Kennebunk Plains is owned and managed in part by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and The Nature Conservancy. The sandplain grassland represents a human created, early successional stage of pitch pine barrens. Great drainage on these gravel-sand plains makes them ideal for development, one reason why they are unusual. This remnant is home to breeding grassland species rarely found elsewhere in the state, including grasshopper and clay-colored sparrows. Vesper sparrows, field sparrows, upland sandpipers, prairie warblers, eastern towhees, bobolinks, eastern meadowlarks, and brown thrashers are noteworthy.
Plants are sensitive to foot traffic, many grassland birds nest on the ground, and ticks are present. Stay on the roads and paths. Start from the parking lots on Route 99, but Sallow ample time to stroll along the edges of the McGuire Road as well. Both ponds can be quite productive, especially the flowage pond of Cold Water Brook, a dependable water source for passerines.
Directions: from Route 1, turn west on Route 9A (High St.), then in 0.3 miles turn right onto Route 99. Follow for 4.2 miles and look for the parking areas on both sides of the road.