Five Kezar Ponds

Glacial Legacy

The ponds sit in a basin carved by a continental ice sheet that reached its southernmost extent roughly 21,000 years ago. As the glacier advanced from the north-northwest, it scoured and deepened the valley where the Five Kezars now lie. When the ice retreated, torrential meltwater deposited extensive sands and gravels across the area. The most visible remnants are the gigantic Ice Age boulders scattered along the Back Pond shoreline — so numerous and concentrated that geologists identify them as a moraine, the jumbled material left at the margin of the ancient ice sheet.↗

Hiking the Five Kezar Ponds Reserve

The Greater Lovell Land Trust conserved 316 acres of forest, wetland, and shoreline here between 1998 and 2018, building on an earlier 10-acre purchase made in 1980 by families living on Back Pond. The reserve has two trailheads and four trails suited to a half-day outing.↗

The Mountain Trail is the standout: a 0.8-mile, steadily rising path to a summit with views south through the Kezar River valley and west toward the Presidential Range and White Mountains. Tom's Path, a short 0.2-mile spur off the Mountain Trail, provides several vantage points overlooking Middle Pond. For a gentler walk, Ron's Loop is a 1-mile circuit through the western portion of the property with bog bridges over wet areas and moderate inclines under a mixed forest canopy. The Orange Trail connects the Mountain Trail to Ron's Loop in 0.9 miles, giving hikers options for combined routes.↗

Fishing and Water Activities

The Five Kezars support a primarily warm-water fishery with smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, yellow perch, golden shiner, hornpout, and pumpkinseed sunfish. Back Pond is the exception — most of its water column stays well oxygenated through the year and it is stocked annually with brook trout. Motorboats over 10 horsepower are prohibited, keeping the ponds quiet and uncrowded. There is no size or bag limit on bass (Regulation S-13).↗

Getting There and Visiting Tips

The ponds sit in lake country between Lovell, Stoneham, and Waterford — all in Oxford County. From the GLLT office on Main Street in Lovell, head north on Route 5 for about a mile, turn right onto Old Waterford Road (which becomes dirt and then Five Kezars Road), drive 7 miles, turn left on Kezars Ridge Drive, and at 0.6 miles keep right onto 5 Kezar Ponds Road to find the Mountain Trail sign. From North Waterford, the approach is shorter: turn right onto Route 35 from Route 5, then right onto Five Kezars Road, and in about 2 miles turn right onto Kezars Ridge Road.↗

The reserve is open for hiking, hunting (per Maine law), non-commercial foraging, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. No motorized vehicles, camping, or campfires are permitted. Pets must be leashed, and all waste must be carried out. There are two parking areas at the trailheads. Given the long dirt-road approach, a vehicle with reasonable ground clearance is advisable, especially after rain or in winter.↗

The area sees few visitors compared to better-known lake destinations in the region, making it a genuine escape for those who appreciate still water, old-growth edges, and the kind of Maine landscape that hasn't been reshaped by resort development.

Conservation Story

The Five Kezar Ponds Watershed Association — a group of lake residents and friends — drove the conservation effort that expanded the reserve from an initial 10 acres to 316 acres over two decades. The Greater Lovell Land Trust now stewards the land, ensuring that public access trails coexist with habitat protection for the vernal pools, wetlands, and upland forest that feed into these ponds. The result is a rare example of a lake community choosing shared stewardship over private shoreline ownership.↗