The 30 Best Trails in Acadia National Park

From all across Maine’s diverse and dazzling national park, our favorite trails for every kind of adventurer.

cadillac south ridge trail

By Will Grunewald, Brian Kevin, Adrienne Perron, Sarah Stebbins, Jennifer Van Allen, and Virginia M. Wright
Photos by Chris Shane
From our August 2021 issue

The 30 Best Trails in Acadia National Park

The Classics

From the mountains to the shore, bucket-list trails that show off quintessential Acadia terrain.

The 30 Best Trails in Acadia National Park

Cadillac Mountain

There’s no bad approach to the eastern seaboard’s highest peak.

The 30 Best Trails in Acadia National Park

Family

Mellower (but no less spectacular) walks for the junior ranger in all of us.

The 30 Best Trails in Acadia National Park

Rungs & Ridges

Clinging to cliffs and traversing above tree line, Acadia at its most rugged.

The 30 Best Trails in Acadia National Park

By Bike

On two wheels in one of the country’s most bikeable parks.

The 30 Best Trails in Acadia National Park

Shorefront

Exploring the world at the ocean’s edge.

a glazed brioche doughnut from Lovebirds, in Kittery on the March 2025 cover of Down East magazine