Acadia crams iron-rung cliff climbs, flat gravel paths and the first sunrise in the country into 47,000 acres. Two things trip visitors up: the summit road needs a paid reservation in season, and several trails close for months at a time, some for peregrine falcons and some for repairs.
Right now one of the park's most popular walks is partly shut. Here are seven Acadia hiking trails worth a day, with what each one asks of you and what it costs. Fees are in US dollars, current as of September 16, 2026.
What you pay and what you have to book
Entry runs $35 per private vehicle, $30 per motorcycle, or $20 per person walking or cycling in, each good for seven days. An Acadia annual pass is $70. Non-US residents aged 16 and over pay an extra $100 per person unless they hold an annual or America the Beautiful pass, a rule that started in January 2026.
Driving up Cadillac Mountain is separate. From May 20 to October 25 you need a $6 vehicle reservation for the Summit Road, booked through Recreation.gov, which gives you a timed entry with no fixed departure until the road closes at 9 p.m. Sunrise slots go fastest.
The fare-free Island Explorer shuttle covers most trailheads. In 2026, spring service on the Gateway Center, Loop Road and Schoodic routes started May 20, and most other routes run June 23 to October 12. Outside that window, you drive and you compete for parking.
Trail | Length | Time | Difficulty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Wonderland | 1.4 mi out and back | 30 to 60 min | Easy, gravel road | Dogs allowed |
Bar Island | Sandbar plus ~1 mi | 45 to 90 min | Easy, tide-dependent | Crossable only near low tide |
Great Head | 1.7 mi | 2 to 4 hrs | Moderate, coastal headland | Starts at Sand Beach |
The Bubbles | 1.5 mi | 60 to 90 min | Moderate | Views over Jordan Pond |
Beehive Loop | 1.4 mi loop | 1 to 3 hrs | Strenuous, iron rungs | No dogs, 450 ft cliff |
Precipice | Cliff climb | Half day | Very strenuous, iron rungs | Closes for falcon nesting |
Cadillac South Ridge | Long out and back | 2 to 4 hrs | Moderate, exposed | No reservation needed on foot |
Beehive Loop: the cliff climb people attempt by accident
The Beehive is the trail visitors underestimate. NPS describes a 1.4 mile loop up a 450-foot cliff face using iron rungs, exposed ledges and granite staircases. Dogs are not permitted, which tells you plenty on its own.
It takes one to three hours, and the climbing section is short. The problem is that it's one-way in practice: turning around partway down a queue of people on rungs is miserable, so decide at the bottom.
If the exposure sounds wrong for you, walk the Bowl Trail to the pond behind the summit instead. Same trailhead, none of the ladders.
Precipice: the hardest of the Acadia hiking trails, when it's open
Precipice is the bigger version of the Beehive: iron rungs bolted to a near-vertical face on Champlain Mountain, with long drops below.
It closes, too. The park shut Precipice, Jordan Cliffs and Valley Cove on March 1, 2026 to protect nesting peregrine falcons, along with the Precipice parking lot. Those closures run until rangers judge the chicks have fledged, which usually means somewhere in mid to late summer, and the dates shift every year. The park's current alerts as of mid-September 2026 no longer list them, which suggests they have reopened for the season.
Check the current conditions page the morning you go. The park updates it as trails open and close, and it overrides anything written here.
Ocean Path: the flattest of the Acadia hiking trails, and partly closed
This is the walk most first-timers do, running along the cliffs past Thunder Hole and Otter Cliff, flat and wide.
A park alert posted on August 28, 2026 says that from August 31, the southern section closed for repairs, from the trailhead across from the Otter Point parking lot to the trail's southern terminus. The northern stretch from Sand Beach is the part still open, and it holds the best of the scenery anyway.
Sunrise here is quieter than on Cadillac, and you do not need a $6 reservation to watch it.
Bar Island: the hike with a deadline
Bar Island is reached on foot across a gravel sandbar from Bar Harbor, walkable only around low tide. Once across, a mile of trail climbs to the island's high point and a view back at the town.
The tide is the whole game. The crossing is open for a window of a few hours either side of low water, and people get stranded most summers. Check the tide chart, note the time the bar floods, and be back before it.
Allow 45 to 90 minutes. Dogs are welcome.
The Bubbles: the best view-to-effort ratio in the park
A 1.5 mile hike, 60 to 90 minutes, and you get the postcard: Jordan Pond below, framed by two round granite domes, plus Bubble Rock, a glacial erratic balanced on the edge like it is about to go.
One planning note. The Island Explorer stopped serving the Bubble Rock trailhead because of congestion and safety at the lot, so approach from Jordan Pond instead.
Great Head: the coastal alternative to a summit
Great Head is a 1.7 mile trail over a headland at the end of Sand Beach, part open rock above the water, part woods. NPS lists two to four hours, which is generous unless you stop constantly, and most people do.
It pairs neatly with Sand Beach and the open northern section of Ocean Path for a half-day without a car.
Cadillac South Ridge: the way to skip the reservation
Everyone drives Cadillac. You don't have to, and this is the route that rewards walking most directly, because the ridge stays open the whole way up.
NPS calls the South Ridge the longer route to the summit, two to four hours out and back, with ocean and island views before you top out. The North Ridge Trail is shorter, also two to four hours, and mostly exposed. Hikers skip the $6 vehicle reservation entirely, since it only applies to driving the Summit Road.
Take a layer. Weather on the summit routinely differs from Bar Harbor, and the ridge offers nothing to hide behind.
Wonderland: the one for strollers, dogs and tired legs
Among the Acadia hiking trails on the quiet side of the island, Wonderland runs 1.4 miles out and back along an old gravel fire road to the shore on the island's quiet west side. NPS calls it family friendly, dogs are allowed, and it takes half an hour to an hour.
Ship Harbor next door is a similar length with tidepools. Both are on the Island Explorer route in season.
Picking among the Acadia hiking trails by what you want
Sunrise without a reservation: Ocean Path north of Sand Beach, or the Bar Island crossing if the tide cooperates.
Kids or mobility limits: Wonderland, Ship Harbor, and the Jordan Pond side of the Bubbles.
A workout: Cadillac South Ridge up, North Ridge down, with a shuttle or a second car.
Adrenaline: Beehive, or Precipice if the falcons are done nesting. Both use iron rungs, and neither is the place to find out you dislike heights.
Foliage: early to mid October, when the Island Explorer is still running and the crowds are thinner than August.
One last thing that matters more than trail choice. Acadia's granite gets slick in fog and rain, which arrive fast off the water, and the rung trails become genuinely dangerous when wet. Check conditions, then check the tide, then go.
Common questions about Acadia hiking trails
Do Acadia hiking trails require reservations?
No. The $6 reservation applies only to driving the Cadillac Summit Road between May 20 and October 25. Every trail here is free to walk once you have paid park entry.
Which Acadia hiking trails are closed?
As of mid-September 2026, the southern section of Ocean Path is closed for repairs. The falcon closures on Precipice, Jordan Cliffs and Valley Cove that began on March 1 are no longer listed in the park's alerts. Always check current conditions before you drive out.
What are the hardest Acadia hiking trails?
Precipice, then Beehive. Both climb cliff faces on iron rungs with real exposure, and both are poor choices in rain or fog.
Can you hike in Acadia without a car?
Yes, in season. The fare-free Island Explorer reaches most eastern trailheads and Jordan Pond from Bar Harbor, running until October 12 in 2026.