Median Ridge Trail

Median Ridge Trail is a 1.8-mile, one-way walk from the Goat Trail junction at Barred Harbor to Long Pond Trail. The National Park Service lists it at about an hour and rates it easy. It crosses the island’s wooded high ground, but this is a forest walk rather than a summit or sea-view hike. If your time on Isle au Haut is short and open coast is the priority, choose a shore trail first.

At Long Pond Trail, continue onto the pond loop or head west toward the road; otherwise retrace the route. Each option makes the outing longer than the one-way hour, so plan the full walk and ferry connection before setting out.

Isle au Haut is reached by passenger ferry from Stonington. Service reaches Town Landing year-round and adds the Duck Harbor Boat Landing from mid-June through late September. The south end is the Goat Trail junction at Barred Harbor; another access point is reached by walking about a mile east along the road from Duck Harbor. There is no drive-up trailhead for visitors.

The island has almost no services. A small store and post office are near Town Landing, away from the route. Isle au Haut averages about 10°F cooler than the mainland, so bring warm and rain layers. Pets are permitted for day hiking only and must stay on a leash no longer than six feet.

From Barred Harbor, the trail follows the east side of the ridge through exposed rock and small pitch pines without reaching the crest. The open rock gives way to thicker woodland before the Nat Merchant crossing; several low spots can hold water after heavy rain. North of that junction, the path rolls through darker, cooler forest to Long Pond Trail. It has no named summit or documented destination vista.

Some signs call this route Ridge Trail. They refer to today’s Median Ridge Trail, which loosely follows an older historic Ridge Trail. The older path followed the ridge crest and continued farther north, so the sign name does not mean this hike reaches the full historic crest.