Waterfall Bridge

Waterfall Bridge is a 120-foot-long, stone-faced arch over Upper Hadlock Brook on the car-free Jordan-Sargent Mountain carriage road. The brook drops at Hadlock Falls here, making this both a piece of Acadia's carriage-road history and a waterfall stop. Reach it on foot, by bicycle or horseback along the carriage roads, or by connecting trails; cars do not drive over the bridge.

The best-known view looks through the arch toward Hadlock Falls; parapet-level lookouts also face upstream. The bridge is still worth a pause for its stonework, but the stream is not a sure bet: after a dry stretch the falls can shrink to a trickle or stop, while spring, autumn and periods after substantial rain are better chances to see water. For a photo, use the arch to frame the falls when they are flowing.

Completed in 1925, Waterfall Bridge was the fifth of 17 bridges built for 57 miles of Mount Desert Island carriage roads between 1917 and 1940. It and nearby Hemlock Bridge completed the Brown Mountain Highway route around the west side of Sargent Mountain. The bridge cost $44,103.81, nearly a quarter over its estimate.

Look for the wedge-shaped granite stones that fan around the 26-foot semicircular arch. The structure is faced with quarried granite over reinforced concrete and built into the natural stone; its skewed arch and curving parapets follow the terrain. The bridge rises 31 feet at its highest point, so it is a substantial piece of road engineering tucked into the woods.