The drive as far as mountain roads go is very tame and not too long. There are no incredibly tall mountains in the park, and Cadillac Mountain is only 1,529’. But the drive is worth it as the views are spectacular. You could also hike to the top if you’re feeling a little more ambitious than we were. It was interesting to see the island from a bird’s eye view.
Anyway, here are some pictures from the top…
First the panoramic pictures…
Next, other pictures…
Bar Harbor is visible in the distance…
After leaving the summit, we took a drive to explore a part of the park we hadn’t visited yet, Witch Hole Pond. There are a number of trails in this area including more carriage roads and old stone bridges. This area is relatively flat, so if you’re looking for some easier trails, this would be a good area to explore. The woods, the marshes, and the creek near by provide an interesting backdrop for a pleasant hike.
There’s a beaver dam in the picture below. We saw lodges and dams in several places around the park, but unfortunately never caught sight of an actual beaver.
After this walk, we made a return visit to Jordan Pond to eat lunch at the Pond House and hike around the pond before heading to our final excursion, a horse carriage ride along some of the carriage roads we hadn’t explored yet. This visit to the Pond House was a little different than the first. Since we were driving, we had to find parking, and this area is extremely popular, so I dropped Jenny off and ended up having to park a half mile away. We also had to wait around 45 minutes for a table.
Our plan after lunch was to complete the loop around Jordan Pond. The problem was with the delays, we had less time than we expected to do the hike and still make it in time for the carriage ride. What was going to be a leisurely stroll around the pond turned into a mad dash where I ran for the last 20 minutes so that I could get the car in time to pick up Jenny and make it to the stables. It was like an episode of the Amazing Race. We should’ve handled this a little better.
Anyway, we still found some time to take a few pictures…
A large section of the trail is a cool boardwalk…
The pond itself is beautiful…
We made it in time for the carriage ride which was a good thing as they would have charged us the full amount had we not been able to make it. A little warning about booking the ride, if you’re planning on doing this excursion, book early if possible. They don’t have an online system and they aren’t very good about answering their phones. The best way is to show up at the Wildwood Stables in person a few days before you’d like to take the ride, and even then it’s not guaranteed. We did this, and we got the last available ride on the day before we were leaving the area. We heard several other people trying to book their own ride and were running into the problem of availability.
The carriage ride itself was a cool experience as in addition to learning about the nature and history of the area, we also learned that Rockefeller was a huge horse fan and built these roads for this purpose. The Rockefeller’s lands were eventually turned into Acadia National Park, and it is definitely a place worth visiting. We felt the ride was an appropriate way to say goodbye to the park.
So we spent our last night in our forest cottage and prepared for our next destination Lincoln, New Hampshire. A doe came right below our deck to bid us farewell. Overall, our visit to Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park was a magical experience. One that we would like to repeat again some day.
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