Bald Mountain Pond is an important place for many. For paddlers and anglers, it’s a haven to drop a line and catch something memorable. For wildlife, it’s a place to call home. And for Appalachian Trail hikers, it’s the final stretch of the south-to-north route—marking the grand finale of an iconic journey.

Timber companies once owned the pond and the surrounding forest. And with the region’s timber economy in flux combined with land ownership shifting over time, visitors started seeing more locked gates and “no trespassing” signs.

In 2018, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity emerged to protect Bald Mountain Pond, and Trust for Public Land rallied more than a dozen partners to permanently preserve this spectacular place. In 2020, the 2,620 acres surrounding Bald Mountain Pond’s rugged shoreline, and an iconic stretch of the Appalachian Trail, became protected from development and open to the public forever.