Parking
Use the limited roadside shoulder by Giant Slide Trailhead on ME 198, about one mile south of ME 233/Eagle Lake Road. The Sargent Northwest start is a junction up Giant Slide Trail, not the roadhead.
Overview
About Sargent Northwest Trail
Why go
- A direct climb toward Sargent’s broad granite summit
- Connects with longer ridge and Giant Slide routes
Heads up
- The mapped start is an interior junction reached by another trail
- About 770 feet of climbing in the mile to the upper ridge
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Acadia map
Full mapElevation558–1,329 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
4 active Acadia alerts
- CautionAvoid swimming at Sand Beach LagoonDo not swim at Sand Beach Lagoon.Official details
- ClosureSchoodic Mountain Road closed for repairsSchoodic Mountain Road is closed from Schoodic Loop Road to the summit of Schoodic Head for repairs.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Acadia Tour Guide
Your drive to Sargent Northwest 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
Giant Slide’s Boulder Passages0:00 / 0:26
“Giant Slide Trail's roadside start is coming up, for a wooded scramble beside Sargent Brook. The unusual part is squeezing beneath huge granite boulders, including an overhanging slab that makes a cave-like passage.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Acadia Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Parkman Access to the Carriage Roads
- Norumbega Access to Bald Peak
- The Life on the Rocks
- Bubbles Divide and Bubble Rock
- 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 Sargent Northwest Trail
A short climb to Sargent’s upper ridgeSargent Northwest is a one-mile maintained trail segment between the Giant Slide Trail junction…
Sargent Northwest is a one-mile maintained trail segment between the Giant Slide Trail junction and a junction on Sargent’s upper ridge. Walk the segment out and back for 2 miles, with about 770 feet of climbing on the way up; allow roughly two hours on the segment, before adding the approach from ME 198. It is a direct, steep climb rather than the longer Giant Slide circuit.
What the route coversFrom the lower junction near Sargent Brook, the path climbs across the Around-Mountain Carriage…
From the lower junction near Sargent Brook, the path climbs across the Around-Mountain Carriage Road and continues to the upper ridge trail network. The stored line ends at that junction, west of the summit itself. Continue along the connected summit paths if you want to stand on Sargent’s broad granite top; that short continuation is outside the two-mile figure here.
Getting to the startThe mapped start is an interior trail junction, not a roadside trailhead.
The mapped start is an interior trail junction, not a roadside trailhead. Limited shoulder parking is available by Giant Slide Trailhead on ME 198, about a mile south of ME 233/Eagle Lake Road. Reach the Northwest junction along Giant Slide Trail. That approach follows Sargent Brook through repeated stream crossings and boulder scrambles, so it adds distance and effort beyond the mapped out-and-back.
A longer optionThe broader Giant Slide–Sargent loop uses this route with other connecting trails and is about…
The broader Giant Slide–Sargent loop uses this route with other connecting trails and is about five miles, typically three to five hours. It adds the rough brook approach and more ridge walking. Choose it when you want a longer outing; the short Northwest segment is the focused climb.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Acadia
131 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around noonSighting map
21 sightingsPeregrine FalconMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
397 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
307 sightingsPorcupineMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
203 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.
