Trail | Distance | Comments |
| Homan's Path | 0.3 miles | Start at Sieur de Monts Parking and climb the stairs of Homan's Path |
| Emery Path | 0.2 miles | Follow contour lines above cliff |
| Schiff Path | 1.0 miles | Climb to Dorr Ridge |
| Dorr South Ridge Trail | 0.2 miles | Dorr Mtn summit is 0.1 miles south of trail junction. |
| Schiff Path | 0.6 miles | Climb to down into Gorge and up to Cadillac Mountain |
| Cadillac Summit Loop | 0.3 miles | Easy paved loop with scenic views |
| Cadillac North Ridge Trail | 2.2 miles | Long descent on Cadillac ridge |
| Kebo Brook Trail | 0.7 miles | Easy flat walk in a forest |
| Stratheden Path | 1.0 miles | Nice forest walk back to parking |
| Kane Path | 0.8 miles | Walk out to see The Tarn and back again |
Grand Total | 7.3 miles | Estimated 1800' elevation gain |
I knew I wanted to hike Cadillac Mountain, the premier landmark in Acadia National Park, but what would be the best approach? My initial thought was to park at the trailhead for Cadillac North Ridge Trail, but parking there is quite limited (as we saw when we drove past on the day we did the Beehive). People want to see the the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain, which means that they get to the parking at Cadillac North Ridge trailhead well before the sunrise and hike up. So there is no way to get a spot there. We opted to park at Sieur de Monts. I thought about hiking up the Ladder, which I figured would be similar to the Beehive climb (only longer), but the description in the Falcon Guide of Homan's Path made it sound interesting (and it was interesting!) so I am glad we chose that way to go up. We hiked first to Dorr Mountain, then across the Gorge, and then up to Cadillac. Our return was down the Cadillac North Ridge Trail (rated moderate - it is an easy descent) and then through flat but nice forest paths back to the start.
We got lucky at the top of Cadillac. The skies looked completely socked in by clouds, but because we waited about 20 minutes, the strong wind cleared out the lower layer of clouds and we could enjoy some of the famous vistas. Because Cadillac is the highest mountain, you can see in all directions (except west, because there are trees to the west on the summit). By the time we hiked back to the Tarn, the clouds had completely melted away, so in this instance, our early start wasn't ideal. Still, an early start meant we could find a parking spot - which is hard to do in the peak months of summer.
