8 Must-Do Hikes in Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park is known for its amazing hikes that offer stunning views of the lush, green, and rocky Atlantic coastline. It’s a popular destination for many east coasters, especially during the summer months and holiday weekends. If you’re planning to travel here for a long weekend, there’s a lot of hikes to choose from! We put together our favorite hikes we did during our trip over Memorial Day Weekend this year.
Know Before You Go
Before you set off on any hike in Acadia, make sure you’re well prepared. You’ll want to make sure you have sturdy and dependable footwear, as the terrain is rocky and many hikes involve steep inclines. It's important to bring plenty of water, snacks, and proper hiking gear for your safety and comfort. Additionally, always check the trail conditions and weather forecast before setting out!
Help Acadia’s ecosystem by practicing Leave No Trace
As with any hike, make sure to Leave No Trace. Do your part to keep nature beautiful. Follow the 7 principles of Leave No Trace, pack out all your trash, take only pictures, and do not graffiti, deface, or leave any marks along the trail.
While hiking in Acadia, you’ll likely come across Acadia Bates cairns, a unique rock cairn specific to Acadia. These cairns help guide hikers and aide in protecting the fragile environment. Do you part and leave them alone. Adding or removing rocks has multiple negative effects.
Make sure to leave the cairns as you’ve found them
1. Pemetic South Ridge Trail:
This hike ended up being our favorite even though it kicked our butts. We did this immediately after we hiked Jordan Pond and South Bubble (both very crowded hikes) and only saw three other people on the entire trail. Considering we were here at peak hours (around 1 pm) on Memorial Day Weekend, it felt like we won the lottery as far as secluded hikes go. The views from the top are truly breathtaking. You can look down on South Bubble, take in the whole view of Jordan Pond, and see far beyond to the ocean!
Overlooking Jordan Pond and the Atlantic Ocean at the summit
Highlight: Overlooking South Bubble and Jordan Pond at the summit
Distance: 3.3 miles out and back
Elevation: 1,000 ft gain
Time: Took us a solid 2 hours with breaks
Difficulty: AllTrails rates it as Moderate but honestly we think this is more of a “Hard” considering the elevation gain… either that or we just got our butts kicked
AllTrails Link: Pemetic South Ridge Trail
Ylli taking in the views on top of Pemetic Mountain
2. Beehive Loop Trail
One of Acadia’s most popular hikes, and for a good reason! The hike is only about 1.5 miles and feels very adventurous. There’s iron rungs that you climb like a ladder built into the side of the mountain along with bridges and grates built into the trail to reinforce it. After reaching the summit, the trail loops you around to a beautiful pond then back through a forested area. Make sure to include this hike in your itinerary!
View after climbing up the steep face of Beehive Trail
If you plan on doing this hike, get here early as the trail gets very crowded, and it’s no fun waiting in line to go up the mountainside. We arrived at 7 am and were able to have most of the hike to ourselves. By 9 am, the parking lot, street, and trail were completely full and there was a line of hikers the ascending the mountain.
Beehive summit
Highlight: Climbing up the iron rungs along the ascent
*Note: The ascent is steep and brings you very close to the edge many times. We wouldn’t recommend for those who have a fear of heights.
Distance: 1.5 mile loop
Elevation: 500 ft gain
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Moderate
AllTrails Link: Beehive Loop Trail
Pond along Beehive Loop Trail with a view of Champlain mountain
3. South Bubble Trail:
Short but intense, this trail takes you 500 feet straight up. The view of Jordan Pond is incredible, and you’ll also be able to grab onto some iron rungs as you make your way to the top. After admiring Jordan Pond, venture to the back of the summit and view the balancing “bubble rock”, where the trail gets its name from! This is a very popular hike so expect others to be on the trail with you. You can connect to the Jordan Pond loop for extra exercise.
South Bubble gives you the best view of Jordan Pond
Highlight: Best view of Jordan Pond at the top
Distance: 1.2 mile out and back
Elevation: 300 ft gain
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate
AllTrails Link: South Bubble
South Bubble view of Jordan Pond and beyond
4. Acadia Mountain and Man O War Trail:
What’s a trip to Acadia without hiking Acadia Mountain? The summit gives you views of the beautiful Somes Sound and Atlantic Ocean beyond. The climb up will give you a good workout, we did this early in the morning when it was still cool which was helpful. By the time we started our decent it was heating up and the people that were on their uphill climb didn’t look like they were having as much fun.
On top of Acadia Mountain!
The Man O War trail is more of a flat path so we opted to climb the mountain first, then finish along the Man O War path as a nice relaxing finish to the hike.
Highlight: View of the Somes Sound from the summit and the Man O War waterfall
Distance: 2.5 miles
Elevation: 700 ft gain
Time: Took us 1.5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
AllTrails Link: Acadia Mountain and Man O War Trail
5. Beech Mountain Trail:
Short, sweet, huge view payoffs and a great fire tower at the top - you really can’t ask for a better hike! We added this trail to our itinerary at the last minute and it ended up being one of our favorites. It was relatively uncrowded and underrated. Climb the fire tower for stunning views of lakes and the Atlantic.
Fire tower at the top of Beech Mountain
Highlight: Fire Tower at the top of the mountain. You can walk up to the first landing and take in an amazing view.
*Note: As of 5/22/23, part of Beech Mountain trail is closed Mon-Thurs 6am-4pm for trail restoration efforts. Check Acadia NPS page for updates.
Distance: 1.2 mile loop
Elevation: 351 ft gain
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate
AllTrails Link: Beech Mountain Trail
View from the Beech Mountain fire tower
6. Champlain North Ridge Trail
This was our very first hike we did upon arriving and boy did it blow us away! We kept turning around on the way up and saying “Wow! I can’t believe this view!”. We did this trail instead of the popular Precipice Trail due to it being closed for seasonal falcon nesting and absolutely loved it.
A beautiful Friday afternoon hike
Highlight: No crowds and easy parking even on a Friday afternoon
Distance: 1.9 miles out and back
Elevation: 800 ft gain
Time: 1.5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
AllTrails Link: Champlain North Ridge Trail
View along the Champlain North Ridge trail
7. Ocean Path Trail
This path starts at the parking lot for Beehive Loop and takes you all the way down to Otter Rocks. The first half of the trail follows the road so it can get a little noisy and busy depending on what time of day you go. Along the way there are many alcoves to stop at and catch an amazing view of the coastline. The path is relatively flat with a little elevation gain at the end as you approach Otter Rocks. It’s perfect for all ability levels and anybody who wants an easy walk with stunning views.
One of the beautiful alcoves along Ocean Path
Highlight: Stopping at all the different alcoves to admire the rocky cliffs
Distance: 4.5 miles out and back
Elevation: 374 ft gain
Time: 1.5 hours with stops to take in the view
Difficulty: Easy
AllTrails Link: Ocean Path Trail
Ylli taking in the view at Otter Rocks
8. Jordan Pond
This easy loop takes you around the entire Jordan Pond. It’s shade covered and serene, perfect for any ability level or if you have kids. One side of the trail is a narrow wooden boardwalk to keep foot traffic off the sensitive environment. Please stay on the path when you’re here!
Hiking around Jordan Pond with a view of the Bubbles in the back
Highlight: The crystal clear water, it’s absolutely beautiful. (This water in the pond is used for resident drinking water so do not swim or let your dog in the water!)
Distance: 3.1 mile loop
Elevation: 50 ft gain
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
AllTrails Link: Jordan Pond Path
We hope you add these hikes to your Acadia itinerary!