Mountains
The mountains, surrounding hills, and plateaus within the EPI sanctuaries are all part of the massive Appalachian Mountain chain that stretches from Alabama to the island of Newfoundland. Each sanctuary region--the Downeast mountains, the central Maine highlands, and the mountain uplands east of Katahdin--serves to protect not only the small ranges and associated habitat within their bounds but the rich biodiversity and scenic viewsheds of the higher elevations nearby.
On Mount Desert, the Coastal Sanctuary properties are located within the boundaries of Acadia National Park. The Mosely property, located along the southern edge of Long Pond, affords views of and hiking access to Mansell Mountain (912 feet), part of a mountain cluster including Knight Knubble and Bernard Mountain noteworthy for the thick spruce-fir forests that cover its slopes. The two Schoodic properties protect open space in Winter Harbor and Gouldsboro, and include the small Mount St. Bernard, the rugged terrain of which features a spruce-fir forest approximately 75 years old.
In north-central Maine, the Appalachian Trail and Big Benson-Sebec sanctuaries encompass a rich assortment of upland, wetland, and aquatic habitats. The Appalachian Trail sanctuary, which includes brooks and streams, seven large ponds, and numerous slate ridges and small hills, protects the biodiversity of this glaciated landscape, a 7-mile wilderness stretch of the Appalachian Trail, and parts of the viewshed of Maine Audubon's Borestone Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary to the east. A similar landscape, the Big Benson-Sebec Sanctuary protects its natural communities and those of the adjacent Appalachian Mountain Club preserve and Katahdin Iron Works.
The Kineo Sanctuary, a 77-acre preserve located on the Mount Kineo peninsula in Moosehead Lake, serves to protect the vegetated talus slope below the 700-foot cliff of Mount Kineo (1,804 feet) and to provide sanctuary for its native plants and animals.
The East Branch Sanctuary, which lies within the shadow of Mount Katahdin, Maine's highest mountain (5,267 feet), and Traveler Mountain (3,392 feet) to the north, preserves East Branch valley ecosystems and the Baxter State Park viewshed. The region is characterized by rich biodiversity, from hilltops and barrens and steep slopes to ravines and coves, floodplains forests, and wet basins. Geologic features of significance, from small mountains to rock outcrops and glacial topography, are evident throughout the sanctuary. Dominated by the granitic Katahdin pluton, the area displays adjacent exposed bedrock 360 to 500 million years old, with many well-preserved fossil occurrences. The highest summits on the properties are Deasey Mountain (1,964 feet) and Lunksoos Mountain (1,811 feet), views from which are spectacular, especially looking west towards Katahdin. The 30-mile International Appalachian Trail (IAT/SIA) crosses the tops of these two mountains on its way from the Park to Grand Lake Matagamon. Glacial features along the way include carved headwalls, cirques, sharp ridges, and glacial till, moraines, and eskers--sinuous steep-sided ridges of sand and gravel. The property line at the northern end of the sanctuary climbs partway up the slopes of Traveler Mountain to the west, and is the highest point in the sanctuary (2,350 feet).