Bald Peak Trail, Acadia National Park, Hancock County, ME

The route of the present day trail to Bald Peak (#62) went through a history of appearing and disappearing and then finally reappearing on trail maps, as well as a period of maintenance abandonment. The Bald Peak Trail first appeared on a map in 1932, however there were other routes to Bald Peak prior to 1932. For example, in the 1915 Path Guidebook, by the Village Improvement Societies , Bald Peak is mentioned in Hike #47, pg 24: hiking “south up the Giant Slide, along east side of Little Brown and Bald Peak. Up Bald Peak to west is a very short climb as a detour.” However, curiously, the guidebook continues on pg. 34, “For those who enjoy scrambling over mountains unmarked by trails, Gilmore Peak, Bald Peak and Little Brown Mountain offer excellent opportunities for such exercise.”

The first actual trail leading to Bald Peak was part of the Little Brown’s Mountain Trail, (Parkman Mountain) as shown on the 1917 Bates, Rand and Jaques Path Map of the Eastern side. The trail started from the same start point on the Hadlock Brook Trail (#57) as the present day Parkman Trail (#59) and traveled up to Bald Peak and then onto the summit of Parkman Mountain.

On the 1921 Eastern Side Path map by Bates, Rand, and Jaques, there was a change to the Parkman Mountain Trail with the addition of a detour loop around the top of Bald Peak. In the 1928 guidebook Walks on Mount Desert Island Maine by Harold Peabody and Charles Grandgent, the Little Brown’s Mountain (Parkman Mountain) Trail route is described as including a ‘detour’ to Bald Peak: On pg. 65 Walk #38B the hike describes arriving at the summit of Little Brown’s Mountain, “follow cairns down the south ridge, at fork of cairns (cairns left lead over Bald Peak and joins our trail farther down the mountainside; a good detour and about 15 minutes longer). Continue straight ahead…and then a left trail (the lower end of the trail over Bald Peak)...”.

A trail to Bald Peak, separate from the Parkman Mountain Trail, first appeared on a 1932 Path map Eastern Side, starting along the Hadlock Brook Trail a little further beyond the start to the Parkman Mountain Trail, and running parallel with the Parkman Mountain Trail, and eventually meeting up with the Parkman Trail just beyond the summit of Bald Peak. The Bald Peak Trail is included on the 1937 and the 1941 Path map of the Eastern Side.

The 1954 guide book Paths and Trails of Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor and Vicinity published by the Trails Committees of the Mount Desert Chamber of Commerce and the Seal Harbor Village Improvement Society gave a description of the Bald Peak Trail, “Start at Shady Hill signpost above Upper Hadlock Pond…These trails (Little Browns Mountain and Bald Peak Trails) parallel each other, the Bald Peak route being the steeper. Ascending by either…one has the alternative of returning by the other or continuing easterly along the Grandgent Trail”. Even the 1961 and 1968 Appalachian Mountain Club Map of Mt. Desert continued to show the Bald Peak Trail. However, over the decades several trail maps did not include the Bald Peak Trail. For example the trail was missing on both the 1942 and 1956 USGS Acadia National Park map as well as on the 1972 Phillips trail map, and the 1986 DeLorme trail map.

In 1957, David Goodrich recalled hiking the trail and seeing a trail sign at the start of the trail on the Hadlock Brook Trail. In 1975 he noticed that the trail sign was missing but that the trail was still easy to follow (personal communication).

In 1987, Neva Goodwin, a private resident, requested that the Park ‘reopen’ the Bald Peak Trail by placing a new sign and adding cairns to mark the route. The Bald Peak Trail has appeared on trail maps and continues to be maintained by the Park ever since.

1 mile

From the Hadlock Brook Trail, over Bald Peak, to the Parkman Mountain Trail.

44.33091

-68.2881

The historic trail system of Acadia National Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, recognized for its national significance and ties to the history of Mount Desert Island and establishment of the park. The system's period of significance starts in 1844 and ends in 1942. The listing encompasses 109 trails traversing 117 miles on Mount Desert Island (some extending outside the park) and includes 18 memorial plaques, 12 viewpoints, and unique engineering features.

1911362

100007602

62

Microsoft Access database used in preparation of report Pathmakers: Cultural Landscape Report for the Historic Hiking Trail System of Mount Desert Island by Coffin Brown, Margaret, Jim Vekasi, et. al. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, DC (2006); accessed June 2024. Entry updated and revised in 2025 by Gary Stellphflug and Terese Miller (March, 2025) utilizing orignal research, personal knowledge, and 2013 Acadia National Park trails map.

U.S. Geographic Information Names System (GNIS). U.S. Geologic Survey (Washington, DC): Archive database of 2021 ( https://www.usgs.gov/us-board-on-geographic-names/download-gnis-data : CSV data downloaded 31 May 2024).