Seal Harbor & Little Hunters Beach
After a busy couple of days at work around the 4th of July Holiday, Betsy and I took advantage of a day off to explore something on the island we had not yet experienced. After looking through some of our plentiful reference materials we settled on a short hike on South Bubble Mountain to have a look at Bubble Rock. Bubble Rock is a “glacial erratic” piece of multi-ton granite which appears to be perched precariously on the edge of the mountain. We headed out with our snacks and water, into Acadia National Park. This still being the week of July 4th, we were expecting to encounter some people in the Park. As we approached the small parking area for the trail on Park Loop Rd., we realized that parking may be an issue. And since we were not looking for a lengthy hike from the next closest parking area when we arrived to find the lot full, we continued on Park Loop Rd. and decided to come up with a Plan B.
Plan B turned out to be quite an enjoyable day. We exited Park Loop Rd. at the Stanley Brook Entrance which put us directly in front of Seal Harbor. We were fortunate to find a parking spot in the small parking lot across the street from Seal Harbor. As it was low tide, the public beach was quite large at the time so we headed out across the sand towards the water. The Seal Harbor public beach is a nice alternative to the more popular Sand Beach in Acadia. We stood at the waters edge for a couple of minutes admiring the boats in the harbor and the homes on the adjacent shorelines. There were several people enjoying the sun on the sand and there were a couple of kids in the water. Remember, the water here is still in the low 50’s!
From Seal Harbor we continued east along the coast on Cooksey Rd. to a small, three car parking lot which is the trailhead for Hunters Beach Trail. This is a fairly easy 0.3 mile trail along a creek which ends at Little Hunters Beach. Little Hunters Beach is a cobblestone beach with beautiful ocean-tumbled rocks that range in size from large boulders to small egg-sized stones. From Little Hunters Beach we continued on to Hunters Cliff Trail, a 0.5 mile trail that does not stay directly along the shore, but offers several places where you can go off trail onto the granite rocks and enjoy views of the ocean. We followed the trail until it crossed over Cooksey Rd., where we walked along the road back to our car. We sat in the car for a couple of minutes to enjoy a snack and some water before heading towards home. While this trail is not as stunning as the Ocean Path inside Acadia, it is still a pleasant hike with some views that are not enjoyed by everyone.
