Sargent Mountain Pond: The Fountain of Youth
One of Acadia National Park's many gems
One of the lies our history books tell us is that Ponce de Leon searched Florida for a magical fountain of youth. The truth is that slaves and gold were the treasure the Spanish demanded. All Ponce got in the Sunshine state was a poison arrow and a slow death in Cuba. No immortality for you, amigo.
I don’t believe in a charmed fountain of youth, but there’s a small body of water I always find rejuvenating – the Sargent Mountain Pond in Acadia National Park.
The pond doesn’t appear on the free Park Service map – there’s green where there should be blue. But even if more people knew about the pond, most would never make the effort to reach it.
By Acadia standards, the Sargent Mountain Pond is remote. From whatever trail combination chosen to reach it, it’s over 2 miles through the woods up the rocky slopes of mountains. Nestled in a valley between two peaks, there’s no easy route up.
We’d been coming to Acadia for years, but I had no idea the pond existed. Scouring one my maps planning the next day’s hike, I noticed a tiny splotch of blue. “What’s this?” I asked out loud. That night I traced a route so we could discover this mystery blue spot.
With no kids in tow, the next day my wife and I set out to hit five peaks along a 5-mile loop. We hopped from one mountain top to the next and experienced the only place on the east coast where mountains and the ocean collide in magnificent natural beauty.
We summitted the fourth peak, Sargent Mountain, and headed south along an open ridge to Penobscot. Before we reached the final peak, I knew we’d pass the pond I’d spotted on the map. As we descended from the wide-open blue sky of the ridge into the shade of the pine trees, I heard splashing and laughter below.
“You can swim here!”
As the circular pond came into view, the shimmering water reflected a wall of short coniferous trees – some thriving, some struggling and others that had succumbed to the brutal conditions of life spent on a mountain pond by the ocean.
But this was summertime in Maine, and I was ready to cool off.
In the small forest opening that served as the pond’s locker room, we joined a handful of other hikers as we took our boots off and prepared for the dip. I couldn’t jump in fast enough. Coming from the heat of an alpine trek, the cool mountain water was my life’s singular focus in that moment.
I stepped in the shallow water of a rock slab launching pad, making sure the water was deep enough for a jump. With a shallow dive into the pond, I was transformed.
The water wasn’t warm, but the Sargent Mountain Pond temperature was the perfect anecdote for my sweat and fatigue. As I glided under the water for as long as I could hold my breath, I felt alive, instantly recharged and rejuvenated. It was a rebirth.
In the years since that first swim, my family and I have made the journey to Sargent Mountain Pond many times. Not all attempts were successful – the long and difficult climb, especially in the summer heat, proved to be too much for some little legs.
When we have made it, any complaining and bickering turns into swimming and smiles.
In 2018 we made it, barely. Our overweight couch dog (Brave Sandy Queen of the Forest) struggled to the top. It was unusually hot for coastal Maine, and the rocks and gravel chewed up her paws. No one felt the rejuvenation of Sargent Mountain Pond more than Sandy. Panting in the August sun, the cold immersion into the pond was just as good as the ER visit our heat-exhausted patient needed. We only had to carry her part of the way down thanks to Sargent Mountain Pond.
We all know children love to swim – they’re never happier than splashing and playing in a pool or a lake. As adults the novelty wears off. It’s been there, done that mixed in with some practicality – when I was ten I would never let the lack of a bathing suit stop me from swimming.
But getting the chance to swim in the Sargent Mountain Pond gets me motivated to make the journey. It brings back the love I had for swimming many moons ago.
Swimming in the Sargent Mountain Pond won’t bring me or anyone else everlasting life. But it always makes me feel younger than sitting on my ass staring at a screen. Funny how that works.