Beech West Ridge Trail

"This is the roughest way up Beech Mountain, climbing about 700 feet in less than a mile from the shore of Long Pond along the mountain’s west face. The Beech West Ridge Trail starts easily enough, giving no hint of the rugged ascent ahead. The trail begins along Long Pond and heads through some tall cedars with
views across the water of 949-foot Mansell Mountain.

At 0.3 mile, after passing a private home along the pond, the trail heads right (east) away from the pond and crosses the foot of a private footpath and skirts a gravel drive. Soon the trail begins its steep ascent over a smooth rock slab that can be extremely slick when wet."

--Dolores Kong & Dan Ring, Hiking Acadia National Park (Falcon Guides).

"Of the three ways up to Beech Mountain, this is the longest if you count the Valley Trail on which you must first hike. It is also the most architecturally fascinating, with its carefully laid stone steps. Highlights: Climb up switchbacks and stone steps to Beech Mountain and its fire tower and views."

--Dolores Kong & Dan Ring, Hiking Acadia National Park (Falcon Guides).

"Two and a half million people visit Acadia National Park each year, making it one of the country’s most popular national parks. Its 47,000 acres and 120 miles of trails encompass rocky peaks and shorelines, lush bogs, and lakes buried within deep valleys. The park occupies about half of Mount Desert Island and also includes the Schoodic Peninsula, Isle au Haut, and some small, nearby islands.

The visitor center should be your first stop. There you can watch an introductory film, examine a large relief map of the area, and browse through maps and other publications pertaining to Acadia."

--Cynthia Copeland, Thomas J. Lewis, & Emily Kerr, Best Hikes with Kids: Vermont, New Hampshire & Maine (The Mountaineers Books).

"Walk atop cliffs and trek to a firetower for far-reaching ocean and
mountain views over Mount Desert Island."

--Carey Michael Kish, AMC's Best Day Hikes Along the Maine Coast (Appalachian Mountain Club Books).

"Enjoy cliff top views of Echo Lake and beyond from this easy trail featuring a loop and out-and-back sections. You can see the fire tower on nearby Beech Mountain from a rocky knob. From spring to midsummer, peregrine falcons may be nesting in the cliffs below the trail.

This is the easier of two ways to access Beech Cliff and its views, because the trailhead is basically at the same elevation as the cliff. (The other way is a difficult ladder climb up Beech Cliff from Echo Lake.) From the parking lot the trail rises gradually through the woods to a junction with the Canada Cliff Trail at 0.2 mile. Bear left (northeast) to the Beech Cliff Loop Trail, where you have a choice of taking the inland or the cliff side of the loop."

--Dolores Kong & Dan Ring, Hiking Acadia National Park (Falcon Guides).

"Enjoy cliff-top views of Echo Lake and beyond from this easy trail featuring a loop and out-and-back section. You can see the fire tower on nearby Beech Mountain from a rocky knob. From spring to midsummer peregrine falcons may be nesting in the cliffs below the trail."

--Dolores Kong & Dan Ring, Best Easy Day Hikes: Acadia National Park (Falcon Guides).

"The trails on and around Beech Mountain offer fine views for surprisingly little work. And once you hike away from Beech Cliff and the Beech Mountain summit, you are likely to have a surprising amount of solitude, even on a warm summer day. This loop hike crosses the summit of Beech Mountain and the cliffs on both its east and west flanks."

--Greg Westrich, Hiking Maine: A Guide to the State's Greatest Hiking Adventures (Falcon Guides).

"A popular destination on the quieter half of Mount Desert Island, this loop over Beech Mountain is two hikes in one. The 2.4-mile trip over Beech Mountain and the 1.4 mile-circuit around Beech and Canada cliffs separately offer expansive views, interesting natural features, and a degree of difficulty that is appropriate for hikers of all ages.

Joining them together simply doubles the pleasure. Enjoying the scenery of Mount Desert Island in midsummer or marveling at the diversity of bright autumn colors, hikers will find Beech Mountain and its surrounding cliffs to be a perfect destination from spring to late fall."

--Jeffrey Romano, Best Loop Hikes: New Hampshire's White Mountains to the Maine Coast (The Mountaineers Books).

"This hike offers great views of Long Pond and Somes Sound, along with a chance to climb to the first platform of the park’s only fire tower, a steel structure, still in good condition, atop 839-foot Beech Mountain. The trail is also a good place to watch the migration of hawks; we saw four kestrels dive and soar above us during a hike one fall."

--Dolores Kong & Dan Ring, Best Easy Day Hikes: Acadia National Park (Falcon Guides).

"Featuring a nearly vertical climb up Beech Cliff along four long iron ladders, this hike takes you from Echo Lake Beach up to a cliff top loop and then back down a newly reopened historic section of the Canada Cliff Trail. Enjoy views of Echo Lake,Acadia and St. Sauveur Mountains, Somes Sound, the Gulf of Maine, and the fire tower on nearby Beech Mountain.

This tough hike climbs from Echo Lake straight up to the Canada and Beech Cliff ledges, offering excellent views of the lake and surrounding mountains. It features the restored section of the Canada Cliff Trail that has been so highly anticipated. We first learned of it months in advance of the 2011 reopening from an Acadia insider we met while hiking on Isle au Haut. At the start of the Beech Cliff s Trail, a sign warns of exposed cliffs and fixed iron rungs."

--Dolores Kong & Dan Ring, Hiking Acadia National Park (Falcon Guides).

"This hike offers great views of Long Pond and Somes Sound, along with a chance to climb to the first platform of the park’s only re tower—a steel structure, still in good condition, atop 839-foot Beech Mountain. The trail is also a good place to watch the migration of hawks; we saw four kestrels dive and soar above us during a hike one fall."

--Dolores Kong & Dan Ring, Hiking Acadia National Park (Falcon Guides).

"This enjoyable hike over rocky ledges leads to the summit of Beech Mountain and excellent views."

--Jerry & Marcy Monkman, Discover Acadia National Park (Appalachian Mountain Club Books).