This year for my birthday, I once again chose to return to Acadia National Park. It’s the perfect birthday destination—complete with hiking, biking, swimming, camping, hotels, yummy restaurants, etc. During our stay, we continued our tradition of hiking trails we have never done so we can someday reach our goal of hiking every trail in Acadia. Acadia National Park is very, very busy during September and October, so we usually spend most of our time on the Southwest Harbor side of the island to avoid the crowds. It’s really a win-win scenario, because Southwest Harbor and Bass Harbor are adorable!

We chose to park at the lot at the bottom of Long Pond. To get to the parking lot, go south on route 102 and turn right onto Seal Cove Road and then again onto Long Pond Road. The parking lot is located at the very end of this road, right on the water. Long Pond is gorgeous, with it’s sandy beach and clear waters. Don’t put the swimsuit on yet though—this lake is the public water supply and therefore swimming is prohibited.

The trail head for Mansell Mountain is on the left side of the beach, right past the small water maintenance building. About 0.2 miles in, turn left and continue onto the Perpendicular Trail (Mansell Mountain Trail). If you were to continue straight, you could also end up at the summit via the Great Pond Trail. It’s a bit more gradual and easier than the Perpendicular Trail.

I definitely would not say this trail is gradual. Right off the bat, you will be stair-stepping for at least half a mile. The man-made stairs are beautiful, but they really knock the wind out of you. I also don’t know how slippery they would be in the rain. In that circumstance, I think I would recommend taking the Great Pond Trail.

There are several good viewpoints from the stairs, so be sure to stop and take in the views along the way. Another neat feature of this trail is two small, metal ladders. I’m usually a bit hesitant to climb up ladders on mountains, but these weren’t so bad. They were very short and didn’t have a severe drop-off underneath them, so I was okay with climbing them.

About 0.8 miles into the trail, there will be a very large overlook. This is not the top of the mountain, but it provides the best views you will get from Mansell Mountain. The actual summit of Mansell Mountain has no view. From this overlook, there are great views of Long Pond, Beech Mountain, the ocean, Southwest Harbor, as well as Greening Island, Sutton Island. and Great Cranberry Island.

Continue another 0.1 mile from this overlook and you’ll be at the summit of Mansell Mountain, marked by a wooden sign. It’s very anti-climatic. At this point, you could just go back down to the parking lot. We decided to continue onwards to Bernard Mountain. 0.2 miles past the summit sign, you will come to another intersection. Go right, towards the Razorback Trail and then continue on the Razorback Trail (towards Bernard Mountain) again when you come to the next intersection in 0.1 miles.

Then, you will arrive at a four-way intersection of the Razorback Trail and the Great Notch Trail. Go straight, following the signs for Bernard Mountain. 0.3 miles later, you will arrive at Little Notch. The summit of Bernard Mountain is only 0.1 miles away from Little Notch. Similarly to Mansell Mountain, the actual summit provides no views. However, there is an overlook on the way to the summit with cute little benches that provides views of the western side of Mount Desert Island. We stopped here to enjoy some Maine italian’s and Funyuns (my go-to hiking lunch).

To get back to the parking lot, there are a few different options. We decided to go back to Little Notch and take the Sluiceway Trail to the Gilley Trail and stayed on that trail until it met up with the Cold Brook Trail, which brings you right back to the parking lot. If you wanted to add a bit more distance to your hike, you could continue on the Bernard Mountain Trail for 1 mile until it brings you to a trailhead that will connect you with the Sluiceway Trail. Then, you would have to go back up the Sluiceway Trail until it meets up with the Gilley Trail, and then take that trail to the Cold Brook Trail, which will bring you right back to the parking lot.

Happy hiking, friends!