5 Can’t Miss Dog Friendly Hikes at Acadia National Park

Check out a newer (2020) updated version of this post on my new blog: 5 Can’t Miss Dog Friendly Hikes At Acadia

Acadia is actually one of the most pet-friendly National Park in the United States, read more about that here. The first National Park east of the Mississippi boasts nearly 100 miles of hiking trails and 45 miles of carriage roads that you can enjoy with your pup(s). With so many options the possibilities seem endless!

There are some exceptions, including most of the water within the park. You see, most lakes are public water supplies and no swimming of any kind is allowed. This includes both pets and people. Sand Beach and Echo Lake are pet-friendly if you go during offseason. During peak seasons no dogs are allowed at either location. For Sand Beach, peak season is June 15-Sept 8 and for Echo Lake, it’s May 15-Sept 15.

There are also several trails where your furry children are prohibited. These include the Precipice, Bee Hive, Ladder Trail to Dorr Mountain, Beech Cliffs Trail, Perpendicular Trail, Jordan Cliffs Trail between Penobscot East Trail and the carriage road.

NPS does not recommend the following trails for the pup(s), Acadia Mountain, Flying Mountain, Giant Slide, Cadillac Mountain (west face), Bubble and Jordan’s Ponds Path (between carriage road and Featherbed Pond), Norembega Goat Trail, Bubbles-Pemetic Trail, Penobscot Mountain Trail, Upper Beachcroft Trail, and Upper Gorge Trail.

Essentially use your best judgment. The trails where dogs are prohibited are for good reason. Most of them have rungs or ladder or open cliff faces that are incredibly dangerous for your furry friend.

For a list of hike suggestions click here.

For an early morning or a late evening, peaceful sanctuary head to…

The Wonderland Trail is my absolute favorite. Yes, it’s an easy hike at 1.6 miles but early in the morning or late in the evening you will most likely find that you are the only person there. It IS on the “quiet side” of the island and perhaps that is why it seems to be so underrated.

We hung out here for at least an hour and just let the boys play on the pebble beach. We watched lobster boats pass by and the boys were up to their normal rough-housing. It was one of my favorite moments of the trip.

They love each other, I swear! They just play really hard!

We headed back one evening for sunset because, well, I didn’t feel like fighting for a spot-on top of Cadillac Mountain or at Bass Harbor Lighthouse for sunset. Particularly since we have 2 high energy dogs who will not just sit still while I sit and wait for the sun to set.

I’m a total sunrise/sunset person but the Mr and the boys, not so much. We had the entire beach/area to ourselves. Although I will say pay attention during this time of the day because the tide comes in pretty quickly!

For a fun day hike head to…

The first time the Mr and I went to Acadia we accidentally hiked this trail it’s 7.5 miles and rated hard. We didn’t realize that at the time, but it quickly became one of our favorite hikes.

It’s always an option to be dropped off at the top of Cadillac Mountain and hike down the South Ridge Trail which conveniently leads right to Blackwoods Campground.

Or as we did on our last visit to Acadia you can just hike part of the trail and turn around. It was a hot day and we didn’t feel like the boys were up to a hike that long. So, we hiked down a few miles and turned around and hiked back up. It worked out well for the boys and we still got to see some of those gorgeous views.

For a fun (much shorter) day hike head to…

There are several options for the Great Head Trail. There is a short version which is only 1.6 miles and considered moderate. This is great for older dogs and we actually did this with our older girls and one of our dearly departed boys, Tucker, a few years ago. They all loved it, although it was a challenge for Lucy who tore her cruciate (ACL) the year before.

The other option is the full loop and it’s honestly not that much longer. At 1.8 miles with a moderate rating, it’s very doable for any/all dogs. And now that I’m thinking about it we may have done the full loop with Lucy, Bama, and Tuck.

In any case, it’s a great option for a shorter hike with very pretty views of Sand Beach. Although, keep in mind that if you are here during peak season your dog(s) will not be permitted on the beach. We went in the middle of May and the dogs were allowed on the beach. They loved it!

Our favorite early morning hike with gorgeous views of the bubbles…

We only suggest this one if you can go in the morning. It gets pretty congested and has a ton of boardwalks to keep people/pets off of what is growing below. It can be a challenge to keep dogs on the planks and Loki got his paws stuck between them a few times.

The Jordan Pond Full Loop Trail is 3.4 miles and rated easy but keep in mind that is heavily trafficked. Including people who run the plank boardwalks.

Also, don’t make my mistake, and honestly, I’ve made this mistake so many times! I wore my chucks on this hike. It wasn’t intentional, we went out so that I could photograph the sunrise and we weren’t planning to hike. We do this all of the time; we find a random trail and end up hiking.

Keep in mind on the west side of the trail there are some boulders that you need to climb over. So, this trail isn’t great for flip flops or chucks or strollers.

Don’t be like me, wear the right shoes!

For an easy rainy day when the pups just need a little exercise…

Any of the 45 miles of carriage trails.

Most of these are in heavily wooded areas and therefore make a great escape when it’s raining. While the boys weren’t allowed in any of the water, they still managed to get wet and muddy on our carriage road walk.