No trip to Acadia National Park is complete without standing atop Cadillac Mountain, and most people do just that. But…most people summit Cadillac via the paved access road in their RVs, Volkswagen Jettas, etc. Not us, we chose to take the scenic route, by foot, on the Gorge Pass.
A little bit about Cadillac Mountain. At 1,528 ft, Cadillac isn’t Mt. Everest, but it is the tallest mountain on the entire Eastern seaboard within 25 miles of the coast, and has the views to show for it. On a very clear day, both Mt. Katahdin and Nova Scotia are visible (both over 100 miles away) from the summit, and Cadillac is also sees the first sunrise on the East Coast in the Fall and Winter.
A View from the Top!
There are three primary hiking routes up Cadillac Mountain, the most popular being the South Ridge Trail (3.7 miles one way) and the North Ridge Trail (2.2 miles one way) that offer a slightly less vertical (but still strenuous!) approach.
The Gorge Pass is the shortest at 1.9 miles one-way, but it is the steepest, least crowded, and an absolutely awesome/scenic hike. We got an early AM start, hoping to avoid midday heat and midday crowds. Mission accomplished on both!
The hike starts with an easy and level walk on a wooded path before cutting up through a steep and narrow gorge (where did you think the name came from!?). The gorge portion of the hike is punishing, with the rocky trail resembling a steep staircase for slightly less than a mile (but feeling like much longer).
After huffing a puffing through the gorge, we emerged into the sunlight and were rewarded with great views of the ocean as well as Dorr Mountain that energize the final push to the summit.
The last .4 miles of the gorge path is a steep rock scramble, which is really fun, and would make getting to the top more climactic except when you do get up there, you mingle into a crowd of the softies that drove to the top!
We enjoyed a few moments at the top, reprimanded some folks walking in a restoration area (read the sign!), and I probably won the award for “sweatiest visitor to the gift shop” that day.
Since variety is the spice of life, we chose to take the North Ridge Trail on the way down. While still entirely fun, the North Ridge Trail was much more crowded and more exposed to direct sunlight, and we were happy with our original choice to go up the Gorge!
If you find yourself in Acadia, don’t wuss out – hike to the Top of Cadillac!
[…] – if you’re looking for a short, vertical, and fun way up we’d recommend the Gorge Path! Once you achieve the summit, try not to judge the folks that drive to the […]