ABANDONED TRAILS OF ACADIA NATIONAL PARK: THE FISH HOUSE ROAD - Acadia National Park's Best Kept Secret

THE FISH HOUSE ROAD - Acadia National Park's Best Kept Secret

I have read publications that have hailed Compass Harbor as being one of Acadia's best kept secrets, but i would beg to differ, because even though most tourists have no idea where Compass Harbor is, that certainly can't be said of the locals and rarely have I walked the trail at compass Harbor without encountering groups of people. For a number of years i placed the hidden waterfall on the side of Cadillac Mountain as one of the parks best kept secrets, though it is no longer number one on my list. You see, a bike trip along the Park Loop Road one day ended up landing me right smack in the center of what I have to call one of Acadia National Park's best kept secrets, and here is how it unfolded that day years ago. We had gone by Sand Beach, stopped at Thunder Hole, and walked some by Otter Cliffs, and had decided our next stop would be the triple arch bridge further down the road from Otter cliffs. Over the years we have driven by car along that stretch countless times, passing over a short stone bridge without giving it a thought as to why the bridge was there in the first place. But on this day, as we approached the bridge, I pulled up to a stop and got off my bike, wondering what the view of the brook down below might look like, because surely a bridge this small has to cross a brook, right? To my surprise, as I peered down over the side of the bridge, I discovered a very narrow paved road, which at first we thought was a foot path, it was that narrow.

STONE BRIDGE AT FISH HOUSE ROAD
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

I have got to get down there and see where it leads, I sand, and we parked the bikes and looked for the best route down. Once at the bottom I took out my camera and began taking photos of the unusual stone bridge with its distinctive arch.. We decided to head downward, in the direction of the ocean, taking more photos as we went. As we approached the second curve we began to wonder what we would find at the end of this narrow road, a private home, perhaps a storage building for the National Park, we walked around the final curve to discover a small paved parking area, a large Stone beach, and beautiful views of Otter Cove.

STONE BEACH - FISH HOUSE GRILL
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

Toward the left the cove opened up to the wide open sea, to the right, off in the distance was the triple arch bridge, with a long line of parked cars and people everywhere. I had expected to hear or see a car or two heading in to where we were, surely on one of the park's busier days, with crowds at every turn, it was only a matter of when others would arrive here, to break the spell we had found ourselves in, but it never happened. Not one hiker, not a single car, not even a biker, so we spent the next couple hours exploring the large stone beach and taking in the views. I have returned back there a number of times, all on days when the park was electric with tourists trying to discover every square inch of the park that they can, and on every single visit we were the only ones at this tiny pocket of quietness by the sea. Its hard to think that such a rare spot as this exists and no one seems to even know its on the map, but it very much is on the map and its name is the Fish House Road, though when we first discovered it we called it the old Wharf Road, because clearly a wharf was once located not far from the parking area. The Fish House Road begins just before the Picnic Area at Otter cliffs, before the end of the Otter cliffs Road, though you could do as we did and ride along the Park Loop Road until you come to the small stone bridge, than find your way down the steep bank to the narrow road below. The Fish House road - not an award winning name by any stretch, but clearly a contender for one of the best kept secrets in Acadia National Park.