A Family Adventure


Tyson, Emilie & Isaac

Hike Cadillac Mountain

November 28, 2020
Emilie Phillips
Nature walk through the wetland

Saturday after Thanksgiving, Tyson found a loop to Cadillac Mountain that we could hike from our rental cottage. It was great. We hiked from the cottage, down the road, and into the woods. The first part of the trail was a long boardwalk across a wetland. We found some of the flora described on the interpretive signs. Most were out of season. We skirted the long pond called The Tarn, with good views of Champlain Mountain from the day before. Then we headed up Ladder Trail.

Stairs on Ladder Trail

Isaac was excited to climb iron rungs on more cliffs. Unfortunately, we found that “ladder” was optimistic marketing. It had a few ladders, but the dominant feature were endless granite stairs.

We ate lunch on Dorr Mountain. From there, we could see the smaller islands south and west of Mount Desert Island. We tried to identify as many as we could from the map.

Family photo on Cadillac Mountain

Next we continued to Cadillac Mountain. A modest continent of folks had driven up to the summit. This peak gave better views of the bay to the north. We did a quick tour of the summit and then headed down the North Ridge Trail. The views weren’t captivating on a gray cloudy day.

Read about the rest of our Thanksgiving in Acadia National Park

All Photos

GPS Track

(distances are suspect on Tyson’s new phone GPS)

Written January 6, 2021