My lady and I recently experienced a rather awesome autumn day here in Maine. We headed to Belgrade to do some hiking. Actually, we were in the Belgrade Lakes region, in the town of Rome. We all call the area just “Belgrade,” because it’s easier. Note: I just looked this up and apparently, there’s a Belgrade Lakes, Maine, but still, we were in Rome. It’s all so confusing.
We visited this area last year around this time and hiked French’s Mountain Trail, which was a lot of fun too. There were incredible views for both hikes. Both trails led to the tops of mountains and both lookouts offered views of the two nearby lakes; Great Pond, and Long Pond. I’ll tell you something; these two lakes pretty much epitomize Maine. They’re straight out of a storybook that describes summers in the area. Lazy days hanging out on the water with family and friends, boating, or fishing. It really doesn’t matter what you’re doing up here, it’s all very relaxing and is a good time.
I do want to mention one thing before I continue though. Last year, Laura and I also visited a nearby hike that wasn’t that great. I wanted to warn others of it because there are no views and it’s really nothing more than a walk in the woods. I suppose it would be okay if that’s what you’re looking for, but nonetheless, I wanted to say something. This hike is called, “The Mountain” in Rome, Maine and it’s one we won’t be returning to. All I remember about it is the walk. So if you’re heading out to hike and are interested in one of the lovely views of the area, be sure to hike Mount Phillip or French’s Mountain. Both are very good.
Hiking Mount Phillip Trail in Rome, Maine
Overall, today’s hike at Mount Phillip was great. I’ll warn you though, while this hike is rated easy to moderate on the Maine Trail Finder website, it was sort of challenging at times (read the reviews on that site). On the way up the mountain, there were some steep and rocky parts and in the autumn, there’s a risk of slipping on the leaves (lots of oak trees) and falling down. Also, you need to be careful up top because there’s a good number of cliffs. So while these cliffs do offer some nice vantage points of the lakes below for photography, relaxation, and breathing in the clean Maine air, children and dogs need to have a close eye kept on them, lest they fall overboard. We wouldn’t want that to happen.
I took a ton of photos today. I’ll post the good ones here in this post. If you’ve visited this trail and have anything to offer, I’d welcome your comments. For a 1.3 mile loop trail, I’d give this one a A-. The minus is just because of the steep parts and the slightly dangerous terrain. The top of the mountain and views really made up for that though, so I may be slightly too hard on things.
Overall, we had an excellent hike on a beautiful day. The Belgrade Lakes region of Maine certainly is beautiful and I recommend taking in the scenery if you get the chance.
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