Great Pond is the largest great pond in Maine and is part of the Kennebec River watershed. It receives water from Salmon Lake, Great Meadow Stream, Robbins Mill Stream, Rome Trout Brook, and Austin Bog, to name a few.

Great Pond's waters flow out to the east through a Great Pond Storage Dam and a short section of Belgrade Stream, into Long Pond, near the village of Belgrade Lakes. There are also several islands in Great Pond, including Hoyt Island, Chute Island, Joyce Island, Oak Island, and Pine Island.

Great Pond was formed into its present shape by the construction of the Great Pond Storage Dam on Belgrade Stream in 1886. The dam was built for power generation.

The Tichnor Brothers printing company published this type of postcard circa 1938 as part of their Maine series. These, and other postcards, by the Tichnor Brothers Company are officially known as the Tichnor Gloss Series because the photographs were notoriously retouched on such a level that does not allow the postcards to be classified as photographs or paintings. The caption reads, "Greetings from Pine Beach on Great Pond, Belgrade Lakes, Me."