 |
| Lunch spot on Lower Hadlock Pond |
One benefit of the comparatively short peak hikes in Acadia is that I can be out and back by 10 or 11 AM, thus leaving the late morning and afternoon for another hike or bike ride on the famous carriage roads with K. We found the Hadlock Ponds to be a really neat figure eight-shaped, double loop hike, with nice vista points, wetland boardwalks, babbling brooks, and moss-filled forests. The hike could easily be extended with a trip to the summit of nearby Mount Norumbega and still bring one back to the parking area with no backtracking.
 |
| K on the boardwalks along Upped Hadlock |
The Hadlock Ponds Trail starts with a short elevation gain up to one of the island's many carriage roads and then down to the east side of the pond and along an extended boardwalk section. After skirting the upper pond, the trail recrosses the highway and passes through a pleasant section following the cascading stream that connects the two ponds. This second section of the hike completely circumnavigates the Lower Hadlock Pond. We looped around the pond from east to west, ending the loop at a nice rock outcropping that served as the perfect, pond-side lunch spot.
 |
| Lower Norumbega Trail |
After the break, we finished the loop and got on the lower Norumbega Trail which skirts the east side of the peak through a pretty beech and birch forest with an almost totally-covered mossy floor. All in all, it was a nice little hike. The only downside was the road noise one encounters on the upper pond.
Destination: Hadlock Ponds
Distance: 3.2 miles roundtrip
Route: Hadlock Ponds Trail to Lower Hadlock Trail to Lower Norumbega Trail
Conditions: Sunny 55 degrees F
