Our Climb Up The Beehive Trail In Acadia National Park

The Beehive Trail is Acadia National Park’s most popular hike. It’s a 1.5-mile roundtrip loop with 500 feet elevation gain, some of which is gained on vertical iron-rung ladders and narrow rocky ledges with steep drop-offs. We climbed the exciting Beehive Trail in 2020 and immediately understood why it was so busy.

In this guide we explain everything you need to know about hiking the Beehive Trail in Acadia National Park, based on our own experiences.

Our Experience

We visited Acadia during the fall foliage season in October 2020 as part of a wider fall New England fall road trip. We’re huge fans of adventure hikes, so we knew we wanted to try both the Beehive Trail and the Precipice Trail. We decided to start with Beehive to make sure we were comfortable with ladder climbs, narrow ledges and drop-offs before taking on the much scarier and more intense Precipice Trail.

Arriving early to beat the crowds seemed like a good idea, but unfortunately everyone else had that same thought. So our climb up the beehive-shaped rock face was very busy and there were a few hikers who realized they had a fear of heights half way up. In the end it took a bit longer than it should have, but it was a lot of fun and it set us up nicely to take on Precipice Trail afterwards. Read more about us.

READ: The hikes you can’t miss in Acadia

Trail Details

• Distance: 1.5 miles roundtrip
• Type: Loop trail
• Difficulty: Strenuous
• Time: 1-2 hours
• Elevation Gain: 500 ft (152m)
• Trailhead: Beehive/Bowl
• Dogs Allowed: No
• Recent Comments: AllTrails

The Beehive Trail in Acadia is a non-technical hike, so you don’t need ropes or specialist equipment. But there are lots of iron ladders built into granite rocks that you must climb with your hands and feet. Portions of the climb are almost vertical with steep drop-offs so don’t attempt this hike if you have a fear of heights.

You’ll walk through light forest, climb 450 feet up exposed cliff faces using iron rung ladders and steep granite steps, summit the Beehive, descend to a pond called The Bowl and then loop back around to the trailhead on Bowl Trail. To shorten the route down to 1.2 miles roundtrip, you can skip the pond by taking a shortcut onto Bowl Trail not long after leaving the summit.

Important: If you don’t feel up to the ladder climbs and drop-offs, you can still stand on the summit of Beehive Trail to enjoy the same views by walking up the gradual Bowl Trail instead.

Beehive Trailhead Parking

The closest place you can park to hike Beehive Trail is Sand Beach parking lot. It’s a large parking area with three tiers and lots of spaces but it’s a very popular place to park because it’s next to the beach and it also serves as the trailhead for both Great Head Trail and Ocean Path Trail.

We arrived around 8:00am into Sand Beach parking lot and got one of the last available spaces. It was a weekday morning in October during the fall colors, so there are definitely quieter periods in Acadia, but even so we recommend you arrive before 8:00am or wait until way later in the afternoon when many have left the park.

Your only real alternative parking area is at the end of Schooner Head Road. There’s maybe 15-18 spaces and they’ll fill up quickly each morning. If you park here, take the Sand Beach Connector to Beehive Trailhead.

The Route

We took a screenshot of our Gaia GPS offline map to show you the route. Here’s a breakdown of exactly how you’ll hike it if you complete the full Beehive Loop Trail:

• 0.2 miles on Bowl Trail
• Turn right onto Beehive Trail
• Climb for 0.2 miles
• Descend to The Bowl for 0.3 miles
• Loop back on Bowl Trail for 0.8 miles

Note: This is a loop trail, so you should hike up the exposed cliff face and descend by following the gradual loop. There’s no rule against going back down the ladders but it’s not advised and it’s also frustrating for everyone else who is going up.

As you can see in our screenshot above, we didn’t go to The Bowl pond because we used the shortcut. But we didn’t do it so we could hike the shorter loop, we took the shortcut so we could join the Gorham Mountain Trail. We hiked across Gorham Mountain, dropped down the far side, walked out to Otter Point Overlook and then walked Ocean Path all the way back to Sand Beach parking lot. It was a fantastic route and we highly recommend you do the same if you have time.

READ: The best hiking and outdoor apps

Walkthrough: Our Acadia Beehive Trail Hike

Let’s move onto the fun part. We’re going to walk you through our hike with plenty of the photos we took so you can visualize the trail and see what you’ll be up against.

1. Find A Place To Park

As mentioned earlier, we arrived into Sand Beach parking lot around 8:00am and got one of the last few spaces. After grabbing our day packs and using the restrooms, we walked along the roadside trail for a few minutes before crossing the road to access the beginning of Bowl Trail.

Note: We took the photo above as we returned to the parking lot around midday after hiking to Gorham Mountain, Otter Point and back along Ocean Path. You can see there are lots of cars waiting to park, but what you can’t see is that a lot of those drivers were getting pretty irate. It pays to arrive early or much later in the day to avoid the 9:00am-3:00pm rush.

