Tucked away in the northwest part of the big lake is Bearcamp Woodlands, a diverse habitat abutting the Bearcamp River that comprises one of the largest undeveloped sections of lakefront in the Ossipee Lake system.
These acres were once hayed as open farmland, but reverted to woodland when the lake was dammed to facilitate recreation. It’s now a combination of wetlands and forest. The wetlands are represented by spruce bogs, beaver ponds, open water, marshes with grasses, and forested wetlands. Forest cover includes white pine, pitch pine and scrub oak in the Ossipee sand plains habitat; floodplain habitat with silver maple; and mixed oak-pine and birch forest habitat.
Look for black bears, moose, muskrats, deer, and otters as you walk the preserve’s hiking trails. Enter fromJewell Hill Road, just north of Deer Cove Road on Route 16. Look for a gated unpaved road next to a West Ossipee Fire Department building, and park without blocking the gate. You may also enter the property from the lake by kayak or canoe.
Bearcamp Woodlands is owned by New England Forestry Foundation.