Ship's Harbor
Family Friendly Hike in Acadia National Park
Here’s the thing about the Ship’s Harbor Trail: it’s sweet.
That’s it.
There’s pink granite. There are tall spruce trees.
Depending on the season, you might indulge in the company of blooming rhodora, bunchberry, wildflowers, purple iris and salt spray rose.
This 1.3-mile hiking trail is one of the first walks people take their children through when they go to Acadia National Park. The figure-eight trail through quiet woods hosts many a field trip.
It begins on Route 102A near the Seawall Campground and Wonderland Trail. You park in a little pull-off on Route 102A. There are 20 spots. People have been known to pull onto the shoulder.
There is even a public restroom right where the trail begins.
The walk is not terribly steep once you start and go right at the first junction. It’s paved and the dirt is hard. There’s gravel as well. Eventually you get to the shore
Here you’ll see a cove. It’s also pretty sweet: narrow and lovely. There will likely be sea birds. A sign helps you figure out what’s going on in those mudflats. Rocks are everywhere because this is Maine.
While you hike, follow the blue marks on rocks or trees. The end of the hike in the woods again is not quite as smooth. There will be roots in the second loop of that figure eight and boardwalks.
ELEVATION PROFILE:
THE HISTORY AND THE MYSTIQUE
To make it even cooler, there’s a bit of history and mystery (what rhyming bedfellows) about this trail.
The NPS studied this trail back in 2004 and believes that the name might come from a shipwreck of an English boat bringing Irish immigrants to the continent back in 1739. That ship was called the Grand Design.
It was possibly demolished on a ledge in the harbor. Those who survived allegedly set up a camp. They looked for help on the land. Some starved. Some died of exposure. Eventually, a ship fro Thomaston, Maine (an English settlement) arrived and rescued the survivors.
However, there is no proof that this tale is true and many historians have said the tale is a conflation of facts, possibly about a ship that wrecked off Grand Manan called the Martha and Eliza, part of a grand design to settle the continent.
In 1957, the trail was built by George B. Dorr, Acadia’s first superintendent . This was two decades after the original plans. The build was disrupted because of World War II.
President Barack Obama and his family walked the mellow trail when they visited the island in 2010.
DETAILS FROM THE PARK:
Activity Hiking
Pets Allowed Yes with Restrictions
Reservations: No
Season: Spring, Summer, Fall
Time of Day: Day, Dawn, Dusk