The Precipice Trail in Acadia National Park is touted as one of the best hikes in all of America. Does it live up to all of the hype?
This was an exciting trip for me, and Nina's first national park. We were scheduled to visit the weekend after Columbus day which aligned perfectly with the fall foliage peak. This also meant it was the weekend after peak tourist season. Unfortunately all the van lifer's missed the memo and it was still packed! We also lucked out because it was the last weekend many of the restaurants were open, something I neglected to think about when researching this trip.
With crowds this busy I almost dread to think how crazy this park gets in the peak season. On top of that, the weather was rainy almost the entire time and that didn't seem to diminish any of the crowds on the trails we chose. So when you decide to plan out your own Acadia trip itinerary take it seriously when all the online resources warn you about the crowds!!
Our first morning at the park had a break in the weather, cloudy but not rainy and the clearest we would have it for our entire trip. We decided to get the Precipice trail done first and I'm very glad we did as the weather wouldn't safely permit this our remaining two days.
Famous for it's metal rung ladders, unique features and perilous cliff side views, the Precipice trail is the main reason I wanted to visit Acadia. It's also the main reason several of our friends turned this trip down. If you are scared of heights this, and the Beehive trail I'll discuss next week, are probably not going to do it for you. There are sections that are incredibly exposed and more than a few of the metal rung have broken off and have not been replaced.
Two weeks before our trip I pulled my back out doing Jiujitsu and 3 days before the trip my knee swelled up from what we assume to be a hyperextension. Take a bunch of Ibuprofen I pushed through the discomfort and handled the trail quite well. There was a section of the ladders where I smashed my good knee into the metal and felt a bit light headed. Other than that I felt quite safe the entire hike. But falling a thousand feet to your death is pretty good motivation to hold on tight!
We left our motel and arrived at the parking lot around 7am. There were only 3 parking spots left so make sure you plan appropriately. When we returned the roads were FILLED with parked cars a mile long. I would hate to have to hike that far to get to my car. Due to the timing, the sun was still rising over the water and the clouds made for a spectacular light ray show!
The views the entire way up were spectacular and made the entire thing feel much faster than it really was. The entire first section only has one tricky spot. Near the beginning is a challenge obstacle with some far spaced rungs. This is designed to discourage people who shouldn't take this hike, but the rest is much easier.
There is a trail marker where the orange and black return trail meets with the main ladder section, this is where we took a quick rest. It's at this point where we also discovered there was a massive conga line of people coming up the trail behind us. We ended up climbing right behind a pair of friends, at least one of whom was from chicago. It's always fun chatting with people and making friends while hiking.
When we returned to this point we had to come back down the trail moving past a small hoard of people, which also made it harder for them to ascend. The take away is that it's a brilliant idea to arrive very early and stay ahead of the crowds.
Also, as a side note, the trail is NOT dog friendly, and there are many signs warning you as such. We still saw a gentleman ascend with a small dog. At the summit we asked how he did it and apparently he kept the dog in his bag ... : |
The ladder section itself is amazing, I didn't want to take my camera out and my phone decided to lock itself so I only have a few photos, but I did stick my gopro on my head to record the entire thing so watch my video above for an entire comprehensive view of that part of the trail!
The view at the top really is stunning, if the clouds weren't so low it probably could have been one of the best vistas of my life. I fully intend on revisiting some day just to see it in better weather. At the top of the ladders is a false summit, you actually need to hike a bit further to reach the real summit
You'll know you've reached it when you find the trail sign... signs. One thing about Acadia is the sheer number of criss crossing trails, this leads to some pretty jam packed signs!
It's at this point that I assumed we had pretty much finished the hardest part of our day and we began the descent back to our car. You cannot go back down the way you came, the ladder section is strictly one way and for good reason. Instead you have to pick one of several trails back down. The most popular is the black and orange trail which looked easy enough online. It felt SIGNIFICANTLY longer than expected though and really burned us out.
The first section is a gentle down hill walk along a rock face. The view of Bar Harbor in the distance is an awesome bonus. There are small blue blazes to guide you down but the terrain is wide open so if you're not careful you could easily wander off
Once you hit the tree line the trail becomes much easier to follow and well marked. There were several small over looks and some interesting looking sections of trail. This was the most leisurely and enjoyable section of the hike by far. Then you make the transition on to the
Orange and black path proper at this stump on the trail.
Acadia has quite a few of these Stump trail signs, something I think is really cool and should be incorporated back in Connecticut.
The trail immediately heads down hill but if you choose to take the entire trail back to the parking lot be warned it actually goes up and down a LOT. We of course always have Alltrails and looked ahead of time but I don't think it really does it justice. Between the exhaustion from the ascent and the amount of stairs located on this section it really is a slow trudge back to the car.
Fairly early on in this section you'll come to a stone staircase that leads to yet another intersection. It's at this point where you can continue on the orange and black path or...
You can descend the stone walkway to the road. If you parked on the road this may be a much faster, albeit less interesting, way back. Some of my favorite youtubers took this path by accident and I think they missed out on a fun adventure but looking back, the road is by far the easier path!
This was an awesome way to start our trip and it definitely lived up to our expectations. We spent the afternoon doing an even bigger hike that we'll talk about next time. In the mean time, I should probably figure out if I ever sent the Chicago girls their photos.. oops.
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