The Jordan Pond Nature Trail via the Triad

We had our first day in Acadia all planned out: a nice hike over North Bubble to Connor’s Nubble, then back again. The weather wasn’t cooperative, though. Not only were we not able to eat Annika’s birthday lunch on the Jordan Pond House lawn, but the forecast was for rain in the late afternoon. Rocky trails and rain don’t mix for us.

No outdoor eating today ;-(

After a (somewhat too big but very delicious) lunch, we decided to walk the Nature Trail near the restaurant. However, it began raining as soon as we got to the parking lot to collect our gear. Plan B was to take a quick stroll down the nearby carriage paths, which were somewhat protected from the rain. The rain stopped shortly after we began our trek. Andrew chose to walk towards the gate house. We followed the carriage road past the gate house and realized that we were hiking towards Triad and Day mountains.

The carriage road leg of our hike

Since the rain was kindly holding off for us, we decided to take the Hunter’s Brook trail up the Triad from the carriage road. The trail starts off very steep. Bo the trail monkey dog had no trouble and Andrew was very glad to be climbing…there’s a reason we call our kids “trail monkeys”! This was Bo’s first real hilly hike so we were wondering how he’d do. He took a couple of alternate routes (not too alternate, since he was on a 6’ leash) and seemed to enjoy himself a lot. Our biggest issue was teaching the kids to watch out for Bo’s leash. Annika, Sean, Scott and Andrew were pretending to be mountain goats, leaping from rock to rock on the first part of the trail (did I mention, it’s quite steep?).


View Nature Trail via the Triad in a larger map

The trail rises quickly (that steep thing again) and the views open up very soon after the trail starts. We had to keep stopping to gawk along the way (and catch our breath, too!). We came to a nice shelf of rock with a boulder perched on it, perhaps left there by the glaciers. It was a nice spot to sit and take pictures, with the view of Seal Harbor and the Cranberry Islands off in the distance. Even on an overcast day, the view is lovely.

Is it steep?  Yes, it is steep.

The summit of the first of Triad’s peaks is not marked, but it is pretty obvious where it is because the trail begins veering steeply down into the area between the two larger peaks (the Triad Pass). This was tricky in spots. At one point, a section of trail was barely discernable through the blueberry bushes encroaching it on both sides. One of our little monkeys needed an airlift because he didn’t like walking through the bushes, but the rest of us (and Bo) all were OK. In another area, the trail follows a crevasse in a very large shelf of rock. It was definitely not an easy hike, but it also wasn’t the most difficult we’d done and the kids were all on their game today.

Is that Indiana Jones caught in a trap or just Sean following the trail down the Triad?

As the trail descends further, the ground becomes overgrown with large roots. Little monkey tripped over a root and fell and scraped her hands and knee. We came to an intersection with the Triad Pass trail. Because the weather seemed iffy, we turned left to take that trail back to the Jordan Pond House. The Traid Pass trail is very nice. The path is clearly marked and covered with gravel (much like the carriage roads). There are stone steps that make the descent very comfortable. The trail passes the Pemetic South Ridge Trail, which looked somewhat tempting, though very gnarly with roots.

Say Fromage!

The Traid Pass crosses the Park Loop Road near the Jordan Pond house, and then ends at the Nature Trail that we’d originally planned to walk. We took the Nature Trail back to Jordan Pond House, and guess what? It started raining just as we got to that parking lot.

We are very grateful that the rain held off as long as it did.

A very enjoyable beginning to this year’s adventures!