Trail | Distance | Comments |
| Valley Trail | 1.5 miles | From Beech Mtn Parking lot descend to Long Pond shore |
| Cold Brook Trail | 0.4 miles | From Long Pond to road |
| Unnamed dirt road | 0.2 miles | To Bernard Mtn Trailhead |
| Bernard Mtn Trail | 2.1 miles | Over Bernard Mtn (1071') and down to Great Notch |
| Razorback Trail | 0.2 miles | From Great Notch to Mansell Mtn Trail |
| Mansell Mtn Trail | 0.4 miles | To the summit of Mansell Mtn (938') |
| Mansell Mtn Trail | 1.0 miles | Descend down the ridge |
| Cold Brook Trail | 0.4 miles | Retrace steps to Long Pond |
| Beech West Ridge Trail | 1.0 miles | Climb to summit of Beech Mtn (841') |
| Beech Mtn Trail | 0.4 miles | Return to parking lot, completing the loop |
Grand Total | 7.6 miles | Estimated 2700' elevation gain |
We started at the Beech Mountain Parking lot and hiked in a clockwise path (shown in red on the map below)
I selected a rather rigorous hike for our first full day in Acadia. Since we had just completed some tough hikes 3 weeks previously on our Colorado trip, I assumed that the hikes in Acadia wouldn't be too bad. This wasn't that hard - except for the unexpected humidity (is humidity 100% if you are surrounded by clouds all day?) and the steepness of some of the trails - by steepness, I mean clambering over wet rocks and slick roots.
It was unfortunate that the clouds remained all day long. We reached the summit of three different mountains, but were not rewarded with views from the top of any of them.
After dinner, I met with Lil and her family at their campground. We made plans to hike up the Beehive and Champlain Mountain tomorrow.
