We spend one last rainy day in Acadia Hiking the Wonderland and Beech Cliff Trails, visiting Bass Harbor Light House and The Carroll Homestead.
Our last day in Acadia began with a brief pause in the rain that had been the hallmark of our trip. We took that opportunity and headed to the "quiet side", the western portion of the national park, and hiked the wonderland trail. This short mile and a half, nearly flat, family friendly trail was still FULL of big puddles.
We ended up getting fairly wet despite our best intentions but had the chance to view the rugged coast of Maine. This was quite different from the eastern portion of the park. This is an excellent quick adventure, and if you have time the Ship Harbor trail is located only a minute up the road!
Also just up the road is the famous Bass Harbor Light house. We arrived near hightide so we couldn't get the perfect angle for a photo, but I'm still happy to have seen it. The clouds rolled right back in as we were doing this and it started to pour. We checked out the plaques and bells up close before retreating to our car. It was at this point we considered giving up and going home early but the weather report said there would be a clearing...
On the way to our next destination, and with time to kill, we stopped at the Carroll homestead. While it was closed, we were still able to poke around the gardens and peak into the windows. This looks like it would be very interesting when it's open but it still helped us burn some time while waiting on the clouds.
I'm very happy that we waited out the rain and didn't head home, the clouds cleared up just in time to hike the last major trail I had been super excited about. The Beech Cliff trail, while not as awe inspiring as Precipice or Beehive, is still an incredible trail. It features four metal ladders, tons of stone stairs and some picturesque views. While everything was wet and slippery we did get to enjoy the sound of water dripping off of the leaves. If it wasn't for the searing pain in my knee at this point, this would probably have been the most relaxing hike of the trip.
Should we have climbed the ladders when they were wet? Probably not. This did ensure that the trail was entirely empty though. We only encountered one couple at the top of the cliff, otherwise we were alone with only the sound of nature. This trail can be found at Echo lake on the "quiet side" of the island. The trail is well marked with signs and stumps.
The first ladder is short and simple but it will give you an example of what to expect. Each of the four have rather bad set ups at the top for standing up off of them. Especially the final two ladders which come as a pair. I found there wasn't a decent hand hold or anything to grab to exit the ladders so you end up holding the cables that support the ladders for the most part. Maybe it was just the sheer wet and slippery conditions that made this seem worse than it really was.
I can't really recommend this hike for anyone that is scared of heights or ladders for obvious reasons. There are a number of cool features, at one point ducking under a tree that grows out the side of the cliff, but if you're scared it's a bad trail for you.
When you make it to the top the view is absolutely worth it. Echo lake is visible but you can also see the ocean from above the mountain line. The fall foliage really made this area stunning, with more yellow than any other portion of Acadia that weekend. There is a viewpoint part way up the trail, before the ladder section, that anyone could visit but it's really just a watered down version of the peak.
Once you arrive at the summit, and take your photos, you can head back down or explore a little. There is a small loop trail at the top which we didn't have time for and so we headed down the Canada Cliff trail. This trail is how you can get to the top without having to go through the ladder section if you or someone in your party is worried. However, the ladders are a one way trail, for good reason, and so most hikers will only use the Canada cliff trail to descend.
It was a surprisingly longer trail than the distance hinted at. Maybe it was just that we were getting worn out from the trip but it seemed to go on forever. It's an extensive series of exposed stone cliffs along a ridge, much like Gorham mountain, and was much more rugged than I expected. Eventually you come to an intersection and head down through a valley alongside a stream. We had to cross this twice before getting back to the lot.
This was the perfect trail to end the trip, and right as we got back the clouds rolled in and the rain returned. I jogged down to the Echo Lake beach for a photo real quick and took a look around. The facilities here were very nice and I suspect this would be far less busy than sand beach in the summer. We said our good bye to Acadia, and the long rainy weekend we spent there. But don't worry, we already have plans to return.
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