“An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.” – Henry David Thoreau

Hiking remains a popular outdoor activity and those of us fortunate enough to make our home in the Boothbay/Wiscasset area have many land trusts and preserves to explore that are suitable for all ages. Two small, but enjoyable places to visit are Colby Preserve and Singing Meadows. Located within five minutes of each other on opposite sides of Edgecomb,  these open areas are managed by Boothbay Region Land Trust.

Let's start with a walk around Singing Meadows located a short distance from Edgecomb Community Church on Cross Point Road in the area known as "North Edgecomb." As the name suggests, the preserve consists of mostly cleared pasture, 16 acres in fact, bordered by tall hardwood trees. It's a natural haven for birds, bees, dragonflies, butterflies and deer, and best appreciated early in the morning, or about an hour before sunset. The main path slopes gradually downhill carrying you past some newly planted apple trees, fenced to protect them from deer. You'll soon pass through a small marshy area filled with cattails. These tall reeds get their name from their brown, cigar-like seed heads that resemble a cat's furry tail. When we were kids, my sister and I collected these for our grandparents who would light one end in the evening creating smoke to ward off mosquitoes at summer gatherings in the backyard.

The path winds its way around the preserve before carrying you uphill alongside a stone wall to the entrance. Along the way, you’ll pass several side paths, all of which intersect with the main one. Singing Meadows is filled with wildflowers that bloom throughout the summer. Now that August has arrived, you’ll see Queen Anne’s Lace, purple heather, brown-eyed Susan, yellow goldenrod and very soon pink flowering milkweed that attracts Monarch butterflies. The other day, I noticed a few late hybrid lupines just coming into bloom. Dogs are welcome here but should be leashed and kept on the main path so as not to interfere with nesting birds. Please avoid the wooden bird boxes scattered throughout the preserve.

Singing Meadows was given to BRLT by the late Pauline “Polly” Tompkins, who resided in a white farmhouse across the road that overlooks the meadow. Dr. Tompkins, a distinguished scholar and passionate believer in conservation, would be happy to see how well her gift to the community has been cared for.

Colby Preserve is off Route 27 on River Road in the area known as "East Edgecomb."  I'll touch on that in a moment. A small sign marks the entrance to the preserve that’s next door to a small brick building that was once a one-room schoolhouse. It's now a private residence. When I visited the preserve recently, I saw where a number of improvements had been made to the  parking area and found plenty of BRLT trail maps in the kiosk.

There’s just one path that carries you through the woods to Salt Marsh Cove, which is part of the Damariscotta River. The path runs slowly downhill to a small berm overlooking the river. The best way to get down to the shoreline is just past the outlook shown on the map, the spot where the path loops back. At low tide, you’ll see a small sandy beach where twisted pieces of driftwood and seaweed have washed ashore. Sea lavender which is just coming into bloom can be found among the rocks. This perennial plant that thrives in brackish wetlands is easily identified by its tiny pale violet, or light blue flowers that bloom in late summer and are often collected and dried for floral arrangrements. With that said, you should never pull sea lavender up by the roots. To harvest it properly, use pruning shears or scissors and carefully cut only the flowering stem above the leaves. This allows for regrowth ensuring the plant will blossom again next year.

Along the shoreline, you’ll see chunks of blackened bricks worn smooth by the coming and going of the tide. In the early 19th century, this area was home to a saltworks and a tidal-powered grist mill. When those industries failed, other enterprising men opened a brickworks and built a dam to harvest ice. These products were shipped to markets around New England from nearby "Pools Landing," a short distance south of here. You can learn a great deal more about Pools Landing from an interesting book written and published in 2021 by Tim Eddy titled: “Pools Landing, Tales of an Early New England Family." Eddy writes in his foreword, his family has owned and lived here on this property continuously for almost 200 years. The book is illustrated with early maps, and photographs including one of the  East Edgecomb Post Office that operated in a general store.

The 12-acre Colby Preserve was donated to Boothbay Region Land Trust in memory of Kitzi Colby of Edgecomb, a gift of Mrs. Colby’s daughters, Joanna Cameron and Anni Black. For more information about Singing Meadows, Colby Preserve and other BRLT properties, go to: www.bbrlt.org

Phil Di Vece earned a B.A. in journalism studies from Colorado State University and an M.A. in journalism at the University of South Florida. He is the author of three Wiscasset books and is a frequent news contributor to the Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper. He resides in Wiscasset. Contact him at pdivece@roadrunner.com