East Holden: Nature and Local History

When visiting East Holden, you can focus on nature trails or local history. In Holden, the Fields Pond Audubon Center, the Holden Nature Trails, and the historic Town Hall are the main highlights. The details below can help you choose among the natural areas and historic site according to your interests.

Natural Areas and Trails

The Fields Pond Audubon Center is located in Holden and Orrington. The site includes a nature center, a 191-acre pond, and a 229-acre sanctuary. The trails pass through fields, wetlands, woods, and shoreline areas. The varied habitats and trails are well suited to nature study, wildlife observation, hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing.

Each trail offers a different experience. The Lake Shore Trail crosses a 300-foot boardwalk through a floodplain swamp and offers good views of Fields Pond and its 22-acre island. The Ravine Trail centers on a hemlock forest and views of a ravine; the route includes rock steps and stepping stones across a small stream. The Beechwood Trail offers several longer hiking loops around the sanctuary and passes through a stand of American beech trees. The landscapes described are therefore distinct: the Lake Shore Trail features a swamp and pond views, the Ravine Trail a forest and ravine, and the Beechwood Trail longer loops and a beech stand. When choosing among these trails, you can consider which of these settings you would like to explore.

Another option is the Holden Nature Trails, with three miles of nature trails for hiking and snowshoeing. Snowshoeing is available on both these trails and at the Fields Pond Audubon Center; cross-country skiing is also an activity at the center. This comparison may help you choose based on the activity you have in mind, while the individual trails at Fields Pond are distinguished primarily by their landscape features.

The Historic Town Hall

The Holden Town Hall is a one-and-a-half-story wood-frame building on Main Road in Holden. It is considered historically and architecturally notable and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its local significance in the town's social, recreational, and governmental history, as well as for its local architectural significance. Here, local history and architectural style come together in a specific building.

The Holden Historical Society invites neighbors and visitors to tour the historic Town Hall in person and asks that they make an appointment. If you plan a visit, please take this request to arrange an appointment into account.

Holden in the Transportation Context

Route 1A runs through Holden and is the main transportation link between Bangor and travelers heading to Acadia National Park. It provides the transportation context for travel between these destinations. The nature trails and Town Hall described here offer separate ways to explore Holden: spend time outdoors, observe habitats, or learn about local history. This makes it possible to plan transportation and choose activities separately, without conflating the different details about trails, landscapes, and local history.

Discover more destinations: Swans Island, Ellsworth, Mount Desert, Gouldsboro, Bucksport, Castine, Dedham, Orland.

Return to the main travel overview: Hancock.