SECRET PARK RANGER TRAIL

At the intersection, a right hand turn quickly came out well behind Park Headquarters at a kink of car graveyard of sorts, other cars further back included an older ambulance.  At first we had no idea where we were at, there were cars, trucks and machinery all around the place.  But once we got around the corner we knew it was well behind Park Headquarters.

How would you like to change a wheel on this thing.....not sure this would come in handy in a high speed chase.
As I have said many times, often when you go on a search, no matter how well you research it, you often end up finding something you were not counting on, as was  the case today.  Went back to the Brewer Ice Company area for more photos, located parts of an old rusted truck.  Decided to go explore the area around the stone bridge, when close to the intersection there we spotted what appeared to be a path leading up into the woods.  We followed it and it soon came out by the Eagle lake road, with an old paved road running to the left - it begged to be followed.

It is really a short section of paved road that quickly comes to a storage area used by the park Service, mostly piles of granite blocks and a storage trailer.  But just before we arrived there, we made note of a very well worn trail which entered the woods, so we returned back to that worn path.  This path was not your average abandoned trail, this was a well worn and well maintained trail, brush trimmed back, fallen limbs and trees removed from the trail, well kept up - we knew we had a good find.

MAP OF EAGLE LAKE
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

We arrived at an intersection and my son said we should go right, but I over ruled him and we went left.  Even though we were passing through deep woods, the trail was amazingly kept up and soon we came to the Aunt Bettys Pond Carriage Road.  We looked at the path we had just stepped off of and it was hard to tell there was even a path there.  And directly on the other side of the carriage road the path continued down through the woods until we came to the Eagle lake carriage Road, we looked back and again could hardly tell a path was there.  Directly on the other side of the eagle lake carriage Road the path continued down to the edge of Eagle lake - but why?
We retraced out way back to that intersection where my son wanted to go right, and followed it.  A short ways through the woods we crossed a small wooden bridge, and a short ways beyond that we came out behind the Park Headquarters, with one sing post that read, "Park Employee Eagle Lake Path."
It was than that I started thinking about how this well maintained path simply ended at the edge of the lake - why?  I remember looking across the lake, there was a clear view of the Boat landing, as well as much of the shoreline on the other side of the lake.  Could this be a look out point where rangers could secretly scan the edge of the shoreline with binoculars, keeping an eye out for anyone violating the NO SWIMMING law that applies to Eagle Lake?  Clearly this well groomed and well worn trail runs from Park Headquarters to the edge of the lake for a reason.
One thing is for certain, this is an unmarked trail and not easy to find, with only one trail sign by the park Headquarters, way out in the rear and around a corner where a large number of park trucks, plows, and other equipment is kept.  We even saw an old ambulance back there.

SECRET PARK RANGER PATH
by Eagle Lake bridge
Latitude  44 22' 38" N
Longitude  68 15' 12" W
Trail by Old Road
Latitude    44 22' 35" N
Longitude  68 15' 22" W
Intersection
Latitude    44 22' 31" N
Longitude  68 15' 21" W

Trail by Eagle Lake Bridge (unmarked)

Abandoned Road

Abandoned Road - Park Storage Area Ahead

Trail from headquarters to lake

Here the trail crosses the Aunt Betty's Pond Carriage Road and continues down to the Eagle lake Carriage Road.  Even though the trail is well worn, it is still hard to see from either of the Carriage Roads.

GO-PRO VIDEO OF UNMARKED PARK RANGER TRAIL