Lookout Rock, Brooksville
This 17-acre preserve showcases a 244-foot highpoint with panoramic views of Eggemoggin Reach, Penobscot Bay, and beyond.
Lookout Rock is great for:
Hiking – Enjoy the nearly half-mile trail as it climbs rock steps and winds through evergreen forests to a series of dramatic views from the summit’s open ledges. Please be careful to not step on the lichen. It’s very sensitive!
Photography – Pack your camera to capture the expansive scenes from atop Lookout Rock as well as the subtler beauty of the lichen and moss-covered, rocky landscape along the way.
How to get there
From Route 1 in Orland, take Route 15 south through Blue Hill Center for 31.3 miles until you reach Herrick Road on your right-hand side. (If you have reached the Deer Isle Bridge you have gone too far.) Follow Herrick road for 1.5 miles to the parking lot on the left – directly across from the Robin Hood Camp.
For a complete map with legend and guidelines, click on the Printable Preserve Map above.
Notes on topography, flora, and fauna
Located in Brooksville, the 17.6-acre Lookout Preserve can be found on the Blue Hill peninsula, near the shores of Eggemoggin Reach. The preserve’s signature feature is the approximately 244-foot high point which offers spectacular coastal views.
The land is primarily forested with a mix of maturing spruce, pine, and white birch, with a small pitch pine woodland along the ridgeline. Lookout Rock’s pitch pine forest is likely the result of a fire that locals believe occurred on the property in the early 1900s. The rocky forest floor is thickly vegetated with lowbush blueberry, lichens, and mosses.
A small cranberry bog is present in a bedrock depression at the first viewpoint on the top of the ridge. Two small vernal pools are present where granite quarrying took place in the past; the largest and most prominent of these is known locally as the “frog pond.”
West of the “frog pond” a yellow dot trail departs south and leads to the Oakland House Resort. Feel free to explore this path to the preserve’s property line.
How this place became open to the public
MCHT acquired the preserve in 2017 to protect this scenic and recreational resource for future generations.
Preserve information/guidelines
- No Camping Permitted
- No Fires Permitted
- Stay on Established Trails
- Carry Out All Trash
- Including Human and Pet Waste and Toilet Paper
- Keep Pets Under Control
- Please Respect the Privacy of Preserve Neighbors
- Commercial Use By Permission Only
