The gate on Overset Pond Lane is closed. I have to haul in all my equipment using my canoe wheels.
Overset Pond covers 18 acres and is located in Greenwood, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 C4). To reach this location, drive north on Route 219 (Greenwood Road) into Greenwood. Turn left on Patch Mountain Road and drive down this road for 0.5 miles. Then, turn right on Willis Mills Road and after 0.1 mile, turn right again on Overset Pond Lane. Note that the latter goes through privately-owned woodlands. The landowners allow public access via permissive trespass. However, they also installed a sturdy gate that is locked during mud season to prevent vehicles from destroying Overset Pond Lane. The sign says that the gate will be open on May 23. To reach the pond when the gate is locked (as it is for me today), leave your vehicle at the small parking lot by the gate and walk for about ¾ of a mile. Be aware that Overset Pond Lane is deceptively steep! It took me 30 minutes of serious huffing and puffing to pull up all my gear on my canoe wheels, but only 20 minutes to return back to the gate at the end of my trip. At some point, the lane bifurcates. Look for a small brown sign by the tree line on the left just passed the fork that says “Overset”. That’s the start of the 2.2 mile Overset Pond hiking trail which loops around the pond. It takes about 8 to 10 minutes to reach the access point from here (hang a left at the bifurcation on the trail at the southern tip of the pond). Note that this trail is too rough to accommodate canoe wheels. Hence, everything has to be carried in by hand from the road to the access point. I do have a sneaky, but unproven, suspicion that the gravel road to the left of the bifurcation may in fact extend to the access point which also has a campsite and a fire ring.
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