Lobster Cove Meadow, Appalachee, and Autumn View Preserves

This conservation area comprises three preserves — Lobster Cove Meadow, Appalachee, and the newest, Autumn View, all protected by the Boothbay Region Land Trust. There are two entrances, one from Highland Park Road and the other from Autumn View Lane (formerly Giles Road) off Ocean Point Road (Route 96). You can go for a long, leisurely walk here through different habitat, from meadow and marsh to conifer and mixed forest. If you walk all three loops, starting at Lobster Cove, you can do a roughly 5-mile hike.

From Lobster Cove, the trail in about 0.25-mile brings you to a large field bordering the Meadow Brook wetland, an ideal spot for birding. I saw a bald eagle and mallard ducklings and heard a bullfrog. Don’t forget your binoculars! You can continue walking along the edge of this pond-like marshy area until you get to the far southern point, where you curve around it and start walking along a wide, old forest track, referred to both as a historic trail and on Google maps as the “Indian Trail.“ This links to the 1-mile Appalachee loop (moderate), which swings around a pretty little pond (with a few homes on it), as well as the 1.2-mile Autumn View loop, which makes a big circle around a small cottage and barn, and includes fields and forest walking.

The trails are mostly easy, especially in Lobster Cove Meadow, with some trails following old, wide forest roads; some mown paths weaving through meadowland; and some narrower footpaths heading through woods.

Directions: For the four-vehicle lot at Lobster Cove Meadow, take Route 96 (turn at the traffic light at the junction of Routes 27 and 96 in Boothbay Harbor), and proceed about 0.3 mile to Eastern Avenue. Turn right on Eastern Avenue and in less than 0.1 mile you will see parking and a BRLT kiosk on your left. From the parking area follow the trail signs to the BRLT property. For a larger parking area and the trailhead for Autumn View Preserve, continue on Route 96 to Giles Road (Autumn Lane), and turn into the narrow lane. Follow the lane about 0.3 miles to the preserve parking area on the left.