The short easy Spruce Mountain Hike provides amazing views of the surrounding mountains, lakes and Penobscot Bay.
The Spruce Mountain Hike is part of the Central Region of the Georges Highland Path. Georges Highland Path (GHP) is maintained by the Georges River Land Trust. The mission of the Land Trust is to conserve and preserve the Georges River watershed region. GHP is unique in that the private land owners are sharing these beautiful trails with the public. I am guessing that we may have met the landowner or a member of the trust as he asked us how far we had been up the trail and if it had been clear of fallen trees.
The Spruce Mountain Hike was quite easy, the hardest part of the trail is pictured above. There was a quite young boy with his dad doing the trail with ease. At the top, there is a bald granite summit with magnificent views of mountains and water. Grassy Pond is the body of water seen behind Ted. For anyone that has ever stayed with us at the Hawthorn Inn, one of the first course served for breakfast is a Pineapple and Banana cairn so I always take a picture of Ted with a cairn.
Walking a short distance forward on the Spruce Mountain hiking trail, one is rewarded with yet another beautiful view. The body of water in the front is Mirror Lake, the mountains to the left behind the lake are the Ragged Mountains (home of the Camden Snow Bowl) and then off in the distance is Penobscot Bay and the coastal Maine islands. I love that there is never a shortage of mountains and water to be seen on a midcoast Maine hike.
Another interesting site, which is a little difficult to see in the picture above, is the wind turbine at the Camden Hills Regional High School. The wind turbine was installed at the high school in March 2012. It took eight years for a club at the school called the WindPlanners to conduct the research, get school board permission, get town permits and raise the $500,000 needed to erect it. Following that they raised another $500,00 for solar panels for the school roof. Amazing tasks considering the turnover of the students over the course of the fundraising efforts. I think that their effort speaks volumes regarding the community’s commitment to conservation and sustainability.
The Spruce Mountain Hike is less than 7 miles from the Hawthorn Inn. The Georges Highland Path Trailhead is less than 2 miles from the intersection of Routes 90 and 17. The parking lot is clearly marked with the sign below and the Spruce Mountain Hike starts across the street from the parking lot.