2. Follow Bowl Trail

Parking was the part that gave us anxiety. With that out of the way, we relaxed and slowly made our way through the first 0.2 miles of Bowl Trail. This part of the hike was through an attractive forest with vibrant fall foliage leaves in trees and on the ground. It was already a bit busier than we’d hoped, but it was about to get worse.

READ: Our hiking tips for beginners

3. The Climb

Next, we took a right at the fork to begin the Beehive Trail climb, and what followed was by far the most enjoyable part of the hike. We navigated narrow and exposed cliff faces, large boulders, and iron-rung ladders forged into granite rocks. The first part was underneath the canopy, but once we broke free the views looking back were superb.

Compared to Precipice Trail, the climb up Beehive was a breeze. But it still had some scary parts with long drop-offs and vertical climbs. We always kept our weight pulled into the cliff face to make sure our balance and center of gravity would keep us from falling. The worst part was having to wait for long periods on narrow ledges just to get up to the next section because there were so many hikers climbing.

4. Summit Views

More climbing, more ladders and more scaling narrow ledges led us almost to the summit. The final approach to the summit marker was ladder-free, but robust shoes with good tread were important to help us grip on steep slick-rocks. Views over the park and Atlantic Ocean were spectacular, a worthy reward for braving the adrenaline-pumping hike.

5. Loop Back To Bowl Trail

After soaking up the views and having a mid morning snack, we continue on the loop and dropped down the northwest side of the beehive-shaped formation. At this point you can continue to The Bowl if you want to relax by the large pond before looping back to the trailhead, or you can even join Champlain South Ridge Trail. Instead, we took the shortcut down a series of steps not long after leaving the summit so we could join Gorham Mountain Trail, which we highly recommend.

READ: Unmissable things to do in Acadia

What You Need To Know

Let’s take a quick look at what you should know before you begin your hike:

• The Beehive Loop Trail is rated as hard on AllTrails but there’s no official difficulty rating on the NPS.
• We recommend hiking Beehive before Precipice to make sure you’re okay with the adventure elements.
• This is not a technical trail, so you don’t need any previous climbing experience or equipment.
• Having long waits on narrow ledges is commonplace.
• You can walk around Bowl Trail to Beehive summit if you don’t want to do the ladder climbs.
• Do not attempt this hike if it’s raining or there are strong wind gusts.
• We wouldn’t climb this trail in an old pair of shoes with no grips.
• Don’t carry anything in your hands when you climb the ladders, you need both hands free.
• Always keep on top of live trail conditions in the park to check for closures.

Hiking Tip: Do not climb this trail if you have a fear of heights, vertigo or claustrophobia. It’s not safe for you or anyone else on the hike.

Best Time To Hike Beehive Trail

You can hike the Beehive Loop Trail from mid-April through mid-December when Acadia’s Park Loop Road is open. The road and therefore the hike close in winter due to snow and freezing temperatures.

• Busiest: June, July, August, September and peak fall foliage at the beginning of October.
• Quieter: Second half of April, May, second half of October, November and first half of December.

Our hike was a weekday morning in early October and it was busy. If we visited Acadia during a busier period again, we’d hike at sunrise or wait until much later in the day to avoid overcrowding on the climb.

We would avoid visiting Acadia in July, August or on any holiday weekend because it gets far too crowded and the park is much smaller than you might imagine. If we didn’t visit for fall foliage colors again, we’d plan a trip for May before it gets busy in June.

READ: Our guide to visiting Acadia in the fall

Our Beehive Trail Photos

We have walked you through exactly what to expect on the Beehive hike in Acadia. But here are a few more photos so you can really understand the trail:

The Morgan Conclusion

What we like: We’re huge fans of unique trails with adventure elements, so this hike is perfect for us. The ladder climbs are a lot of fun and views from the summit are awesome. It’s easy to access from Bar Harbor, it’s a quick loop and it’s a perfect warm up for Precipice Trail.

What we don’t like: It’s the most popular hike in Acadia so it’s always busy and waiting around on narrow ledges next to long drops isn’t much fun. We think the hike should have an official one-way system so people can’t come back down the ladders because it causes problems.

Is Beehive Trail worth hiking? Yes, the Beehive Trail is definitely worth hiking, as long as you don’t have a fear of heights and you enjoy adventure elements like ladder climbs. It’s a short but fun hike, especially if you visit Acadia during a less busy period and the ascent is less crowded. Overall, we think it’s a trail you absolutely shouldn’t miss.

More From Acadia

• The hikes you can’t miss in Acadia
• How to hike the Precipice Trail in Acadia
• Unmissable things to do in Acadia
• Best places to stay near Acadia
• Guide to visiting Acadia in October

Want more Maine content? Head over to our Maine Travel Guides to explore Acadia National Park and beyond.

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We hope this Beehive Trail hiking guide helps with planning your visit to Acadia!

Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Happy Hiking,

Mark and Kristen

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