Look for these Town Greenbelt signs at all trailheads and also throughout the trail system to help you navigate your way on and through the trails. 

The Highland Trail is a quiet neighborhood parcel comprising the larger portion of the Broad Cove/Two Lights Trail system. Approximately 1,400 feet from shoreline and .4 miles long, the Highland Greenbelt Trail offers great coastal wetland and wildlife features. This community trail is predominately used as open space and supports activities such as jogging, hiking, and the opportunity to observe the surrounding nature. Popular to local residents and neighbors as a scenic neighborhood link, the Highland Trail serves as a great connector to the nearby Two Lights State Park, Kettle Cove, and Crescent Beach coastline. An important part of South Cape Elizabeth’s ‘Hub and Spoke’ greenbelt system, the most direct entry point is located across from Maxwell’s Farm, with trail head signs visible from the roadside. The Town of Cape Elizabeth acquired what now makes up the Highland Trail in phases, in a piecemeal of land acquisitions in the early 1990’s : the Town purchased a portion of the parcel (6.72 acres), acquired a second larger section via development review (13.9 acres), and was the recipient of a donated public pedestrian easement. The parcel containing the Highland Trail, within Broad Cove/Two Lights Trails, boasts a total of 20.62 acres, much in coastal forest and wetland. It also includes small water bodies with at least one pond. Much of the trail meanders through dense scrub growth, and gradually transitions into woodlands that border extensive wetlands.

With only slight changes in gradient, the Highland Trail makes for easy greenbelt walking and opportunities to see native flora and fauna. The land has long be identified by the Conservation Committee as important in contributing to the rural characteristic of the Town, particularly, with respect to the proximity of agricultural land use occurring across the street, as strawberries and other crops are yielded yearly. This public access trail does traverse some backyards, so it is important to remain on the trail paths.

What to Watch For: New Bridging.

Previous bog bridges have been replaced with wider and more robust bridges in a project that has spanned the month of November, in partnership with local Cape resident Eagle Scout candidates and the Cape Elizabeth Conservation Committee. The project removed and replaced a series of dilapidated boardwalks through several swampy portions of the Highland trail. Raised off the spongy moss and wetland soils, look for the new sections of approximately 250 feet of boarded greenbelt decking. Much of the new bridging should prove to be a delight to local residents, as many portions of the trail have been known to be constantly muddy and wet. The new bridging now consists of twenty interconnected twelve-foot by three-foot sections, and are in many spots twice as wide as the previous bog bridges.

Access to trail heads for the public is available from Pine Ridge Road, Broad Cove Road Road, and Two Lights Rd.