Lower Hadlock Pond Trail | Acadia - Utah's Adventure Family

We found a rarely visited, beautiful section of Acadia National Park at Lower Hadlock Pond. The Lower Hadlock Pond Trail in Acadia runs 1.7 miles and is shady and easy. It has very little elevation gain, and our kids enjoyed it because of the birds and the bullfrogs that live at the pond in the summer.

Where is Lower Hadlock Pond

Lower Hadlock Pond is located further west than the busier part of the park. It isn’t quite in what is called the Quiet Side, but we only saw one other family on this trail. To access the trail, park in the Brown Mountain Parking Area along HWY 3. From the parking area, cross the street to a narrow path that runs right along the road. Don’t forget to look back across the road at the gorgeous carriage house that is made of cobblestones. At this point, the trail turns into the woods. Google Maps took us right where we needed to go.

The trail heads into the trees from the road.

This map shows where we parked and then the route we followed around the pond. See the gatehouse on there, too?

As you turn into the woods, you will find a sign for Lower Hadlock Pond as well as a few houses on the left. The Lower Hadlock Pond Trail goes along the near side of the houses until you reach Lower Hadlock Pond. Then turn right and go around the pond counter-clockwise.

There is a sign helping you get to Lower Hadlock Pond.

Pretty quickly, the pond comes into view.

The Trail

We thought this hike was easy and nice, but some have said that it deserves a moderate rating. This is not due to the length or elevation change, but rather to the footing. Tree roots criss-cross the trail, and there are some rocky spots, as well as some spongy areas of the trail.

There are some rocky areas, as well as lots of tree roots over the trail.

The trail is mostly flat, but there are a few ups and downs.

None of these drawbacks bothered our boys, who ventured as near the shoreline as they could to search for frogs. There were hundreds of frogs, and each let out a little screech as they hopped away into the deeper water. This entertained our boys so much that they hardly thought about the distance around Lower Hadlock Pond.

We like that you can get up close to the pond.

We spotted a ton of frogs in early June.

The entire trail is in the shade of the trees. On the day we visited, it was a little drizzly, so we appreciated the tree cover. There are darling bridges over some of the wetter parts of the hike, too. We really enjoyed the scenery and quaintness of the Lower Hadlock Pond Trail in Acadia.

Mom loved all the cute bridges on this hike.

On the far side, there is a cement barrier, or dam.

This area in Acadia was not busy and so pretty.

Perhaps the best testimonial is that we hiked this pond on a Saturday afternoon and only passed two other small groups along the route. This is the perfect hike for some solitude in Acadia National Park. If you want to extend the hike, you can connect the trial to Upper Hadlock Pond. The distance around both ponds is 4.1 miles. For other family-friendly trials in Acadia, visit our Acadia Kid Hikes post.