Parking
Use the Beech Mountain Trailhead parking area and follow the short path to the upper loop; return by the same connector. The Echo Lake beach lot serves the separate, longer ladder approach.
Overview
About Beech Cliff Loop Trail
Why go
- A broad Echo Lake view for a sub-mile walk.
- The Beech Mountain approach avoids the four iron ladders.
Heads up
- The shared approach is walked twice.
- The exposed cliff edge calls for careful footing.
Map & elevation
The route
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
4 active Acadia alerts
- CautionAvoid water contact at Sand Beach LagoonDo not swim at Sand Beach Lagoon. - Bacterial levels have exceeded public-health standards, so the NPS has posted a Public Health Advisory.Official details
- ClosureSchoodic Mountain Road closed for repairsSchoodic Mountain Road is closed from Schoodic Loop Road to the summit of Schoodic Head. - The closure began August 31 for resurfacing, regrading, and ditching.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Acadia Tour Guide
Your drive to Beech Cliff Loop Trail, narrated.
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 trailhead
Beech Mountain’s Airlifted Fire Tower0:00 / 0:25
“You're approaching Beech Mountain's parking area, the start of a rocky climb to the island's last fire tower.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Acadia Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Echo Lake Beach Below Beech Cliff
- Acadia Mountain’s Summit Loop
- Ikes Point on Echo Lake
- Carroll Homestead’s Seafaring Family
- 116 audio storiesacross Acadia’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, White-tailed Deer, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 142 trails, 72 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“…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!”
Trail guide
Hiking Beech Cliff Loop Trail
A short loop with a wide viewBeech Cliff Loop is a short circuit over granite ledges high above Echo Lake.
Beech Cliff Loop is a short circuit over granite ledges high above Echo Lake. From Beech Mountain Trailhead, the complete walk is about 0.6 mile round trip: follow the shared path to the cliff-top loop, circle the outcrops, then return along the same approach. Allow roughly 30–45 minutes with time at the viewpoints. This is the way to see the cliffs without climbing the iron ladders on the Echo Lake ascent.
The approach and the loopThe walk starts at Beech Mountain Trailhead and climbs a short connector to the upper circuit.
The walk starts at Beech Mountain Trailhead and climbs a short connector to the upper circuit. The loop runs around a series of granite outcrops before bringing you back to the same junction, then you retrace the connector to your car. The 0.6-mile total includes that shared approach both ways. A different 1.8-mile Echo Lake circuit climbs the cliff on four ladders and returns by Canada Cliffs; its longer, steeper approach is not part of this walk.
Out on the graniteThe ledges open over Echo Lake and its sandy beach, nearby Mount Desert Island peaks, the…
The ledges open over Echo Lake and its sandy beach, nearby Mount Desert Island peaks, the Cranberry Islands and northern Somes Sound. The upper circuit is fairly level, but the bare rock is uneven and the cliff edge is sudden. The rim is about 480 feet above the lake, so stay well back from the edge. For a photo, leave a strip of granite in the foreground; it gives the lake and distant islands a sense of scale.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Acadia
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.
