maine! beech cliffs trail & canada trail at echo lake

Our summer travels took us to a place that has been on our hearts to visit for some time ~ Mt. Desert Island in Maine home to Acadia National Park, the bustling city of Bar Harbor as well as "the quiet side" of Southwest Harbor where we lodged.  We decided to take a family vacation over our 20th wedding anniversary to make our time there something of a celebration and to make extra special memories. It has taken me some time to begin writing about our advetures, and the easiest way to dig in is to record our hiking in Acadia National Park. This wasn't specifically a hiking trip, so we limited our time on the trails, but did make it to five trails.

Our first hike was up the Beech Cliffs Trail beginning at Echo Lake and descending on the Canada Trail, approximately two miles total, and located on the quiet side of the island. There were other hikers, but it wasn't a busy trail. Also, I'll note, bugs were not an issue. This was a topic I continued to read about as I researched Maine, the issue with black flies. Maybe our location on the coast was helpful, but bugs were not an issue for us, thankfully! 

Our ascent up the Beech Cliffs Trail was basically straight up, hence the need for iron ladders and many a breather. The views on the way up, at the top and then descending were so beautiful. The treasure about being on the coast was the coast itself. So landlocked we are in the Midwest, and I do love our forests. What I treasure about our time in Maine was being on the coast. This specific hike provided a sweeping view of the coast as well as inland lakes. 

Next Maine Post: Ships Harbor Trail on The Quiet Side