If you’re a day hiker, a quick hiker, a nature walker, a fresh air lover, a geocacher, or just like to move your body, check out Higgins Mountain Preserve. It’s about a .5 mile loop around a parcel of land that was donated in 2000 to the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust. It’s the highest point on Georgetown being 259 feet above sea level. We decided to check it out because of the promise we saw when researching that we’d see«stunning views of the coast»(like Monhegan Island, Seguin Island, and the Gulf of Maine). It’s unmarked from the road, so if you’re driving down Route 27, be careful not to drive past it(when your GPS tells you you’re there, you’re actually there… just look for the incredibly small dirt pull-off). The hike/walk itself was much more uphill than I was expecting, but was beautiful — from the dense forest at the bottom to the beautiful sprawling lichen at the top and the wild blueberry bushes — throughout. We’re also suckers for«rock art»(as we call it); which are, as you probably know, just piles of delicately balanced rocks acting as trail markers. This hike/walk had them every few feet on the path to reassure us that we were where we were supposed to be. Loved this — and love that the people using Higgins are a) leaving everything as they found it and b) practicing carry in/carry out(the mountain was in pristine condition, not a single piece of litter anywhere — hurray for humanity on this one!). When we reached the top, we didn’t see any ocean though and it was a clear summer day. We both assumed that«views of the coast» meant actual water views. Not the case — at least not in the height of summer. Maybe when the trees are less full you can see more, but our scenery was a thousand shades of green tree tops. Still beautiful, but not what we wanted. I would absolutely come back here maybe at the peak of, or just past, foliage season for the views and a quick jaunt in Mother Nature.
