There’s a reason people come to Great Pond once and keep coming back for the next decade.
The 8,239-acre lake at the heart of the Belgrade Lakes region in central Maine has a quality that’s difficult to name but impossible to miss. Maybe it’s the scale of it wide enough that you can paddle for an hour and feel genuinely far from the world, yet intimate enough that you know the coves, the quiet corners, and the best spots to watch the sun go down. Maybe it’s the loons. Maybe it’s just what happens when you unplug, slow down, and let a week of lake life do its work.
Whatever the reason, a summer week on Great Pond is one of the finest things you can do in New England. This is how to spend it.
Before You Arrive
Driftwood Cottage sits directly on the waterfront of Great Pond in Belgrade, Maine. It sleeps 6–8, comes with a full kitchen, high-speed Wi-Fi, a fire pit, a propane grill, and crucially, two kayaks included with your stay. Dogs are welcome. Check-in is at 4 pm on your arrival day.
Book direct through cottagesofmaine.com to avoid OTA fees, and contact us directly if you have any questions before you arrive.
Pack light on gear. The cottage has everything you need for the water. Bring groceries for the week, your camera, and your dog if you have one.
Table of Contents
Day 1 — Monday: Arrive, Unpack, Exhale
Get here in the early evening if you can. The drive up Route 27 from Augusta toward Belgrade Lakes village is beautiful, and arriving at the lake with enough light left to sit on the dock for an hour is the perfect way to begin.
Pick up groceries in Augusta on the way in. There’s a Hannaford and a Shaw’s within 25 minutes of the cottage. Stock the kitchen for the week and save yourself the daily errand.
Once you’re settled: dock, chair, cold drink, lake. That’s Monday. Let the city leave your body. Tomorrow the itinerary begins.
Tonight: Cook at the cottage. Light the fire pit after dinner. The Milky Way is visible on most clear nights here, with no light pollution, and a wide horizon over the water.
Day 2 — Tuesday: The Lake from the Water
Your first full day should be spent entirely on Great Pond itself.
Take the kayaks out before breakfast. Leave the dock by 7am if you can. The mist sits low on the water until around 8, and the silence is extraordinary, just paddle strokes, loon calls, and the occasional fish breaking the surface. Head south toward the coves off the eastern shore. Bring a coffee in a thermos.
After breakfast, gear up for a longer paddle. Great Pond stretches over 8,000 acres, with several distinct arms that you could paddle for a full day and not cover them all. Aim for the narrows between the north and south basins, where the water gets interesting, and the birdlife is dense.
Afternoon: Swim from the dock. The water peaks in the mid-70s°F in July and August, and it’s genuinely warm, clear, and clean.
Tonight: Dinner at Sadie’s Boathouse Restaurant on Great Pond. Arrive by boat if you’re feeling ambitious; there’s a dock. Order the fish and stay for the sunset.
Day 3 — Wednesday: Golf and Village Day
Five minutes from Driftwood Cottage, the Belgrade Lakes Golf Club is consistently ranked among the top public courses in Maine and on several national Top 100 lists. The course runs along the ridgeline above the lake with views that make it hard to keep your eye on the ball.
Book your tee time in advance during peak summer weeks. Early morning slots are the most coveted.
After golf, walk or drive into Belgrade Lakes village. It’s tiny, a handful of streets, a handful of businesses and completely charming. Stop into Day’s Store, the general store that’s been at the centre of village life for generations. Grab lunch, pick up anything you forgot, and browse the local notices.
Afternoon: Back to the lake. Float, read, do nothing with intention.
Tonight: Cook at the cottage. The propane grill is ready to go for steaks, corn, and the full summer treatment.
Day 4 — Thursday: Fishing on the Lake
Great Pond is one of the finest freshwater fishing lakes in New England. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are the headline act the lake has produced record-class fish and continues to draw serious anglers every summer. You’ll also find landlocked salmon, white perch, northern pike, and brook trout, depending on the season.
You don’t need a guide to have a productive morning. From the dock or from the kayak, bass fishing in the coves and along the lily pad edges is genuinely productive. Pick up a Maine fishing license online before you arrive (required for anyone 16 and older) and grab bait from Great Pond Marina or Belgrade Lakes Marine & Storage.
If you want a proper guided experience, several local outfitters run half-day bass fishing trips on the lake worth it for at least one morning if fishing is your thing.
Afternoon: Drive 30 minutes to Kennebec Highlands for a hike. The trails wind through a mixed forest, offering views over the Belgrade Lakes chain. French Mountain is the classic route, around 2.5 miles round trip, with a summit view that earns every step.
Tonight: Dinner at The Village Inn & Tavern in Belgrade Lakes village. Classic Maine menu, local atmosphere, zero pretension.
Day 5 — Friday: Day Trip to the Coast or Inland
You’re roughly equidistant from several of Maine’s great day-trip destinations from Belgrade Lakes.
Option A — The coast: Portland is about 75 minutes south. Walk the Old Port, eat lobster at Portland Pier, and be back at the lake in time for a late afternoon swim. Alternatively, head to Pemaquid Point (90 minutes) for the lighthouse and the rocky Atlantic coastline.
Option B — Inland: Drive north to Skowhegan for local farmers’ markets and the Margaret Chase Smith Library. Or push an hour further to Moosehead Lake for the sheer scale of Maine’s largest lake and a glimpse of the real north woods.
Option C — Stay at the lake. This is always a valid choice. By Day 5, the cottage starts to feel like home. The dock is calling. Sometimes the best day trip is the one you don’t take.
Tonight: Fire pit night. Bring back lobster rolls from the coast if you went. Or grill at the cottage and watch the sky go dark over the water.
Day 6 — Saturday: Slow Morning, Big Afternoon
Sleep in. This is your one slow morning, no plan, no alarm, no agenda until noon.
After a late breakfast, rent a motorboat for the afternoon from Great Pond Marina (just a short drive from the cottage) and explore the parts of the lake you haven’t reached by kayak yet. The north basin is wide and open, with expansive views. The quiet coves on the western shore are worth finding.
In the late afternoon, head back to the village for ice cream at Day’s Store and a walk around the waterfront. If there’s a concert at the Snow Pond Centre for the Arts (New England Music Camp’s free summer performance series), go. It’s one of Belgrade Lakes’ best-kept secrets: free outdoor concerts on summer evenings, world-class student musicians, and lake air.
Tonight: Cook a proper dinner at the cottage. This is the last full night — make it count. Fire pit after, long into the evening.
Day 7 — Sunday: Last Morning on the Dock
Checkout is at 10 am. Set your alarm for 6.
One final sunrise kayak. One final cup of coffee on the dock. Take the photo you’ve been meaning to take all week. Watch the loons. Notice the way the light hits the water in the early morning. Try to hold onto it.
Then pack the car, close up the cottage, and head home carrying something you won’t quite be able to explain to people who weren’t there.
Plan Your Week on Great Pond
Driftwood Cottage is available year-round for weekly and weekend stays. It sleeps 6–8 and is fully dog-friendly with no breed restrictions.
Book direct for the best rates, no Airbnb fees, no VRBO markup, just you and the lake.
Check availability and book your stay →
Questions before you book? Contact us directly; we’re a family-run operation, and we answer our own messages.
Cottages of Maine | Driftwood Cottage on Great Pond, Belgrade, Maine | Zeus’s Landing on Sibley Pond, Canaan, Maine | Pet-friendly, year-round, two kayaks included.