Acadia National Park.....for the first time

[roadtripper]

I heard long ago that Acadia was one of the "big league" national parks, so I've been trying to visit Acadia in the offseason for the last five years. After a failed attempt every year, I FINALLY got a chance to visit this park with my friend Jen this weekend.

The weather looked promising for the entire weekend on Friday, so we made the 4 hour drive up from Boston on Saturday morning at 6am.

All areas of the park were still open, besides for the Precipice Trail and East Face Trail due to an earthquake a couple of months ago. We only saw a total of about 75 people on Saturday and only 20 people on Sunday. A very quiet park this weekend!

Here were the highlights......

The Beehive & The Bowl - a fun climb up the Beehive with assistance from a couple dozen iron rungs & ladders; combining the Beehive & The Bowl is probably one of Acadia's best easy short loop hikes...lots of fun for us & we had the entire loop to ourselves on Sunday

Gorham Mountain - awesome views for the effort made; An absolute short-hike must in Acadia; we should have combined the Beehive with Gorham Mountain (with return via Ocean Path to Sand Beach parking area) for a great east Acadia loop

South Bubble & Eagle Lake - more great views from South Bubble; cool pic opportunity with nearby Bubble Rock, a lonely boulder perched on the edge of a cliff; didn't get a chance to visit North Bubble, but I assume it offered more great views

Carriage Roads - Although we only walked about a mile of the carriage roads, we were shocked by the overall immaculate quality of them; we can't wait to return and bike a portion of the parks 57 miles of carriage roads next time

Park Loop Road - a great scenic drive; one of New England's best in my opinion; we cheated and drove up Cadillac Mtn just to check out the views (which were very comprehensive & impressive)

pictures

Next Time in East Acadia.....
South Ridge Trail up Cadillac Mtn
Dorr Mountain loop
Precipice Trail
Sargent & Penobscot Mountains loop
Great Head Trail
bike the Carriage Roads

There's a lot more we can't wait to see & do in & around Acadia. A fun little weekend overall!

 

[antelope]

nice report and pics

its always a joy to hear accounts of people enjoying ANP. Beehive is always fun and the rungs give part time hikers a rush. unfortunatly the precipice will be closed for a while and the south face probably indefinatly. might I suggest the flying mountain trail for your next visit, we recently rerouted the trail which was badly eroded. the reroute goes up and around through some enchanting mosses and fragile fauna,while providing sweeping vistas. If you hiked gorham since oct 1 than you saw our reconstruction. Our goal is to make the work look like its always been there. hope to see ya on the trails.
peace, antelope-ANP trail crew.

 

[king tut]

Nice pics! Glad you had a good time. It takes several weeks on the island before you can really check everything out, it has so much to offer. You will have to go back many times. Make sure you check out the carriage roads on bike, the precipice trail, and spend a day on the Western side of the island checking out Bass Harbor,Seawall, and the beach and trails around Echo Lake.