One of the most popular trails in Acadia National Park, the Beehive Trail rivals the precipice in terms of views. We combined it with a hike to the Bowl, up Gorham mountain, down the Cadillac cliffs and back up the Ocean Path to Sand Beach.
We had already hiked the Precipice trail in the morning and decided to take on this very long hike in the afternoon. It's a lot for one day and the clouds were rolling in. It only rained on us during the first half, but unfortunately that's the part where we climbed metal ladders. I wouldn't recommend that unless you're confident.
The Beehive itself is much much easier than the Precipice and the climb was over before we knew it. It took us maybe 30 minutes to climb to the top, and that's with a significant amount of stops for photography and filming. Although this is often advertised as more family friendly than Precipice, I never felt unsafe on either and if anything Beehive set off my fear of heights more.
We manage to secure a parking spot at sand beach, which can be seen in the photo. While it looks like an incredible height to ascend the top of Beehive is only in the 500' range. There are some very unique features on this trail as well, such as a bridge and metal walkway that all make for amazing photos with the beach as a background. We never found this trail too difficult but the crowds were only partially diminished by the weather and significantly closer to us than they were on the precipice.
On arriving at the summit we were greeted by close to 30 people all taking photos. I can't imagine what this is like in the summer! We quickly grabbed our summit sign photos and began the descent. You can head right back to the parking lot or several other locations. We choose to head to Gorham Mountain with a stop at "The Bowl" a beautiful and secluded lake in the mountains.
The Descent was relatively quick and easy, only a few slick spot remained from the rain. The clouds hugged the peaks in the distance but never came low enough to ruin our view. The stillness of the water was met with a deafening silence, only occasionally broken by the voices of hikers drifting across the open water.
In the summer this small lake provides an excellent swimming hole for hikers to enjoy. The rocky coast is interspersed with sandy beaches perfect for wading in. Being mid October it was far too cold for us to even think about so we had a quick snack break and began the climb up Gorham mountain. This mountain is also on the shorter side but its long and narrow profile meant a good distance hike up and down either direction.
There are a large number of interconnected trails leaving the bowl and crisscrossing Gorham. We choose what appeared to be the most direct path and enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the woods on the way up. Unfortunately it's at this point that my injured knee started to act up and I could feel some pressure building. This would come back to haunt me for several months but at that moment I shrugged it off and continued the ascent
At one point we came to a clearing where you can look back and see the Beehive trail in all it's glory. Thanks to a 300mm lens I was able to zoom in and witness the large number of people on trail. You can just about make them out with the naked eye but if you have a lens this is a really fun spot for a photo!
Gorham mountain peak is a narrow ridge with views on all side. The eastern flank has similar views to Beehive and the western half looks inward. It's of course possible to hike up Gorham alone from the south if you want a smaller adventure but this was a nice rest spot for us while we soaked in the views.
It was also the third peak of our day and if my face is any indication I was really not enjoying the feeling in my knee at this point. A few folks noticed my nice camera and asked me to take their photo... with their cell phones! Always happy to oblige this gave me a further excuse to rest. The plan was to head down Gorham and back up the ocean path so there was a lot of hiking left to do.
What I hadn't counted on was just how cool the Cadillac Cliffs were going to be on the way down. While I had heard about them, we almost got lost trying to find this trail. There are several paths on the way down that weren't marked quite as well as they are when going up in the opposite direction.
This trail has a number of cool rock formations, a cave, an archway you hike through and a boulder pile you can climb through if you so choose. I consider this a must visit trail if you are going up or down Gorham mountain. It doesn't last too long, maybe .2 miles so it's a great diversion and still takes you to the same place either way so why would you skip it?
Unfortunately our trip up the Ocean path was relatively uneventful. We were at low tide so the Thunder Hole feature was more of a whimper hole at best. The Sand Beach was awesome though, and much bigger in person than all the videos I've watched online. It was swarmed with people, there were even multiple professional photo shoots occurring.
After our quick foray to the beach we drove up the road to visit the Otter cliffs and Boulder beaches which you can see in our video. All in all this hike clocked in at just around 6 miles with all the little detours we took. oh, and every step was worth it!
Comments