Sight · Acadia National Park
A 207-foot, three-arch landmark on the car-free carriage roads.
Overview
Map
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.
See the Acadia audio tourRecorded for this place
Duck Brook Bridge and Farrand’s Landscape“You're coming up on the Duck Brook Road entrance for Duck Brook Bridge, a three-arched crossing on the car-free carriage roads. Parking along the road is very limited; continue on foot through the carriage-road gate.”
Plays as you drive up to Duck 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
Duck Brook Bridge is a 207-foot reinforced-concrete triple-arch crossing over Duck Brook, finished with quarry-faced stonework. Its central arch spans 39 feet, and the bridge rises 43 feet at its tallest. It is one of Acadia's most carefully designed carriage-road bridges and a good stop on the Witch Hole Pond Loop; getting here is a walk or bike ride, not a quick stop from the car.
The bridge sits on Acadia's car-free carriage-road network, shared by walkers, cyclists, and horse-drawn carriages. It's roughly two miles from either Hulls Cove Visitor Center or the Eagle Lake parking area, so plan a few miles round trip and choose the approach that fits your outing. Parking along Duck Brook Road is very limited.
Semicircular lookouts project from the bridge above its piers, with views toward Frenchman Bay. An upstream staircase descends to the brook for a look up through the arches. For a useful photo, include the rocky stream beneath the bridge to show its scale; stay on the established stairs and access.
Completed in 1929, this was the 11th of 17 bridges built along Mount Desert Island's carriage roads. It was the first of six designed by Charles Stoughton, and landscape architect Beatrix Farrand planned the surrounding plantings to frame the bridge and its views. John D. Rockefeller Jr. envisioned this area as the carriage-road system's northern terminus, giving the crossing a sense of arrival as well as a practical job.
Wildlife
131 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around noonSighting map
21 sightingsPeregrine FalconMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
403 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
307 sightingsPorcupineMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
205 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
EasyDuck Brook Connector Trail0.5 mi · 18 min · 0.7 mi awayA quick village link to Acadia’s carriage roads
ModerateKebo Brook Trail to Kebo Mountain2 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.9 mi awayA wooded approach ends in a short, steep granite summit climb.
EasyKebo Brook Trail1 mi · 36 min · 0.9 mi awayFlat stones carry this wooded walk across the brook.
ModerateCadillac Mountain North Ridge Trail4.4 mi · 3.3 hr · 1 mi awaySteep granite climbing earns broad island views one ledge at a time.
ModerateTri-Lakes Loop10.9 mi · 5 hr · 1.2 mi awayA long circuit links three lakes and five stone bridges.
ChallengingGorge Path3.1 mi · 2.7 hr · 1.2 mi awayA steep, stream-cut gorge between Cadillac and Dorr.
ModerateAunt Betty Pond Loop6.1 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.3 mi awayFollow gravel carriage roads to a marshy pond with birdlife.
ModerateEagle Lake Carriage Road Loop6 mi · 3 hr · 1.3 mi awayA broad gravel loop with lake views and one long climb.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayEagle Lake Boat RampA practical lake launch with carriage-road access and a North Bubble view.
Visitor center · 1.3 mi awayHulls Cove Visitor CenterA smart first stop for maps, passes, and a route plan.
Sight · 1.3 mi awayEagle Lake BridgeA stone arch carries Route 233 over a motor-free carriage road.
Sight · 1.5 mi awayBar IslandCross from Bar Harbor to a wooded island over the exposed seabed.
Beach · 2.1 mi awayLake Wood Swimming AreaA small wooded beach for a freshwater swim.
Sight · 2.4 mi awayWild Gardens of AcadiaA compact, labeled tour through native plant habitats.
Sight · 2.4 mi awayCompass Harbor and OldfarmA short wooded walk leads from Dorr's estate ruins to rocky shoreline.
Visitor center · 2.5 mi awaySieur de Monts Nature CenterA smart first stop for Acadia’s trail choices and natural history.Parkwolf’s Acadia ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
