Beach · Acadia National Park
Hear the surf roll Acadia's rounded cobbles.
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
Little Hunters Beach’s Cobble Sounds“You're nearing Little Hunters Beach, where waves make the rounded cobbles knock together. Come for that sound rather than a sandy beach day.”
Plays as you drive up to Little Hunters Beach 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
Little Hunters Beach is a cobblestone beach off Park Loop Road, southeast of Otter Point and Otter Cove. Wooden stairs lead down to a shore where the surf rolls rounded stones against one another. Come for the sound and the unusual rocky shoreline; this is a short coastal stop, not a sandy beach day.
Parking is in parallel pull-off spaces along Park Loop Road rather than a separate lot. The beach is tucked out of sight from the road, so look for the wooden stair access. The steps have uneven footing, especially where they meet the cobbles.
Swimming isn't recommended because of strong undertows. The ocean rarely gets above 55°F in summer, and there are no lifeguards. Wet rocks can be extremely slippery, especially where kelp or rock weed covers them; the stairs and shore are a poor fit if you need step-free access or steady footing.
Glacial activity left the rounded stones, and powerful waves keep them moving. As the surf comes in and out, the cobbles knock together. Their gaps also shelter small shoreline creatures and give larvae a place to cling.
From the beach, put the rounded stones across the foreground with the water beyond. That makes the thing that sets this shore apart from a sandy beach clear in a photo.
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
EasyHunters Beach Trail0.6 mi · 45 min · 0.5 mi awayA short woodland walk to a brook-cut cobble cove.
ChallengingCadillac Mountain South Ridge Trail7.8 mi · 5 hr · 0.5 mi awayA long forest climb opens onto a granite ridge above the ocean.
ModerateDay Mountain Trail1.6 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.8 mi awayBoardwalks and granite ledges lead to a summit above Seal Harbor.
EasyQuarry Trail0.5 mi · 18 min · 0.9 mi awayA short wooded link from Blackwoods to Otter Cove’s tidal edge.
EasyOtter Cove Trail0.4 mi · 15 min · 1.4 mi awayA short cove link from the causeway to Otter Creek.
ModerateGorham Mountain Trail1.6 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayA short granite climb earns big ocean views from a real summit.
ModerateTriad Trail1 mi · 1 hr · 1.6 mi awayGranite footing, a wooded summit, and a century-old trail marker.
ModerateCadillac Cliffs Path0.3 mi · 21 min · 1.7 mi awayA quarter-mile of old stonework, sea cave, and steep granite steps.
Beach · 0.3 mi awayHunters BeachA short woods walk ends where a brook cuts through the cobbles.
Campground · 1 mi awayBlackwoods CampgroundA wooded base with a short walk to the ocean.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayOtter PointGo in May or September to watch songbirds move through.
Picnic area · 1.4 mi awayFabbri Picnic Area and MemorialA quiet lunch stop with a small piece of Acadia’s radio history.
Sight · 1.4 mi awayOtter CliffPink granite cliffs with a wartime radio story above the Atlantic.
Beach · 1.5 mi awayBoulder BeachRounded stones catch sunrise light along this Ocean Path cove.
Sight · 1.6 mi awayTriad-Day Mountain BridgeA 1940 arch caps the final link in the carriage-road network.
Sight · 1.7 mi awayWildwood StablesHorse-drawn tours put Acadia’s carriage roads at a slower pace.Parkwolf’s Acadia ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
