Maine: Acadia National Park

DAY 1 Arrival in Bangor. Paradise Hill – Witch Hole Pond Loop

Upon meeting your guides and group at the Bangor, Maine airport, you depart immediately by van for the one-hour drive to Acadia National Park, and proceed directly to the park’s visitor center. An introductory walk along one of the park’s many carriage roads leads to Witch Hole Pond, and provides views of Frenchman Bay and Hull’s Cove to the northeast, as well as the distant mountains to the north. In the first half of the 20th century, John D. Rockefeller Jr. not only donated about one-third of the park’s land, but he also conceived of and oversaw the construction of the extraordinary network of carriage roads that wind throughout the park, graced with subtle landscaping and handcrafted stone bridges.

After lunch at a seaside restaurant, an afternoon walk in the Sieur de Monts Spring area takes you to a mountain pond known as the Tarn via the Jessup Path. A series of plank bridges skirt the open marsh and provides views of Huguenot Head, Champlain Mountain, and Dorr Mountain. You connect to the Hemlock Loop, which dates back 100 years when the walking paths connected downtown Bar Harbor to Acadia National Park. The well-graded paths and log and plank bridges provide good footing in this area.

After a short drive to bustling and quaint Bar Harbor, the island’s largest community, you settle into your in-town resort hotel with a water’s edge marina overlooking Frenchman Bay and the open ocean. For dinner, you are welcomed to Maine with a taste of its ocean bounty, perhaps fresh steamed lobster or littleneck clams.

DAY 2 Shore path; 1.5 miles, easy. Great Head Loop Ocean Path;

The morning’s walks are devoted to the ocean side of Mount Desert Island, starting at sheltered Sand Beach, a gorgeous 300-yard long beach nestled between Great Head and Newport Cove. Enticing yet chilly, the constant Atlantic surf has created its unique pastel sand, composed of tiny pulverized shell fragments. Departing from Sand Beach, the Ocean Drive Trail is justifiably one of the park’s most popular trails—dramatic views stretch along the oceanfront from Sand Beach to Otter Point. In the middle the level gravel trail drops to Thunder Hole, named from the sound of the water crashing into a narrow channel in the coastal ledge. The historic trail, which was part of the original trail network dating from the late 19th century, was completely restored and resurfaced about 10 years ago, and rises to Otter Cliffs, the highest ocean-edge cliffs in the park. Baker’s Island is in full view to the south, and a slice of Little Cranberry Island can be seen to its west.

The Great Head loop departs from the eastern end of Sand Beach and follows the peninsula’s headland, with views south back to the beach, the Ocean Path, and Otter Cliffs. Rising through windblown grass to its highest point of 145 feet, waves crash below, and offshore, pleasure and fishing boats ply the eight miles of open water framed by the Schoodic Peninsula to the east. Returning to the trailhead on a bog walk, you are ready to enjoy your picnic lunch.

This afternoon you enjoy a hike along the Gorham Mountain Trail providing sweeping views of the morning’s walks along the Ocean Path, Sand Beach, and Great Head. The gradual ascent up open ledges features ridge-top panoramic views as your trail follows the ridge that runs north to Champlain Mountain, and is part of the chain of mountains closest to the ocean.

Returning to Bar Harbor in the mid- to late-afternoon, you can take full advantage of the resort amenities at the hotel, such as the seaside heated pool and Jacuzzi, and then continue the evening at your own pace by strolling into Bar Harbor for dinner on your own in one of its many fine restaurants and cafés.

DAY 3 Jordan Pond; 4-8 miles, easy to moderate. Asticou Trail; 2.5 miles, easy

After a hearty breakfast, the setting of the day’s walk is Jordan Pond, a serene fresh water pond at the park’s interior. The trail circles the pond, winding through blueberry bushes, clusters of white birch and shady spruce. At the pond’s northern end are two symmetrical hills called the Bubbles, North and South, over 700 and 800 feet, respectively. Reflected in the pond’s pristine waters, the real peaks are also in view throughout the walk. Along the water’s edge you may see a great blue heron, or a pair of black-and-white common loons. A longer and more challenging option leads to the summits of both Bubbles, where you are rewarded with views of Eagle Lake, another freshwater pond lying just to the north, as well as Connor’s Nubble and Frenchman Bay. Looping back to Jordan Pond, you are ready for a satisfying lunch at the Jordan Pond House Restaurant, a historic teahouse-style restaurant dating from the late 19th century serving a range of soups and chowders, salads, sandwiches, and its signature popovers.

