Great Heath
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Maine’s LARGEST Peat Bog — 4,000-acre raised peatland — one of the most intact coastal plateau bogs in North America
Great Heath is Maine’s largest peat bog — a 4,000-acre raised peatland (plateau bog) in Columbia Falls. This extraordinary ecosystem has been growing for 10,000 years since the last glaciers retreated, accumulating up to 15 feet of peat. The bog’s surface is a spongy carpet of sphagnum moss dotted with carnivorous sundew and pitcher plants. Great Heath is one of the most intact coastal plateau bogs in North America — an ecosystem type that has been destroyed across most of its former range by peat harvesting and cranberry farming.
Visitor Information
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Location | Columbia Falls, Washington County, ME |
| Size | 4,000 acres! |
| Entry Fee | Free |
| Age | 10,000 years of peat growth! |
| Plants | Carnivorous sundew + pitcher plants! |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I walk on the bog?
Yes, but carefully! The surface is spongy sphagnum moss that bounces underfoot. Wear waterproof boots — you’ll sink ankle-deep in many places. The experience of walking on a living 10,000-year-old peatland is unforgettable.
About Great Heath
Great Heath in Washington County protects one of the largest raised peat bogs in Maine — over 4,000 acres of open bog and heath. Raised bogs are globally rare ecosystems where the peat surface rises above the surrounding terrain, creating a unique spongy landscape of sphagnum moss, carnivorous plants, and dwarf shrubs. The heath has been accumulating peat for over 10,000 years since the last Ice Age.
Things to Do
Walking carefully on the spongy bog surface, viewing carnivorous sundew and pitcher plants, birdwatching (palm warblers and Lincoln’s sparrows nest in the heath), photography of the unique landscape, and blueberry picking in the surrounding barrens.
