Today was sunny and hazy and warm, a lovely day for a hike up Gorham Mountain. We parked in the Gorham lot and started our hike up the mountain. The trail is beautiful! It runs along a rocky shelf along a grove of mostly white pine and red spruce trees.
We could feel the ocean breeze and hear the surf a little bit. The warm weather just made the hike feel very comfortable.
Lee and Scott had done the Cadillac Cliffs portion of the hike years ago, and said that the scramble up the boulders would be too much for Bo-dog and the littler kids. So we stayed on the regular trail, which was challenging but manageable for even the shortest legs among us. The trail is very open and winds gradually up the mountainside.
There was some shade from evergreens growing along the path, so the hike was fairly comfortable even for the dog. We found a ledge near the top that was perfect for a picnic lunch, with views of the cliffs along the Ocean Trail, and Sand Beach.
The summit was a relatively short distance from our rest area, and offered great views of Champlain, Dorr, Cadillac’s South Face, the Beehive, and Enoch mountains. After a too-brief rest and water break (and there was even shade for Bo!), we continued the trail down the other side of Gorham.
The “back” of Gorham is much easier to navigate than the “front”, with far fewer boulders to scramble over. There were a few boggy areas once we got down into the woods, but there were stepping stones and no one got too muddy. The only negative was getting bitten by these big horsefly-looking bugs. We’d seen one or two on the Jordan Pond Carry Trail yesterday, but there were more of them today. Apparently, they like boggy places.
We kept to the right at the first signpost, since we’d already been to the Bowl a few days ago. We soon met up with the Bowl Trail, not far from the Beehive cliff trail. The hike down was uneventful, aside from hearing a funny-sounding bird or frog over in a marshy area a little ways from the path. It sounded like someone plucking a spring, very unusual. The trail was mostly over medium-sized rocks until we hit the Park Loop Road.
After a brief detour to the Sand Beach parking lot (more specifically, the rest rooms), we headed to the Ocean Drive trail and took that back to our car. It was a very pleasant trail, with great views of the ocean and cliffs along the shoreline. There are several paths leading from the trail, for people to explore the cliffs, but we mostly stayed on the path because the little ones were getting tired of walking. And we all know how little ones are when they get tired.
We did take the detour to see Thunder Hole, which is greatly changed from our first visit to the park, and even from last year. The observation deck stops much closer to the Loop Road, to keep spectators safe. The old observation deck is still there, but closed.
Monument Cove was beautiful up close, as well. We’d originally wanted to walk up to Otter Point, but the tired kids really wanted to take a swim in the pool at our hotel. Maybe next year!
Overall, a very do-able hike for the little kids. For older, more adventurous kids, the Gorham Mountain hike can be combined with a trip up the Beehive (but not with a dog), or a picnic at the Bowl. We had considered a hike around Great Head at Sand Beach (which we’d done last time we were here, and loved it!), but decided against that, also, because of the “tired kids” factor.
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