Parking
Use the Hulls Cove Visitor Center parking area and take its carriage-road connector to Intersection 1. The climb from the lot is very steep.
Overview
About Witch Hole Pond Loop
Why go
- A pondside circuit links several ponds with a historic bridge and cascade
- The broad carriage roads make the main loop a gentle walk
Heads up
- The connector from visitor-center parking to Intersection 1 is very steep
- The route is shared with cyclists and horses
Map & elevation
The route
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
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 Witch Hole Pond Loop, 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
Hulls Cove Visitor Center0:00 / 0:31
“You’re approaching the entrance for Hulls Cove Visitor Center, a useful stop if you’re still choosing where to go.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Acadia Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- When the Island Banned Cars
- The Forest After the Fire
- Lake Wood’s Freshwater Beach
- Duck Brook Bridge and Farrand’s Landscape
- 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 Witch Hole Pond Loop
A full pond loopWitch Hole Pond Loop is a 4.8-mile circuit from the Hulls Cove Visitor Center parking area.
Witch Hole Pond Loop is a 4.8-mile circuit from the Hulls Cove Visitor Center parking area. It includes the steep connector to Intersection 1, follows the numbered carriage-road circuit, then retraces the connector to the lot. The route passes Witch Hole Pond, several other ponds and Duck Brook Bridge beside a small cascade. Allow about 2½ hours with stops. The official route text and map say 4.7 miles while its elevation profile says 4.8; the full mapped walk measures 4.78 miles, so 4.8 is the useful planning figure.
Follow the junction sequenceFrom the lot, climb the visitor-center connector to Intersection 1, then follow 1–2–4–5–3–2–1…
From the lot, climb the visitor-center connector to Intersection 1, then follow 1–2–4–5–3–2–1 around the pond before returning on the same connector. The carriage roads are broad gravel routes and the circuit is described as gentle, but the initial climb to #1 is very steep. Cyclists and horses use the same roads, so expect shared traffic rather than a hiking-only path.
A bridge with a storyAt Duck Brook Bridge, the carriage road crosses Duck Brook above a small cascade.
At Duck Brook Bridge, the carriage road crosses Duck Brook above a small cascade. Built in 1929, it was the 11th of 17 bridges built along the 57-mile Mount Desert Island carriage-road system between 1917 and 1940. John D. Rockefeller Jr. considered this the system’s northern terminus and planned views of Frenchman Bay from this road and nearby Paradise Hill Loop Road. The stone arch over the brook is the route’s standout photo stop.
Dogs and other usersDogs may come along on a leash no longer than six feet.
Dogs may come along on a leash no longer than six feet. The carriage roads also serve cyclists and horses, so give them room at junctions and on the narrow connector. Walking is an allowed use of the carriage-road network, including in winter.
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.
