Hike Location: Acadia National Park
Geographic Location: southwest of Somesville, ME (44.31517, -68.34360)
Length: 2.3 miles
Difficulty: 8/10 (Moderate/Difficult)
Date Hiked: July 2019
Overview: A pair of rocky loops featuring spectacular clifftop
views.
Park Information: https://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=760098
Photo Highlight:
Directions to the trailhead: Where SR 102 splits to
form its loop on the north side of Mount Desert Island, head west to go
counterclockwise around the loop. In 0.3
miles, turn left on Beech Mountain Road.
Beech Mountain Rd. dead-ends at the Beech Mountain trailhead parking
area, where this hike begins.
The hike: The
land known today as Acadia National Park has a long history as parkland. The land first came under federal protection
in 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson created Sieur de Monts National Monument. A spring in the eastern part of the present-day
park still bears the Sieur de Monts name, and the area around the spring forms
almost a park within the park. The Monument
was redesignated Lafayette National Park by an act of Congress in 1919, when it
became the first national park east of the Mississippi River and the only
national park in New England. The name
was changed to Acadia National Park in 1929 to remember a French colony from
the 1700’s that included southeast Maine.
On a personal level, my first visit
to Acadia came in 2004 when I spent a single day at the park and did a quick
tour of the park’s highlights including Cadillac Mountain, Ocean Path and Sand Beach, and Southwest Harbor.
I was impressed by the park’s vast areas of bare granite rock back then,
and in 2019 I returned for 3 days to dig deeper into the park’s abundant hiking
opportunities. The next four hikes are
the product of that visit, and despite the fact that my visit occurred on the
hottest days of the summer with temperatures north of 90 degrees, I had a great
time in Acadia.
Acadia National Park’s main area
lies on Mount Desert Island, which is divided into eastern and western halves
by Somes Sound. The eastern half
features the park’s most popular areas, while the western half is more
secluded. For the first of my four
Acadia hikes, I went to Beech Mountain, the heart of the western half of Mount
Desert Island. Several trails start at
the Beech Mountain trailhead, two of which are described here. These two trails combine to form a manageable
but rocky dayhike that leads to excellent clifftop views.
 |
| Trailhead for Beech Mountain Trail |
The Beech Mountain Trail is the
harder of the two trails that make up this hike, so I decided to hike it
first. From the northwest corner of the
parking lot, the signed Beech Mountain Trail heads into the woods and quickly
forks. Both options lead to the summit
of Beech Mountain, but the left option takes a shorter, steeper, and rockier
route than the right one. Not being the
nimblest hiker around, I angled right to choose the easier route.
The smooth gravel treadway soon
gives way to a mix of rocks and roots as the climb up Beech Mountain begins in
earnest. The bare rock outcrops were
brutally hot on the sunny late-July morning I hiked here, and although this
route is easier than the alternative you passed earlier, it still presents some
challenge. On the bright side, great
views of sparkly Long Pond several hundred feet below you and to the west
emerge as you climb the mountain.
 |
| Looking down at Long Pond |
At 0.6 miles, the steep and rocky
Beech Mountain West Ridge Trail exits right.
Stay left to begin the final push to the summit, which takes you up a
series of rock and log steps. Just shy
of 0.75 miles, you come out at the fire tower that marks the summit of Beech
Mountain. This fire tower is the only
fire tower still standing in Acadia National Park, but it is closed to
visitors. Nevertheless, excellent views
emerge from Beech Mountain’s bare rock summit, and on a clear day you can
easily see all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
 |
| View southeast from Beech Mountain |
After taking in the views at the
summit, I chose to turn around and retrace my steps to the parking lot using
the same trail I came up. If you are
more adventurous than I, you could take the shorter route to the parking lot
that heads due north, or you could form a much longer and harder loop by taking
the Beech Mountain South Ridge Trail down to the Valley Trail and then turning
left to get back up to the parking lot.
 |
| Start of Beech Cliff Loop Trail |
Back at the parking lot, walk over
to the northeast corner of the parking lot to begin the Beech Cliff Loop Trail,
the second part of this hike. The gravel
trail climbs on a gradual to moderate grade through more of the birch/pine
forest that dominates Acadia. 1.6 miles
into the hike, you reach a trail intersection in a high saddle. The option going right is the Canada Cliff
Trail, and it leads to a rough clifftop loop that features several ladders. The options going straight and left form the Beech
Cliff Loop. To get to the best views
faster, I continued straight to hike the loop counterclockwise.
Very soon you arrive at Beech Cliff
and the views that make it famous. The
dark waters of Echo Lake lie several hundred feet below at the base of Beech
Cliff, as does the soft sand of Echo Lake Beach. Across Echo Lake stand Acadia and St. Sauveur
Mountains, and the view around the mountains extends all the way to Somes
Sound. This viewpoint is my favorite one
on this hike, so take some time to see what you can see.
 |
| Echo Lake Beach and St. Sauveur Mountain |
|
| Echo Lake, as seen from Beech Cliff |
The Beech Cliff Loop Trail forms a
loop atop its namesake cliff, and while the loop is short you will probably
need to use your hands while scrambling up and down some of the rocks. The second half of the loop leaves the cliff
edge and offers limited views. Just past
2 miles, you close the loop. Turn right
to retrace your steps to the parking lot and complete the hike.
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