We did some research on the trails of Acadia before going, and this one was on the top of our list! Reviews everywhere said it was the most challenging hike on the island and also the most rewarding. Our motto of the day was “if people have died doing it, it’s worth doing”. Questionable logic but it made the day pretty exciting (also we weren’t free climbing).
We had to stop by the Park Visitor Center in the AM to get a parking pass for the park ($20 a week, annoying because we only needed it for 2 days). They also have maps and all that stuff. There is also a shuttle bus that goes around the park if you wanted to do that.
Notes before climbing:
- Make sure the trail is open — some hawks nest on the mountain and they close it off for certain parts of the year
- Don’t wear jeans or flip flops (we saw like 6 people trying to do this)
- Go to the bathroom before hand (but bring water)
- Don’t go if you’re super afraid of heights (or at least don’t go on the trail to the left side of the fork)
- You’re going to have to actually climb things and pull yourself up using iron bars, no matter which trail you take
- Don’t bring your dog because it won’t happen
- Don’t bring little kids unless you’re a super outdoorsy family and know what you’re doing
- If you go early, parking won’t be as bad
- Online I think it says it takes 3 hours — we hike pretty fast and I think it took us longer than that
- If it’s wet at all, I wouldn’t do it
BUT YOU SHOULD DO IT
About 10 minutes into hiking the trail is going to look like this:
THE TRAIL IS A HUGE PILE OF ROCKS WITH SOME SPRAY PAINT. You have a really channel your inner spider monkey / mountain goat. Why you would do this with sandals or children I have no clue. I know my mom would have had a panic attack.
Of course the views are amazing the entire time and that makes it worth it.
There are also TONS of narrow, rail-less stairs made of misshapen rocks = adventure.
Once you get to a certain point in the trail it does fork, to the right is a more steady, upward climbing trail that would be easier to hike. To the left is the steeper, more fun climb but it does include a lot of this:
Vertical ladders up the sides of cliffs!! It was awesome and we felt like total badasses.
And you can take pictures like this and totally freak everyone out! Including yourself.
But then you get to the top and it’s the best feeling on earth because you CONQUERED THIS MOUNTAIN AND YOU WORKED FOR IT. You’ll take a million pictures and come to the realization that crap, you have to go back down now.
Luckily, that less steep rest of the loop is waiting for you — meaning that you don’t have to backwards go down terrifying ladders while the sun sets.
While there are no ladders there are a lot more rock stairs, it goes pretty fast though. Getting to the bottom was a good feeling, and it was only 1030 AM! So much more to see!
A Place in Prague 