The scene on their logo -- restful water encircled by sheltering pine trees on a backdrop of massive green mountains -- is no false advertising. Great Pond Outdoor Adventure Center, a recreation facility for military families in Aurora, Maine, is a hidden gem.
Formerly named Dow Pines and owned by the Air Force, Great Pond was closed for a period of ten years. Seven summers ago, the Navy took ownership and opened the facility again. Great Pond is officially part of NAS Brunswick. But don't worry, when the base closes in the next few years, Great Pond will become part of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and will still be available for military travelers. Aurora, Maine, is 140 miles northeast of Brunswick and 36 miles northeast of Bangor.
Our family has been visiting Great Pond on a regular basis now that we are stationed in Maine. To be honest, I never thought about visiting a military recreation facility before, despite having been a military dependent for 33 years, and when Dustin mentioned the idea last fall, I turned up my nose. "If we're going to take a vacation in Maine, let's do it at a 'real' resort," I shamelessly said. Dustin persisted, and this summer, we took our first trip to the area.
The drive to Great Pond belies it's beauty. It is a long, winding path through mostly nothing. One begins to wonder if they should have opted for a beach vacation instead. Then, at the end of Great Pond Road, at the bottom of a hill, the forest parts and the first glimpses of sunlight bouncing on the water can be seen. Vacationers need not leave the recreation facility again until it is time to go home. The 375-acre campground has everything you need: 5 cabins, 15 campsites, 5 yurts (in my estimation, these quasi tee-pees are one step removed from sleeping in a tent, and completely worth the nominal nightly rates), seemingly unlimited kayaks, canoes, and fishing boats. The times we have stayed at Great Pond, we park our vehicle alongside the yurt, only moving it for trips to the maine lodge. If you bring a bicycle, the one-mile hike from the campsites to the lodge is even easier.
Our three boys' favorite part of Great Pond is the main lodge, dock and "beach" area. There, they run and play from sun up to sun down, and I never worry about their safety. (A child is never so tired than after a day spent at Great Pond.) The maine lodge is a kids' indoor playground with a pool table, table tennis, air hockey, foosball and a big-screen television (don't worry, they will hardly have the time or the inclination to sit down and watch television at Great Pond). Because the main lodge is a suitable all-day hangout, children often see the same peers there day after day during their stay, until finally, they are racing up the wooden front porch to see if their newfound "vacation friends," whose names they will likely never know or remember, are already there.
Another favorite spot for our family is out in the middle of the pond (which is actually the size of a large lake). With our canoe or kayak, we round the bend of pine trees and campsites until the floating dock of Great Pond is no longer visible and for as far and wide as we can see, there is nothing but mountains covered with green. I have never felt so small as when I'm in the middle of that "pond." The water laps the sides of our boat, and the children, for the first time that day, will be still. Our youngest son, Lindell, 2, even took a nap on the canoe in the middle of Great Pond. Sometimes, Dustin takes the boys fishing, either from a rented motor boat or off the sides of the rocky shore.
Once the beach area has gone completely dark (the sunsets are not to be missed), it has become a tradition for our family to go back to our yurt, make a campfire and roast our dinner and s'mores. The boys run through the woods and up and down the paths until their tired legs won't go any further. We put them in their bunk beds, and then ourselves fall into the pullout futon, where we will dream of another day spent on the shores of Great Pond.
I am fortunate that Dustin never paid attention to my protests about going to a military campground. Great Pond is truly a hidden treasure deep in the woods of Maine. I highly recommend it to all military families in or out of Maine who are looking for a relaxing, adventurous place for their next family vacation.
Sarah Smiley is the author of “Going Overboard: The Misadventures of a Military Wife” (Penguin/NAL) and “I’m Just Saying…” (Ballinger), and her syndicated column “Shore Duty” appears weekly in military and civilian newspapers across the country. She lives in Maine with her Navy husband and three young sons. Read more about Sarah at her website, www.SarahSmiley.com.