Name: Kennebunk Plains
Location: Off Route 99 in Kennebunk, Maine.
Details: Parking, free, open 6am – 9pm
Rules: Posted at site. Stay on trails in nesting seasons. Special rules apply during nesting seasons, roughly May 1 – September 30. No collection of wildflowers, plants or animals.
Dogs: Yes, on leash and on trails only.
Web Site: Nature Conservancy

A mere 14,000 years ago melting glaciers formed this barren grassy spot, now known as the Kennebunk Plains and Wells Barrens. The sifted sand and gravelly soil is unable to support major vegetation leaving the flat landscape grassy. That is pretty unique in this woodsy part of coastal Maine and so the region supports a special habitat of plants and animals.

Unknowing visitors might just speed by this fascinating spot that stretches out on both sides of the road. Yet it is considered one of the rarest and most threatened natural communities in New England. A plaque just inside the parking lot offers an overview of this "sandplain grassland" area and its natural inhabitants. Among those are 14 rare plant and animals species including the state’s only population of northern blazing star – which was in full bloom during our late summer visit. In fact, this site is considered the world’s largest population of the blazing purple plant.

Naturalists should look also for the toothed white-topped aster, and upright bundweed, not to mention the low lying crop of blueberries that visitors are invited to pick during regulated seasons. Look also for nesting grasshopper sparrows, eastern meadowlark and upland sandpipers. The site is also a rare location for the black racer snake, not to mention ribbon snakes and wood turtles. The four protected miles along the Mousam River is habitat for largemouth bass and rare native brook trout. And look for passing deer, turkey, ruffed grouse.

The spot is protected by the Nature Conservancy,a nonprofit agency. A few years ago another 673 acres were added to 1,900 acres already owned jointly by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy and the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells Water District.

The land is open under regulation for low-impact uses like hiking, hunting, fishing, canoeing, bird watching, snowmobiling, blueberry picking and cross-country skiing. It is the largest intact example of the sandplain ecosystem in New England.

Photos by J. Dennis Robinson, SeacoastNH.com