Sight · Acadia National Park
A granite arch tucked above a rocky, wooded gorge.
Overview
Chasm Brook Bridge is a small, historic granite-clad arch over Chasm Brook and Chasm Falls, tucked on a remote loop of Acadia’s car-free carriage-road network. It’s a lovely find if you’re already walking or biking those roads; it’s a long way to go for a quick look. Expect roughly 2.5–3 miles each way from the nearest listed access points at Eagle Lake, Jordan Pond House, or Parkman; a bike is the quickest approach.
Parkwolf’s verdictWorth the detourMap
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Acadia Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Acadia National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this area
Giant Slide’s Boulder Passages“Giant Slide Trail's roadside start is coming up, for a wooded scramble beside Sargent Brook. The unusual part is squeezing beneath huge granite boulders, including an overhanging slab that makes a cave-like passage.”
Plays on the road 1.4 mi from Chasm Brook Bridge in the Parkwolf Acadia Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“…As we drove through Acadia it gave us a tour, which was really cool. Lots of great info about the parks and how to avoid the crowds. It’s a great travel companion!”
Guide
The bridge spans a small gorge, and the water may be only a light flow in summer. The full arch is most striking from below, but no maintained safe route down to the gorge was found. Stay on the carriage road rather than scrambling for a photo; from above, take time to notice the granite parapets and how the arch meets the rock.
Completed in 1926, the bridge was the seventh of 17 bridges built along Mount Desert Island’s carriage-road system. It is 54 feet long and 25 feet high, with a 28-foot-8-inch segmental arch. The structure is reinforced concrete faced with quarry-cut granite; its parapets rise toward the center and end in scroll-shaped stonework. Its design was copied from a bridge in New York’s Central Park.
Wildlife
130 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around noonSighting map
21 sightingsPeregrine FalconMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
396 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
305 sightingsPorcupineMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
201 sightingsBeaverMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
34 sightingsMinkMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Acadia. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateSargent East Cliffs Trail0.7 mi · 30 min · 0.7 mi awayThe fast, steep descent from Sargent’s summit toward Deer Brook.
ModerateSargent Northwest Trail2 mi · 2 hr · 0.8 mi awayThe direct northwest climb onto Sargent’s open granite ridgeline.
ModerateConners Nubble Trail0.3 mi · 30 min · 0.9 mi awayA short granite climb to an open Eagle Lake view.
ChallengingDeer Brook Trail0.8 mi · 1 hr · 1.2 mi awayA steep brookside climb from Jordan Pond to Penobscot
ChallengingGrandgent Trail1.1 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.2 mi awayA steep, one-way ridge link over Gilmore between two summits.
ChallengingGiant Slide Trail4.2 mi · 3 hr · 1.4 mi awayA steep brook ravine with tight boulder squeezes.
ModerateEagle Lake Trail1.7 mi · 1 hr · 1.4 mi awayA rocky, rooty path along Eagle Lake’s wooded south shore.
ModerateBubbles Trail1.5 mi · 1.3 hr · 1.5 mi awayTwo summits and a perched glacial boulder in 90 minutes.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayDeer Brook BridgeTake a carriage-road detour for twin arches and a 1925 medallion.
Sight · 1.4 mi awayBubble RockA hundred-ton erratic balanced on South Bubble’s summit ledge
Sight · 1.5 mi awayHemlock BridgeA rare Gothic arch tucked into the car-free carriage roads.
Sight · 1.6 mi awayWaterfall BridgeA 1925 arch frames Hadlock Brook's waterfall along car-free roads.
Sight · 1.7 mi awayBubble Pond BridgeA stone arch that survived two rejected designs.
Sight · 2 mi awayEagle Lake BridgeA stone arch carries Route 233 over a motor-free carriage road.
Sight · 2 mi awayHadlock Brook BridgeA small stone arch on the car-free Hadlock Loop.
Sight · 2 mi awayAmphitheatre BridgeA granite arch curves around two trees toward a waterfall.Parkwolf’s Acadia ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