This afternoon provides two options. Those who wish to arrive on foot to our home for the next three nights you leave the Jordan Pond parking lot and join the Asticou Trail. Quickly you are immersed in the woods filled with striped maples, pines, and cedar trees. The path is a carpet of pine needles filling the air with an earthy sweet aroma. Crossing streams on wooden bridges with fancy handrails and winding through the forest you arrive at the Asticou and find your luggage awaiting you in your room. The other option is arriving by van, making your way to Northeast Harbor, on the southern end of Mount Desert Island, at the entrance to Somes Sound. Smaller and quieter than Bar Harbor, it is well known for its yacht-building tradition, in addition to a range of galleries, shops, and restaurants. For dinner this evening, you travel to the village of Southwest Harbor for dinner at a fine restaurant offering cuisine celebrating New England traditions with European and Southwest influences.

DAY 4 Little Cranberry Island; 4-7 miles, easy to moderate

After walking in the island’s interior and rocky shore, today you discover one of the secluded islands off Mount Desert’s southern coast. After breakfast overlooking the sound, you catch the mail boat out of Southwest Harbor for the hour-long crossing to Little Cranberry Island. One of the five Cranberry Isles—Great Cranberry, Little Cranberry or Isleford, Bear, Baker, and Sutton—the islands are from one to five miles offshore and named after the low-bush wild cranberries that grow profusely throughout their terrain. The islands’ year-round residents of lobstermen and boat builders are joined each summer by visitors, some of whom have been returning for generations.

A true glimpse of authentic Maine coastal life from another era, the ferry docks at the island’s main village, where piers and wooden buildings are clustered in a sheltered cove. A quiet road leads up to a grassy bluff and continues through groves of tall firs, passing white clapboard cottages. A picnic is unpacked at a perfect spot overlooking glimmering water and a pebbled beach, distant sailboats skimming the ocean’s surface. After looping back to the village dock, you board the afternoon ferry for the return trip to Southwest Harbor.

At your hotel there is time to linger in the manicured grounds and perfectly situated Adirondack chairs, or perhaps play a game of croquet in the late afternoon light. Tonight you dine at your elegant hotel restaurant while taking in the view of the beautiful Northeast Harbor.

DAY 5 Friends Trail – Long Pond Loop; 1.8 miles easy. Beech Mt. North Ridge Trail;

A walk on Beech Mountain, on the western side of Mount Desert Island, gives an excellent overview of the region. The trail gradually ascends the western flank with views of Long Pond and Blue Hill across the sparkling waters of Blue Hill Bay to the west. At the summit, near a closed fire tower, you look over the towns of both Southwest and Northeast Harbors, the entrance to Somes Sound—North America’s true fjord—and the Cranberry Isles lying offshore to the south. The trail descends some rocky ledge before looping back to the trailhead in Somesville.

Later, you celebrate your Acadian adventure at an elegant restaurant, toasting your exploration of a stunning region over creative gourmet cuisine.

DAY 6 Cadillac Mt. North Ridge; 1 mile, moderate. Asticou Azalea Garden and Thuya Garden

No visit to Acadia is complete without a trip to the top of Cadillac Mountain. Not only the highest point in the park at 1,530 feet, Cadillac Mountain has the distinction of being the highest point on the entire North and South American coastline. This morning you drive to a point where the North Ridge Trail intersects the access road and hike the final mile to the treeless summit offering breathtaking views over Bar Harbor, Frenchman Bay, and the open ocean spread before you. Named after Sieur de Cadillac, a 17th-century French explorer, it is evident why his compatriot and contemporary Samuel de Champlain called the entire island “Mont Desert,” for its bare and, when viewed from the ocean, apparently “desert-like” mountaintops.

The Asticou Azalea Garden and Thuya Garden were created in the 1950s by Charles Savage, a local innkeeper. In Asticou Azalea Garden over 20 varieties of azaleas are featured in a Japanese-style garden where pathways meander to an iris-bordered pond, stream, and meditation garden. The Thuya Garden is named for the native white cedar trees, under which a profusion of colorful perennials are artfully placed—lilies, snapdragons, and vibrant delphiniums overlooking the fir-fringed coves and rocky ledges of Northeast Harbor. Many of the gardens’ plants were relocated from the Bar Harbor gardens of landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, who, in the early 20th century, consulted in the landscape design and plantings along the carriage roads, contributing to their seemingly effortless blending into the topography.

After stopping for lunch in Ellsworth at a lively Mediterranean bistro, you arrive at the Bangor airport by mid-afternoon for onward flights.