THE ROCKERFELLER BOATHOUSE

I found this nearly 30 years ago by accident, and while it is not abandoned or lost, many people still don't know about it.  It is located just outside of Seal Harbor along Peabody drive.  It is located along a carriage road that runs along one side of Little Long Pond.  It is worth noting that bikes are not allowed on the carriage Roads in this area, so you either rent a horse or walk in, but the Boathouse isn't a really long hike and as you approach it, you will begin to think you are approaching a very nice private house.  It is, of course, a boathouse, where the Rockerfeller's stored their boats.
If your approaching from Seal Harbor, just keep to the main road and it will leave town and pass along the Seal Harbor Public beach.  Continue to drive until you reach another a second area that is close to the water, there will be a small parking area and a large white gate and a smaller white gate, with a sign warning you that you are entering private property, that your car can not block the entrance, and that bikes are not allowed on the Carriage roads there.  At the start there is a narrow trail to the left, I believe that comes to a dead end warning you not to go any further, so you want to pass through the smaller gate and follow the Carriage Road straight ahead.  When you come to an area with a path leading down toward the pond on the left, take it, it will lead you to the gate house.  It looked so fancy the first time I went there i almost didn't approach it, believing it was indeed a private home on the water.

The boathouse has a deck on three sides and you can look in through the windows to see the inside of it.  Now you may own a boat or two, but I am pretty certain you don't own a boathouse as fancy as this one to store your boat in.  Also, there are some really nice views of the pond as well.

CLICK TO VIEW PHOTOS OF BOATHOUSE AND GATES

Huguenot Head in Acadia National Park

Some people believe by hiking the Beachcroft Trail they are actually hiking over the summit of Huguenot Head as they follow the trail to the summit of Champlain Mountain.  In fact, if you look closely at your map, the Beachcroft Trail does come close to the summit of Huguenot Head, but than turns and skirts below the summit before continuing on to Champlain Mountain.  I had always thought this sudden turn in the trail was a bit strange, and one day after getting into studying old maps, I soon realized that  not one but two trails use to lead up to the actual summit of Huguenot Head.  As it turns out, those trails were abandoned by the Park Service.

One of these trails was labeled as the Black and White Trail,  which begins in an area behind the beaver pond, and followed an old dry brook up between the summits of Huguenot Head to the right, and Champlain Mountain to the left of the pond.  I have hiked this once, many years ago, this section of the Black and White arrives at a well worn stretch of dirt path between the two summits, with the Black and White trail going left up to the summit of Champlain Mountain.  This section of the Black and White trail is not part of the Beachcroft Trail, this is abandoned today, but you can find rock piles on Champlain Mountain which take you down a steep section to the worn dirt path, I have also hiked this section before and was pretty well marked with rock piles.
So where the Black and White path arrives between the two peaks, by following the worn dirt path right, it takes you up to the summit of Champlain Mountain.
If you look at the old map you will not see today's Beachcroft Trail on it, that came about at a later date.  On other old maps that do show the Beachcroft trail, they reveal a hidden secret, at one point there use to be a short section of trail the did take people up to the summit of Huguenot Head, that short section of trail was also abandoned - in other words, there is no official trail to the summit of Huguenot Head today.....why?
I have heard for years that there was a cave up there the park service didn't want people going to.  One site that covers dozens upon dozens of caves in Maine lists a cave on Huguenot head, they have named it the Huguenot Gulch Cave, but give no details about it.  This confirms what I have heard over the years and explains why trails to the actual summit of Huguenot Head were abandoned.
The old map shows another abandoned trail which runs down to route 3, not far from the Dorr mountain Ladder Trail.  I was able to locate this trail as well and hiked most of it from route 3 upwards, though the trail is very hard to locate and for the most part passes over bare granite and is only marked by rock piles.  That section of abandoned trail begins in the woods by a small pull over along route 3...again, the trail leading up the mountain side is not easy to find.
Yet another old trail leads up to Huguenot Head, but this trail does not show up on any maps.  It begins off the old Dorr bike Trail, in the woods directly across from Bear Brook Picnic Area, across from the picnic area to the far left as you enter the area.  You follow a worn path on the other side of the road, which leads to the Beachcroft Trail.  You don't go too far before coming to another, less worn trail going left, and this trail heads up the backside of Huguenot Head, years ago called Picket mountain.
The easiest way to locate the Black and White Trail from this end today is from the top of Champlain Summit, locate the rock piles, and follow them downward to the dirt path between the two summits.  Halfway along that dirt section, as your passing through a section of woods, you will see a worn path leading downward toward the Beaver Pond.  We were able to locate some rock piles, but had to pretty much use the dry brook bed as out guide down to the rear of the pond.  From there we followed the old Dorr bike path out to the Park Loop Road.

CLICK TO VISIT THE NORTHEASTERN CAVER WEBSITE 

And this from the book, The Mountains Of Maine;
 In the book, THE MOUNTAINS OF MAINE it says Huguenot Head is 720 feet high and was first named Round Hill.  The name was later changed to Peaked Hill, and later was named again to Picket Hill.  So how did it get its current name?  According to the book, George B. Dorr gave it the name Huguenot hill. 
According to the book, Mrs C. Morton Smith of Philadelphia, a summer resident here, financed the building of a steep trail up Huguenot Hill that used 1,482 stone steps.  The trail she paid for was named after her summer cottage, Beachcroft.

