Five Favorite Adventures in National Parks, Biking Acadia’s Carriage Path Trails
The Park Loop around Acadia can be congested in the summer months, so get out of the car and play in the pines. A 43-mile network of carriage path trails, narrow hard-packed gravel pathways best suited for the fat wheels of a mountain bike, line the entire eastern half of Mount Desert Island. Rent bikes at Bar Harbor’s Acadia Bike (48 Cottage Street) and then head to the shores of Eagle Lake, where a relatively level carriage path trail circles this large body of water under towering firs and over century-old stone bridges. At the southern part of the lake, Acadia’s highest peak, Cadillac Mountain, comes into view, before the trail descends on a fun downhill run. Afterwards, treat the kids to warm popovers at the Jordan Pond Gatehouse.