The Top Day-Trip in Waterville, Maine: Johnson Pond, Perkins Arboretum, Colby Museum of Art: Day-Trip at Colby College Atop Mayflower Hill

On Your Way to or from Someplace Else, Stop for a Day-Trip at Colby College in Waterville, Maine

Waterville, Maine is a nice, quiet academic-type town that really has no special tourist attraction of it's own but does make a pleasant day-trip stopping place on the way to or from some place else. Colby College is the main reason.

Colby College, set high above the town on Mayflower Hill, in Waterville, Maine, is one of the countries premiere colleges and is very often found in annual rankings, such as by US News and World Report, listing the top 25 liberal arts colleges in the United States. With a beautiful and scenic campus, full of winding picturesque walks, Colby also boasts some particularly interesting features perfectly suited to a day-trip.

First of interest for a day-trip at Colby College is Johnson's Pond, which covers six acres and was built in 1939. The tons of earth removed from the Johnson Pond dig were transported up the hill and used to build the terraces in front of Miller Library, in keeping with Colby's Audubon-like conservationism. Johnson Pond, providing the focal point of a lovely round-campus walk, is now stocked with rainbow trout, adding more pleasure to a day-trip and a leisurely rest beside Johnson Pond. Additionally, in winter, Johnson Pond is cleared and made suitable for use as an ice skating pond. Colby College has an open-door campus policy, so the pleasure of the campus walks and Johnson Pond are good-naturedly available to non-students. Figure skate at your own risk, however....

Second in interest for a day-trip is the Colby College Perkins Arboretum, 128 acres of Wildlife Management Area, a Coordinated Area that has been withdrawn from public domain under the National Wildlife Refuge System. Such coordinated areas are managed through a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state fish and wildlife agency. As such, Perkins Arboretum is a treasure trove of natural riches and perfect for a day-trip, or a series of such.