THE BEAR CAVE OF CHAMPLAIN MOUNTAIN

Located in Acadia National Park near the base of Champlain Mountain, this Bear Cave appears on very old maps as the Bear's den.  It dates back to the 1800's and had a path leading from Eden (renamed Bar Harbor) all the way to the den.  In those days bears were common on the island, at some point after Acadia National Park was formed, the park service began a policy where bears were tranquilized  and removed from the island.  In more recent years that policy was ended and bears are slowly making a come back in the park, though bear sightings are still very rare.  In all the years I have lived here I have only seen one bear, and that was on the quiet side of the island.

CHAMPLAIN MOUNTAIN - BEAR'S DEN
Acadia National Park

After the park was formed, and the Park Loop Road was constructed, it was believed the Bear Cave, or Den, was lost forever.  We went looking for it a number of times but could not find it, mainly because the construction of the Park Loop road had destroyed a large section of the old path.
One day my oldest son, Wesley, said he was going out looking for it.  He returned later that night with good news, he had located it and gave me instructions to the site.  As it turned out, the old Bear cave was hiding in plain sight all those years.

CHAMPLAIN MOUNTAIN - BEAR'S DEN
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

To locate the Bears Den, drive along the One Way section of the Park Loop Road until you come to a large pond on your right, there will be a pull over up ahead at a curve in the road just beyond the pond.  Park and cross the road and walk along the side of the roadway until the wall of ledge comes down even with the road and look into the woods.  Straight ahead you will see a dark area, that is the Bear Cave.  The cave goes into the mountain side at an angle and a well worn path leads to the entrance.
Here is a photo of the cave taken on May 2, 2018 taken from the Bear's Den.

BEAR'S DEN - CHAMPLAIN MOUNTAIN
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

This photo was taken from outside the Bear's Den.  In this photo the cave goes on a little further into the mountain side to the far right, this was a perfect location for bears before the Park Loop Road was built.

THE BEAR'S DEN
Abandoned Trails Of Acadia National Park

If you are on foot, you can see the dark opening of the bears den from the side of the road.

On our last visit to the den we came across this little fellow guarding the cave.....

PORCUPINE - CHAMPLAIN MOUNTAIN
Acadia National Park

LOST GEORGE B. DORR BICYCLE PATH

I first came upon this lost trail many years ago and had no idea of what it was.  Research revealed it was at one time the George B. Dorr Bicycle Path, a path he was often spotted riding his bike along.  Some reports state that this trail is not the George B. Dorr bike path, and go on to say that his official path is now under water, swallowed up by the rising waters of the beaver pond.  I will give an argument as to why the official path is still very much there, and I suspect the park service pushes the idea of it having all been swallowed up by the beaver pond as a way to keep people out of that area.

ABANDONED DORR BIKE PATH - ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

I suppose the first place to begin with is with the area itself.  Dorr was highly interested in land that Indian Pass crossed over, and the area around the pond was once part of Indian Pass.  I also don't know if it is true or not, but I have heard that a small Indian village was located to the back side of the beaver pond.

Dorr constructed his bike path with both love and care, it was one of his prized areas in the park.  And it was not just a prized area of the park for him, this was the area where Dorr's mother spent many an afternoon.  That is because this area was not just a bike path, it was also the first location of the Wild Gardens of Acadia, which was located to the far right rear of the pond.  It is said that those gardens became so famous from near and far due to the work she put into them.

STONE STEPS - DORR BIKE PATH - ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

Let's say for sake of argument that the current hidden path around the pond was not the official Dorr bike path, we are talking about only a section of the bike path, not the entire bike path which went well beyond the beaver pond.  Anjd since the woods between the pond and Sieur de Monts Spring are not under water, neither is a large section of the Dorr bike path.
So we went to the rear of the pond, to the far right corner, searching for any sign that a path or old road was there, and sure enough we did find one coming out of the water and running up through the woods, just as it should if the pond swallowed up sections of the bike path.

 We followed the old path and soon came out across the road from the Bear Brook Picnic Area, the end furthest from the entrance.  But the old  path continued back into the woods, and we followed it, knowing that Dorr's bike path went all the way to the Sieur de Monts spring area.  It came out by route 3, almost directly across from the entrance to Sieur de Monts Spring entrance, as it should of.
But another section shot off i9n the direct of the Beechcroft Trail.  I have read that Dorr added connector trails to local trails in order to steer more people to his beloved bike path.
We also located a lost series of stone steps leading from the Dorr bike path to the official Bear Brook Trail, on some maps called the Champlain Mountain North Ridge Trail.  The steps are easy to miss from the bike path, and nearly impossible to locate if your on the official trail up Champlain Mountain.

At some point after Dorr's death, the Park Service abandoned his prized bike path, along with the connector paths, and dug up and relocated his beloved Wild Gardens to where they are today.  I will ask anyone, who had the better vision of placing the wild Gardens in "The right place?"  I will say it was George B. Dorr who had it right, with the beaver Pond as a setting and Champlain Mountain rising up above it  set a perfect backdrop.

Champlain Mountain - George B. Dorr Bike Path - Acadia National Park

So the George B. Dorr bike path may of been rebuilt along two sides of the pond, but clearly a large section of the original path is still very much there.  Two of the connecting paths are also there.
We also found evidence of an old trail leading from the Dorr bike path, the section across the roadway from the Bear Brook Picnic Area.  This old trail runs up one side of Huguenot Head.
The day we located the old trail, we attempted to follow it and got close to the top  when thunder storms began sweeping in. 

MAP SHOWING BLACK AND WHITE TRAIL - ACADIA NATIONAL PARK