Tag: Carriage Roads

Mainely Acadia: Carriage Tour

On October 7, 2019

In National Parks & Places, Road Trip, Travel

While planning this trip, the number one thing we wanted to do was a carriage tour of the carriage roads. On our first day in Acadia (Sunday), while we were driving the Park Loop Road, we made a stop at Wildwood Stables to book a carriage tour. The first available tour they had was the following Saturday. We were planning on driving back to New Hampshire that day, but we were able to squeeze in a morning carriage tour before heading south. All week, we called checking for cancellations, but we weren’t able to get in any earlier than Saturday morning.

We chose the Mr. Rockefeller’s bridge tour, a two-hour tour that highlights the picturesque bridges that were planned by John D. Rockefeller Jr. One of the highlights of the tour is Cobblestone (above). Built in 1917, Cobblestone is the oldest bridge on the Carriage Roads and the only one built entirely out of cobblestones. The tour takes a short break so you can get out and explore the bridge. I wish I had more time to photograph here!

Jordan Pond Gatelodge

The tour was a great way to see the carriage roads and it was much less strenuous than biking. The price ($40 for adults for the 2-hour tours and $24 for the hour-long tours) is reasonable and totally worth it, in my opinion. The biggest downside is how quick tours book up. I wanted to wait until we knew what the weather was going to be like before booking and by doing so, all the tours early in the week were booked up. We were very lucky we stayed so long or we probably wouldn’t have gotten in. The moral of the story, if a tour of the carriage roads is on your must-do list for Acadia, book it as soon as possible to have your choice of tours and hope the weather cooperates.

Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip, visit the Mainely Acadia Trip Report page. To read about some of our previous trips, click here. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Etsy and Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.

Mainely Acadia: Biking the Carriage Roads

By Ashleigh

On September 9, 2019

In National Parks & Places, Road Trip, Travel

Me posing by a roadside waterfall

On our first trip to Acadia, our biggest disappointment was that we didn’t get a chance to explore the miles of Acadia’s carriage roads. Everything you read about Acadia tells you that you don’t really see the park until you see the carriage roads. So, on a day when we didn’t have anything planned, we rented some bikes and we set out to see the interior of the park.

Waterfall cascading to Jordan Pond from the carriage roads.

Since we were staying in Southwest Harbor, we decided to rent bikes from Southwest Cycle. The staff there were very friendly and helpful. They helped us pick the right bikes and get the bike rack on our rental car. If you are staying on the quietside, I highly recommend renting from Southwest Cycle.

After getting our bikes, we headed to the Carriage Roads. Honestly, I was not prepared for the beauty of the carriage roads. There were WAY less people than on the park loop road. It was cool to be able to look down on the Park Loop Road and the Jordan Pond Trail too! After our first trip, if you would have asked me if there were waterfalls in Acadia, I would’ve told you no. But, we saw several on our bike ride through the carriage roads.

One thing I wasn’t prepared for was the difficulty of the carriage roads. They were all designed to be driven by carriages, so they weren’t mounting biking difficult, but there were some steep hills we had to climb. I am not an avid biker by any means, so I had to take a few breaks during our bike ride. I did enjoy coasting down the big hills, though! Some of the roads are easier than others, so I recommend if you’re a novice bikers like me that you plan a route that you can handle.

The quiet beauty of the carriage roads is something that you have to experience for yourself. Definitely take a day to explore them! If you aren’t a biker, you could pick some of the shorter ones and walk them or you can take a carriage tour, which I will talk about in a later post! You won’t regret getting away from the crowds and seeing the interior of the park!

Thanks for stopping by! To read about some of our previous trips, click here. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Etsy and Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.

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Hiking Jordan Pond

By Ashleigh

On October 22, 2018

In Hiking, National Parks & Places, Road Trip, Travel

On our second day at Acadia National Park, we set out to hike the Jordan Pond Trail. Jordan Pond is one of the iconic features of the park and by taking the trail around it, you get into the woods and experience the real Acadia. As I mentioned in last week’s post, after two hot days in Maine, a storm rolled in and cooled it down to more comfortable, hiking weather.

The View from the Jordan Pond House

The trail begins near the Jordan Pond House Restaurant (left). The 4.3 mile trail is described as an easy, family, friendly hike. 2/3 of the trail are pressed dirt and boardwalks but the rough, rocky terrain near the back side of the pond surprised me. There were some spots where it was hard to get my footing and I was worried I was going to fall. If you want to enjoy the park and get away from the crowds, I recommend taking a hike. The parking lot was full, but it felt like we were the only people on the trail.

We were hoping to do some more hiking before we left Acadia but the weather did not cooperate. Chris really wanted to hike Bubble Rock (the mountain the can be seen straight back in both of the photos). Somehow, its described as an easy hike. How can climbing up a mountain be easy? Anyway, it stormed on our last day so we left early and began heading home. We will have to come back to Acadia another day and maybe I’ll be brave enough to conquer the Bubble.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check back next week as we photograph Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! You can purchase prints on Etsy and Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.

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