and I am glad I went! It was beautiful - definitely had that remote feeling. I loon kept diving around me- I love watching them underwater.
This area was another area where there MUST be moose! I mean... there was grass in the water that they like... part of me wanted to stay there and just wait for sunset.. but my conference was starting around 5... so I could not stay... but you can bet next time I am in this area I am gonna either get there by sunrise or... enjoy sunset!
This was an incredible spot!!!! If you are in that area - go there... NOW (or the next time there is daylight!) If you are not from there... it is worth the trip!
Here are some more pics - I apologize that some of them have a funky glow because of the overheating of my phone!!
This was one of the boggy areas!
There were also MANY Irises along the way. I didn't get the photo I wanted, but this was close!
Saw this little froggy hanging out!
Again, I loved the diverse landscape...
It was so calm and so fun to explore so may places
Again - this was a beautiful spot... I will be back!!
