Willard Pond
| Willard Pond | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Antrim, New Hampshire |
| Coordinates | 43°01′17″N 72°00′58″W / 43.02139°N 72.01611°WCoordinates: 43°01′17″N 72°00′58″W / 43.02139°N 72.01611°W |
| Type | Pond |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 108 acres (44 ha) |
| Average depth | 25 feet (7.6 m) |
| Max. depth | 58 feet (18 m) |
| Surface elevation | 1,158 feet (353 m) |
| Islands | none |
| Settlements | none |
Willard Pond is a small, protected lake in Antrim, New Hampshire, United States. The lake, located in southwestern New Hampshire, is about 108 acres (44 ha) in size with an average depth of 25 feet (7.6 m) and a maximum depth of 58 feet (18 m). No petroleum motors are allowed, and fly fishing is the only form of fishing allowed. It is part of the dePierrefeu Wildlife Sanctuary, which is owned by the New Hampshire Audubon Society. Because the pond and the land around it are part of the sanctuary, the shore is unable to be developed. Therefore, there are no buildings around the pond and there won't be in the foreseeable future. Willard is instead surrounded by extensive amounts of wilderness and hiking trails that lead around the pond and to the summits of Bald Mountain and Goodhue Hill. Willard is a popular fishing, boating, hiking and swimming destination, and it has become more popular with its mention in numerous magazines and newspapers.
In 1967 Elsa Tudor dePierrefeu first created the Audubon Sanctuary at Willard Pond. Elsa had lost her husband in World War I and had a strong vision for a sanctuary with wildlife at the forefront of her vision. The commemoration rock at the entrance of the sanctuary reads "For Peace Among All Beings", which represents the vision she had for the sanctuary. Along with initial donations from Madam dePierrefeu's family, the Harris Center and New Hampshire Audubon have continued her dream with conservation initiatives and have expanded the sanctuary to 1,400 acres (570 ha), making it New Hampshire Audubon's largest piece of land. Willard Pond only covers 108 acres of this sanctuary, showing just how expansive it is. New Hampshire Audubon overall protects over 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of land. This area is combined with other protected land creating a "supersanctuary" of about 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) in New Hampshire.
Willard Pond is located entirely within the town of Antrim, but in order to access it one must drive through Hancock, New Hampshire, which has a border extremely close to the pond. Antrim has an area of about 36 square miles (93 km2) and had a population of 2,637 people at the 2010 census. Antrim is surrounded by the towns of Hillsborough, Deering, Bennington, Hancock, Nelson, Stoddard, and Windsor, which are all small rural towns. Willard Pond can be reached by going through the center of Hancock on New Hampshire Route 123 and turning onto a dirt road. The pond forms the dead end of that road. Bald Mountain is the only visible mountain from Willard and towers over the pond with a summit at 2,083 feet (635 m). The mountain is named as such because of a fire that left the summit without vegetation. Immediately south of Willard is Mill Pond which is extremely small but offers opportunities to see animals such as beavers and otters. Willard's parking lot is located a short walk from the actual boat launch, and there is a caretaker's house between the parking lot and the pond. Directly across the water from the boat launch is an area called Pine Point which has a small sandy beach and an open woods area with large boulders. These boulders are present all around Willard; retreating glaciers left them there. Many boulders can be accessed by hiking or by boating.
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