David Gross made the trek from his family’s camp on Hancock Pond to the top of nearby Great Pond Mountain countless times with his father before his dad’s death in the late 1990s.

On a clear day, hikers on top of the 1,038-foot summit can see Penobscot Bay to the south, Mount Katahdin to the north and miles and miles of undeveloped forest all around. The late Stuart Gross never tired of the vista over the decades – especially the vast forests to the east.

“He would stand on top of the mountain and look eastward and say, ‘If we could only preserve that tract,'” David Gross said recently.

This Saturday, David Gross and dozens of volunteers will be in Orland to celebrate the fulfillment of Stuart Gross’ vision and to officially open the Great Pond Mountain Wildlands to the public. Project leaders describe the 4,200-acre Wildlands property as a hidden treasure for hikers, horseback riders, hunters and cyclists from the Bangor and Ellsworth areas.

“It’s a place where you can do it all without going very far,” said Kent Price, a board member of the Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust, the group that Stuart Gross founded.

The event, which is part of the Orland River Day festivities, also marks the kick-off of what project leaders hope will be the final leg of their fundraising campaign.

The group already has more than $2 million in the bank. Now they are hoping to raise the remaining $600,000 needed to repay a loan that allowed the group to purchase the properties from the previous owner, who had harvested the parts of the land and was marketing it for development.

Situated between Bucksport and Ellsworth, the Wildlands are actually two properties on the eastern and western slopes of Great Pond Mountain. The mountain’s summit as well as most of its northern and southern slopes are not part of the property, however.

Visitors can access the 3,400-acre eastern parcel from gates off of Route 1 or Bald Mountain Road that lead to miles of well-maintained gravel roads. Cars will be allowed on the main roads on weekends but are prohibited on most side spurs.

Visitors can walk, bike or ride horses into the property when the gates are closed.

The eastern tract has several summits more than 800 feet tall, including Flag Hill and Flying Moose Mountain. A 1.4-mile trail also leads to Hothole Pond, which the state once listed as one of the organized territory’s most scenic ponds.

The 800-acre western parcel features two miles of undeveloped shore land along the Dead River, which is currently the only way to access the land.

On a recent tour of the property, longtime Wildlands volunteer Cheri Domina said the trust wants to encourage low-impact recreational usage of the property and will allow hunting by permission. While snowmobiles are permitted on some trails, ATVs are not allowed in the Wildlands.

The trust is developing a 5-year trail plan, a forestry plan for sustainable harvesting and is currently inventorying the land’s natural resources, said Domina, who serves as the trust’s administrative director.

The property also provides quality habitat to bear, moose, deer and many bird species, and it helps protect the watershed used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Atlantic salmon restoration efforts. The agency’s Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery is located between the two parcels.

“Obviously we are going to manage for wildlife habitat. That’s our No. 1 goal,” Kent said during the tour. “But in tandem with that, we want it to be open for recreation.”

Not long ago, the prospects for the Wildlands looked very different.

The previous landowner had erected street signs throughout the gravel road network as a precursor to development and posted “no trespassing” signs on much of the property. Visitors to Bangor International Airport can still see a kiosk from Oak Leaf Realty offering 3,250-plus acres on Hothole Mountain under the heading “This Land Can Be Your Land.”

Stuart Gross first attempted to convince nonprofit organizations to buy the land in the mid-1990s when Diamond Match Corp. put it up for sale. Over the next decade, group members courted conservation groups and government agencies for funding but got no takers.

Then in 2005, a family offered $1.4 million to purchase the land as long as the group could come up with the rest of the money. Members declined to name the family, which wishes to remain anonymous.

The trust closed on the property in June 2005.

The Land for Maine’s Future board approved $346,000 for the project last month. And a recent mailing to area residents brought in another $28,000.

Given the development pressure in the Bangor and Ellsworth areas, David Gross called it a “miracle” that the group was able to acquire the land his father loved.

“It just seems wonderful and magical to me that dad’s dream has come to fruition,” Gross said.

Great Pond Mountain Wildlands official opening and campaign kick-off

When: Saturday, June 17, all day

Where: Orland Village as part of Orland River Day

Events: The trust will operate a booth all day on Narramissic Drive. The fundraising campaign will begin at 12:30 p.m. with a keynote address by Patrick McGowan, commissioner of the Maine Department of Conservation. The trust also will offer free bus tours of the Wildlands. Courtesy bus service will leave the FL Davis lot at 3 p.m., returning at 4:30 p.m.