Conners Nubble Trail

Conners Nubble Trail is about 0.25 mile out and back from the point where Bubbles Trail crosses Eagle Lake Carriage Road. The mapped distance covers the climb and return to that junction, not the walk from a parking area. Allow about 30 minutes on the spur. It is a good detour if you are already hiking in the Bubbles and Eagle Lake area, but not a stand-alone stop from a car.

There is no parking beside the spur. The official Bubbles Nubble Loop starts at Bubbles Divide Trailhead and includes Conners Nubble along with the South and North Bubbles; that full loop is 2.6 miles round trip. A separate Eagle Lake approach follows the carriage road on the lake’s west side; one route account puts that approach at 1.4 miles before the climb, so the complete walk from that parking area is much longer than the distance above. A park entrance pass is required year-round. Dogs are allowed on a leash no longer than six feet.

The path climbs through scrubby hardwoods to a short steep pitch and a few rocky ledge scrambles. It opens onto a small, bare summit with Eagle Lake below and Pemetic Mountain, the Bubbles, and Cadillac around the horizon. The open ledges can be hot in strong sun, and the rock is slick when wet. From the top, include the lake below the wooded ridge for the clearest sense of the view.

The scrubby hardwoods on the north slope were described as recovering from the 1947 fire, which burned thousands of acres on Mount Desert Island. The rocky summit is small; its appeal is the view across the lake to the surrounding high points.