Hiking Trails in Acadia National Park

The earliest planned trails in what is now Acadia included ‘memorial paths,’ sponsored by individuals who then could dedicate them to anyone. Innovative trail blazers on the island have included Waldron Bates of the Bar Harbor Village Improvement Association, first to incorporate iron rungs, ladders, and stone staircases into his routes; Rudolph Brünnow of High Seas, who figured out how to get up the Precipice; and George Dorr, Acadia’s first superintendent, who planned a number of routes from Sieur de Monts Spring to the summit of what is now called Dorr Mountain.

The national park rates each of its trails from E (easy; mostly level ground), M (moderate; gradual inclines with uneven footing), and S (strenuous; steep, rocky inclines), to L (look out! I mean, ladder; strenuous, with iron rungs or ladders added so you can cross narrow ledges or cliff faces). Because of the park’s relatively small size, the average one-way hike is only about a mile. Trails constantly intersect, though, and a longer hike easily can be designed to cover a variety of environments across several mountain summits, and then return by a different route to the starting point.

A trail’s length, of course, is no indication of its difficulty. The .5-mile stroll across to Bar Island (E) is much different than the .6-mile Ladder Trail (L) up the east face of Dorr Mountain. And the 3.2-mile hike around Jordan Pond (M), one of the longest in the park, takes much less effort than the 3.5-mile climb up the South Ridge of Cadillac Mountain (S).

A Top 10 list of Hiking Guidelines for Acadia would include 1) wear proper footwear, i.e. sturdy shoes or boots, 2) dress for weather that might change, 3) bring enough water, food, maybe a flashlight, 4) stay on the trails, following blazes and cairns (rock piles), 5) carry adequate maps or a hiking guide, 6) leave yourself extra time, 7) check trail conditions before starting out, to ensure the trail you want is open, 8) tell someone where you’re going, and when you expect to return, 9) keep pets (i.e. dogs) on a leash, and the ever-popular 10) which says, variously, leave no trace, take nothing but photos, pack everything out.