It seems unusual for an inland town in Maine to have an unofficial town logo featuring a lighthouse. Canton, the easternmost town in Oxford County, is the one and only.
Lake Anasagunticook, also known as Canton Lake, provides a dazzling foliage paddle, its shore lined with an array of hardwood trees in various stages of brilliance. Mountains and ridges surround the lake, giving your outing a bit of an Alpine feel.
In 1935, a hand-crafted stone cottage and 18-foot high lighthouse were built on the only island in the lake, an enhanced circle of stone and grass. It is as if they built a summer getaway on a poker chip.
Start your outing at the town boat launch in the center of Canton. A narrow corridor of water leads a quarter-mile south into the lake from the outlet dam. The early morning mist rising from the water gave the setting a ghostly feel. We paddled out to the lighthouse, marveled at the construction, and headed up to the north end of the lake. On a distant ridge to the northeast spun the white turbines of the eight-unit Canton Mountain Wind Farm.
The town boat launch at Lake Anasagunticook sits in the center of Canton, in eastern Oxford County. Christine Wolfe photo
A thin ribbon of town beach lies just below Route 108. We got out and sat on a wooden bench admiring the expansive view south over the mirror-calm lake. The western shoreline has many cottages strung along it, now settled into their winter dormancy. Kingfishers chattered away as they flew from tree branch to tree branch along the sun-splashed shoreline.
Halfway down the lake a secluded channel branches off to the west. We followed it for 10 minutes before being turned back by downed trees. The brilliant red berries of winterberry shrubs lined the banking, mixed with the unique light blue colors of silky dogwood berries. These fat-rich berries are a favorite of migrating songbirds. We saw many birds flitting in and out of the dogwoods on each side of the channel.
As we rounded a bend our heart rates accelerated into overdrive as a wood duck erupted up into the air a few yards away from us. We had a good laugh over it remembering the times on the ocean when a seal would surprise us with a tail slap.
A broad grassy marsh sits at the bottom of the lake, with another narrow channel providing more seclusion. A blue heron lifted up ahead of us, settling down around the next bend, then lifting off again at our approach. Eventually it flew up onto the branch of a maple tree and began grooming itself. The colors were dazzling; the gray of the heron accentuated by the brilliant red of the maple leaves.
A blue heron sits on a maple tree branch at Lake Anasagunticook in Canton. Christine Wolfe photo
As the lake starts to widen on your return you will notice the lake bottom now comprised of a rich tapestry of golden sand, courtesy of New England’s glacial heritage. A private sandy beach stretches along the southeastern side of the lake. From here there is very little development along the shoreline. The abandoned railroad grade of the Maine Central Railroad accounts for that. You will pass by a pair of granite railroad bridge abutments leading into a small lagoon.
Under the shadows of the hemlocks and pines leaning out over the water we stopped to marvel at the mosaic of mountains rising near and far across the lake. It was obvious why this spring-fed lake had once been a popular destination for lucky visitors escaping the stifling mid-summer heat of eastern cities. Three rustic resorts once lined the lake: Lakefield, Pinewood, and Pinehaven. Folks arrived by rail and were ferried across to their destinations. Lobster picnics were a weekly highlight. How many kids over the years had been told that the lobsters came fresh out of the lake? We yearned for that simpler, timeless era.
It was time to head back. Three hours had flown by. We did one more circuit around the lighthouse, and headed back into the channel leading up to the boat launch. The morning mist had evaporated and now it was a wall of foliage colors against a deep blue sky to admire.
Consult the DeLorme Maine Atlas and Gazetteer (map No. 11) for help in getting to downtown Canton. The launch site is adjacent to the Big Apple Store and Canton Historical Society on Route 108.
Michael Perry is the former director of the L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery Schools, and founder of Dreams Unlimited, specializing in inspiring outdoor slide programs for civic groups, businesses, and schools. Contact: michaelj_perry@comcast.net
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