For the project I am working on I need to load terrain, and I am wondering if someone can give me a list of other options aside from loading heightmaps. If you could mention class/function names to go along with each suggestion that would be helpful as well - since I am totally new to jME (obviously). You'll definitely see a lot more of me on the forums from now on though 
For other options You could use an imported model for terrain of course or google for the jmeterra project.
u could model ur terrain in any 3d modeling tools then import the model into jme.
the only thing u need to take care of is that u need to make sure u cut ur terrain model into many smaller pieces so they can be culled easily. but this does give u a much better control over how the terrain will look like. my artists r using zbrush to model the terrain, and the functionalities provided by zbrush r just amazing.
So if I was using imported models for terrain, approximately how small of pieces are we talking about - and what kind of performance hit would I take compared to using normal heightmaps? (just approximate numbers)
unfair said:
So if I was using imported models for terrain, approximately how small of pieces are we talking about - and what kind of performance hit would I take compared to using normal heightmaps? (just approximate numbers)
well it depends on ur game really. if all u r rendering is the terrain and one character, u might not even need to cut ur terrain model at all. we r making an mmo so we decided to keep the triangle count under 2000 for each mesh.
technically, there shouldnt be any performance differences between an imported model and a generated height map. coz after all, the underlying geometry is the same if they have the same number of vertices and stuff.