MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 21, 2024
If you have ever wanted to experience a triathlon, we have an “unofficial” one for you centering on, in, and above 69-acre Burnt Meadow Pond in Brownfield. Paddle one loop, or five, on the pond, swim as long as you want in the refreshing water, and cap it off with a 1.2-mile hike up to the top of 1,575-foot Burnt Meadow Mountain via the North Peak Trail. This small pond features impressive views straight up the northeastern flanks of Burnt Meadow Mountain. In October 1947, the year when Maine burned, Brownfield was one of the epicenters of devastation, with 21,000 acres burned in town. Years later, to bolster an economy that had been devastated by the fire, Brownfield investors built a ski area on the north slope of Burnt Meadow Mountain. It operated intermittently from 1972 to 1982. The forest has covered up most of the traces of the operation. ~ Michael Perry