Parking
Use Brown Mountain Gatehouse parking on ME 198. The lot has 19 lined spaces, an Island Explorer stop, and a vault toilet. Cross the road and head south to the Lower Hadlock Trail entrance; the mapped route starts there.
Overview
About Hadlock Ponds Trail
Why go
- Upper Hadlock Pond’s wooded shoreline and mountain backdrop
- A 1926 carriage-road bridge gives the walk a clear endpoint
Heads up
- ME 198 traffic is audible along the route
- The point-to-point finish needs a return plan
Map & elevation
The route
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
3 active Acadia alerts
- ClosureSouthern Ocean Path section closed for repairsThe southern section of Ocean Path is closed for repairs from the trailhead across from the Otter Point parking lot to the trail’s southern terminus.Official details
- ClosureSchoodic Mountain Road closed for repairsSchoodic Mountain Road is closed for repairs from Schoodic Loop Road to the summit of Schoodic Head.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Acadia Tour Guide
Your drive to Hadlock Ponds 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.
See the Acadia audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Brown Mountain Gatehouse and Its Bells0:00 / 0:29
“Brown Mountain Gatehouse is ahead, with stone towers and red-brick bands at a historic carriage-road entrance. Bells let the gatekeepers know when a carriage or rider wanted through.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Acadia Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Periwinkle's Toothed Tongue
- Asticou and Jordan Pond’s Historic Path
- Somes Sound’s Ice-Carved Valley
- Norumbega Access to Bald Peak
- 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 Hadlock Ponds Trail
A short walk with a point-to-point finishHadlock Ponds Trail is a mostly level 1.
Hadlock Ponds Trail is a mostly level 1.6-mile, one-way walk from the Lower Hadlock Trail entrance near Brown Mountain Gatehouse to Hadlock Brook Bridge. The route uses the Lower Hadlock approach, then follows Hadlock Brook and the east shore of Upper Hadlock Pond. Allow about one to two hours with a shoreline stop. This is a point-to-point trail, so decide how you will return before setting out.
Follow the shoreline northFrom Lower Hadlock, the path climbs gently through woods to the north end of the pond, where it…
From Lower Hadlock, the path climbs gently through woods to the north end of the pond, where it joins the named Hadlock Ponds Trail. Continue north beside Hadlock Brook, cross ME 198, and follow the rocky east shore of Upper Hadlock Pond. This is the payoff: the water opens up beneath a wooded ridge, with the trail close enough to the shore to make the pond feel part of the walk. Traffic is still nearby, so it is a pleasant pond stroll rather than a deep-woods escape.
Plan the returnBrown Mountain Gatehouse is the practical parking start, but the route line begins at the Lower…
Brown Mountain Gatehouse is the practical parking start, but the route line begins at the Lower Hadlock entrance a short walk across and south of the lot. Continue to Hadlock Brook Bridge, then either retrace the trail or use the carriage road for a roughly 3.2-mile outing from the gatehouse. The ponds are public water supplies: swimming and wading are prohibited, and pets must stay out of the water. Leashed pets may use the trail.
A bridge at the far endHadlock Brook Bridge was built in 1926 as part of Acadia's carriage-road system.
Hadlock Brook Bridge was built in 1926 as part of Acadia's carriage-road system. The trailhead parking is beside Brown Mountain Gatehouse, a 1932 carriage-road gatehouse still used as staff housing; admire it from the public area and leave the building private.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Acadia
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.
