Acadia Mountain Trail was an interesting hike. It had a good balance of hiking in the woods, some rock scrambling, and great views from the mountain top to the lake side.
The hike began with a rocky trail leading up a winding path to the top.
Part way up the mountain, there was an opening that provided some long range views.
At the top, you could see far off into the distance.
There was also a marker that told you that you had climbed up 681 feet from the base.
The Top of Acadia Mountain
A 360 degree view of the mountain top view from the top of Acadia Mountain
We had chosen the longer route for the ascent, so going back down was a little more challenging. There were several places where we went a little slower as we climbed and crawled down steeper scrambles. The views as we descended were amazing. Because it was a shorter route, the actual time to descend was not that long. We were back down at sea level fairly quickly.
The rest of the hike was a mile hike uphill toward the parking lot on an old fire road. The last segment of that hike was a quick walk down to the parking lot. Overall, Acadia Mountain was a very nice hike.
After Acadia Mountain, we did a five minute tour of Echo Lake. The tour was a walk from the parking lot, a quick selfie, and then a a return walk to the car.
We planned to walk the Ship Harbor and Wonderland Trail. When we got to the southern end of the Ship Harbor Trail, we decided to walk along the water to the Wonderland Trail and then hike the Wonderland Trail back to the road and then to our car. The distance was shorter to use the unnamed beach trail, but definitely more difficult. We ended up having an adventure on our trail change.
The Ship Harbor Trail is a nice path along a shallow harbor that had been used in the past as protection from storms. It was a fun walk. There were lots of birds in the water. The last photo in the panel shows the full depth of Ship Harbor.
Our map showed an unnamed trail that went directly to the Wonderland Trail. You can see the Wonderland Trail on the peninsula in this photo. Another couple was taking the trail, so we decided to walk along the water.
We learned several things on our beach walk. First, distances on a beach can be deceptive. Second, flowers can grow on a boulder beach. Third, an unnamed trail probably does not get used much for a reason.
Our shortcut was a distance saver, but not a time saver. We got to blaze our own trail across the rocky beach. We walked over boulders, large rocks, small rocks, and even some shells, but no sand. You had to be careful because some rocks and even some small boulders were not as stable as they appeared to be.
We also learned that the small curve in the shoreline on the map was a hidden bay that added some distance to our shortcut. It was a challenge and an adventure. We took turns leading and trail blazing. It takes a lot more energy to walk a rocky beach than we expected. In spite of the challenges, it was great to try something new.
We finished our beach walk when we reached the Wonderland Trail. We followed the Wonderland Trail around the peninsula to the road. It was a short walk from there back to the car. The walk on the road was much quicker than the walk on the beach.
We had planned to see the Seal Cove Auto Museum, but it was closing about the time we arrived, so we headed back to our motel.