I am a planner. When I’m on vacation, I like to know where I’m going to eat and what I’m going to do. Spontaneity just isn’t in my DNA.

So, when I was planning my solo hike at Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine, I wanted to know everything. But when I searched for information online, I wasn’t getting all the details I wanted. So, these are the details you want about Acadia National Park–specifically, when it comes to the Gorham Mountain Loop trail. I’ll cover bathrooms, parking and a trail review with details I wished I knew.

As you’re reading, keep in mind:

• I traveled solo.
• I visited at the beginning of off-peak season.
• I visited on a Thursday and arrived at 7:00 a.m.
• I wanted a hike with beautiful views that didn’t require ladders, narrow trails with huge drop offs or other things I deemed “scary.”

First and foremost: bathrooms.

If I can avoid going to the bathroom on a trail, I will. This means finding a bathroom before starting the hike. At Acadia, there are bathrooms at Hulls Cove Visitor Center (the main visitor center), but they don’t open until 8:30 a.m. If you’re arriving early–which you should–that’s a problem.

But…good news! There are two bathrooms in the Thunder Hole parking lot, which is just 0.4 miles up the road from the Gorham Mountain parking lot and trailhead. If you get there early, you can park for a few minutes at Thunder Hole and then move your car to the Gorham Mountain parking lot. Side note: the bathrooms have toilets but are basically really deep holes in the ground (vault toilets, I think?). They were also the worst smelling bathrooms I’ve encountered at a park. Anyway.

In the final stretch of the hike, there are bathrooms at the Sand Beach parking lot.

Parking

I’m a huge fan of starting your hike early. You avoid crowds, which means easier parking, fewer people on the trails and a more peaceful experience. There is a parking lot at Gorham Mountain trailhead that holds maybe 20 cars. If it’s full, there’s parking at Thunder Hole and in various places on the side of the main Park Loop Road.

P.S.: The park pushes using the Island Explorer shuttle to get around, so I looked into it, but it confused me. I only saw one bus stop while I was in the park, too. Maybe during peak season it’s more intuitive.

Gorham Mountain Loop Review

I read about this 3.5-mile/525 feet elevation moderate hike on the National Park Service (NPS) and All Trails websites and encourage you to do the same. These are my additional notes:

• Step-by-step instructions: In the link above, NPS details where the trail branches off into other segments that are more difficult. I followed the hike description exactly and successfully avoided areas that would’ve required ladders/scrambling/other things I deemed scary.
• Avoid Cadillac Cliffs: At the start of the hike, you can’t miss the plaque in the boulder honoring Waldron Bates. At that plaque, go left.

• Wayfinding: There are a lot of blue lines spraypainted throughout the trail that indicate where you should go next. I never got lost, which is a personal feat.
• Summit: The summit comes pretty quickly. There is a “false summit” a few hundred feet before the actual summit. I found it more beautiful than the real summit, so I didn’t take many pics at the real one.

• Rocky trail: The trail is rocky. On the incline, it’s really big boulders, so you’re taking larger steps. On the decline, it turns into medium and smaller rocks (see below), so you need to watch where you’re putting your feet. I wouldn’t want to do this trail if it just rained because it would be slippery.

• Going back down: After the real summit, the trail turns into a rocky and steep descent. If you have bad knees like me, you’re going to be very scared that the rest of the trail is like that. Good news: while the trail is rocky, this is the worst part and doesn’t last long.
• The final stretch: The trail ends by walking along the flat and paved Ocean Path. You can make many pit stops along the way, including at Sand beach (where there’s a bathroom) and several lookout points.

• Trail traffic: I saw no one until the trail crossed with the Beehive Trail and again once I made it to the Ocean Path, both of which are near the end of the hike.
• Bugs: It wasn’t overly buggy, but in the forested areas of the hike, there were some mosquitos. I tucked my pants into my socks in case there were ticks (I didn’t see any). Take bug spray just in case.

Final Thoughts

Acadia is one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited and is well worth the trek. I was very happy with Gorham Mountain Loop trail because it ticked all the boxes for me. But there are so many hikes and things to see, you could easily spend several days here. If you have any questions about the trail or Acadia in general, just let me know!