When it comes to difficult and strenuous hikes in Acadia, there is the Precipice Trail and the Beehive Trail. The Precipice Trail is often cited as one of the most dangerous hikes in a National Park with higher ratio of falls, injuries, and deaths (a college student died on this trail five years ago after falling) than any other trail in any other park. Fortunately for those of us who seriously afraid of heights, the Precipice Trail was closed as peregrine falcons are currently nesting.
That meant our fearless planner who has no regards for heights (or those who are afraid of heights) decided on the Beehive Trail. It's not as difficult or dangerous - so they say - as the Precipice Trail, but for those of us who are not the biggest fans of heights, it was still insane.
The trail starts just past an entrance station on Loop Road and across from Sand Beach. You take it for about .2 miles before you come to an intersection. At that point, my parents went to the left along the Bowl Trail and Cara, Syd, Phil, and I went right up to the Beehive Trail. Both trails would eventually meet at the summit of the Beehive.
It became clear very quickly that this was going to be an incredibly strenuous hike both physically and mentally. There were times when we had to walk over metal grates because the rock path had fallen down. Other times when all three contact points where on metal rungs or handles. And there were other times when the path was so narrow that you had to essentially put one foot in front of the other.
I was able to stop once or twice to take some photos along the way. But to be honest, I spent a good portion of the hike not looking down and focusing on my next step. Hopefully between these photos and videos, you can get a sense of what it was like. However, until you're actually climbing up this 500-foot mountain, you'll probably have a hard time grasping what it was like.
All of that said, it was not a long climb. I think it was around one mile. It was almost entirely straight up the side of the mountain. So, it did take longer than the Bowl Trail, but it did make for an incredible view of Sand Beach and the water once we got to the top.
I'm glad I did it, but I don't see myself doing another hike that anytime soon.
After reaching the Beehive Summit, catching our breath, and calming our nerves, we met up with my parents and hiked down to the Bowl. If we had brought our suits with us, we could have jumped in for a quick swim as the water wasn't too cold.
But none of us did, and we decided to keep on hiking our way back along the Bowl Trail to the trailhead that we started at. All in all, it only took a couple hours to get through that trail.
That's the top of Beehive in that last photo there!
Other than the Beehive Trail, the only other plan on Independence Day inside the park was to spend some time at Sand Beach. But as we got closer to the beach and clouds increased, we quickly realized that swimming in 50-degree water wasn't exactly what we wanted to do.
On the opposite side of Sand Beach, there's an unmarked trailhead. Google Maps came in handy, and we learned that there was a roughly two mile loop along a set of cliffs that we could do. Everybody was in agreement. So, after eating our lunch, we set off for it.
It was the Great Head Trail, and I believe we'd all recommend it if you ever come to Acadia. It was not a difficult hike (at least in comparison to the Beehive Trail) and it made for some spectacular views along the way. It also wasn't very crowded, so it was a peaceful hike as well.
After hiking through the Great Head Trail for a couple hours, we headed back across Sand Beach and to our car. From there, we made a quick stop at Thunder Hole. I don't want to say it was a mistake, but we went during low tide. Thunder Hole is best experienced during high tide. Oh well!
After spending only a few minutes at Thunder Hole, we got back in the van and made our way back to our house. We did a little grilling before catching a bus to Bar Harbor for fireworks. We were able to catch another bus back to our place after.
Shameless plug: L.L. Bean supports and pays for all of the Island Explorer buses on Mount Desert Island. The drivers are extremely helpful and friendly. If you're ever on MDI and need to get around, it pays to be nice to your driver. They'll help you out for sure.
Today we're doing some biking into the park before hopping onto a carriage road to bike to a trailhead for a hike after that. Should be another busy day!
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