Explore Acadia National Park
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Carriage Road Trails
Acadia National Park is gifted with forty five miles of rustic carriage roads that weave their way through and around the mountains, valleys, and lakes on Mount Desert Island. The carriage roads can be run on year round and are also great for linking up many of the other trails in the park. Some of the more popular carriage road routes are shared below:
Witch Hole Pond: The Witch Hole Pond carriage road loop totals 3.5 miles with the option to add Paradise Hill near the Hulls Cove Visitor Center or to connect to Eagle Lake via the carriage road connector. The terrain is rolling, with several gradual hills, and several views of Witch Hole Pond as well as Frenchman Bay and even Cadillac Mountain. The start of the loop is at the historic Duck Brook Bridge, and it can be accessed from the downtown area with some easy warmup miles (approximately two miles from the Bar Harbor Village Green) or from Duck Brook Road off of Eagle Lake Road. The entrance to Duck Brook Road is just before the Eagle Lake parking lots of headed out of Bar Harbor.
Eagle Lake: Eagle Lake is just 2.5 miles from the Bar Harbor Village Green via Eagle Lake Road, and is also easily accessible via car with its two parking lots. Park passes are required in both of these parking lots. From the boat launch parking lot, locals and visitors can run counterclockwise or clockwise around the crystal blue waters of Acadia's Eagle Lake, with the entire loop totaling six miles. The loop has plenty of options to expand, with the addition of Conners Nubble for scenic views of the lake, or the Aunt Betty Pond carriage roads for some extra climbing and additional solitude. The main loop has approximately 300 feet of climbing and descending.
Witch Hole Pond: The Witch Hole Pond carriage road loop totals 3.5 miles with the option to add Paradise Hill near the Hulls Cove Visitor Center or to connect to Eagle Lake via the carriage road connector. The terrain is rolling, with several gradual hills, and several views of Witch Hole Pond as well as Frenchman Bay and even Cadillac Mountain. The start of the loop is at the historic Duck Brook Bridge, and it can be accessed from the downtown area with some easy warmup miles (approximately two miles from the Bar Harbor Village Green) or from Duck Brook Road off of Eagle Lake Road. The entrance to Duck Brook Road is just before the Eagle Lake parking lots of headed out of Bar Harbor.
Eagle Lake: Eagle Lake is just 2.5 miles from the Bar Harbor Village Green via Eagle Lake Road, and is also easily accessible via car with its two parking lots. Park passes are required in both of these parking lots. From the boat launch parking lot, locals and visitors can run counterclockwise or clockwise around the crystal blue waters of Acadia's Eagle Lake, with the entire loop totaling six miles. The loop has plenty of options to expand, with the addition of Conners Nubble for scenic views of the lake, or the Aunt Betty Pond carriage roads for some extra climbing and additional solitude. The main loop has approximately 300 feet of climbing and descending.
Park Loop Road
The Park Loop Road totals 27 miles of some of the most scenic stretches of pavement in the country, connecting the eastern side of the island's mountains, lakes, and shoreline. It also provides access to popular areas such as Sieur de Monts, Sand Beach, Otter Point, Jordan Pond, and the island's tallest peak, Cadillac Mountain. For the full tour experience, runners can start at the Hulls Cove Visitor Center, and from there, the road heads south along Paradise Hill Road before beginning the loop section.
