QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: +14,000 acres
- Trail Mileage: Many!
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: moderate to challenging
- Sights: views, ponds, open summits, forests, streams—the works
My map above shows the full extent of the connected trail system here, which links Frenchman Bay Conservancy preserves to the south (Baker Hill and Long Ledges, in blue) with the state’s reserved land.
Just northeast of Acadia is a state park that offers spectacular hiking up small mountains with open ledgy summits; transparent lakes lined by long sandy beaches; and many miles of hiking, from easy walking to vigorous ascents. Views from the exposed peaks span miles in every direction, including Acadia’s distant peaks and the ocean.
It’s an amazing place, with fewer visitors than Acadia. There are several mountain peaks (with trails) located within the public lands: Tunk, Schoodic, Black, Caribou, and Catherine. They are all wonderful in their own way — and all offer views — but if you’re looking for a truly spectacular hiking experience, I recommend Schoodic, Black, and Tunk Mountains. All the summits are accessible via short but challenging trails. Donnell Pond’s trail system also allows you to combine several peaks in a long day’s hike or a two-day backpacking trip. If you do this, you get to camp on a beach!
You can camp at free, remote tent sites on lakeside beaches — all accessible only by boat or foot. The easiest campsite to reach is the one on Schoodic Beach. From the parking lot at the end of Schoodic Beach Road, the campsites can be reached by a wide, smooth 0.5-mile path that slopes gently downward — by far the easiest trail to hike in the park. Redman’s Beach and Tunk Lake are a bit harder to reach, at least 2.5 miles by foot, or a decent canoe paddle from the nearest boat launch.
Tunk Stream (in blue on my map): A 0.5-mile wide track descends gradually to a peaceful camping site on the far end of Spring River Lake, where it flows into Tunk Stream. This part of the lake is being overtaken with reeds and grasses, and you can look out over the delicate mosaic they make to the rocky ledges of Tunk Mountain. This looks like a nice place to take a dip.
Tunk Mountain (1,157 ft., elevation gain 930 ft.) (yellow on map): The are several ways to hike Tunk Mountain, the most common way is within Donnell Pond Public Lands. This 1.8-mile moderately challenging trails offers wonderful views from several spots. It includes a few steep sections, scrambles up boulders, and a short rung ladder. It passes a side trail at around 0.5 miles that promises “hidden ponds.” Don’t miss this 1.0-mile loop spur! The ponds are beautiful. Several spots looked like great places to jump in for a swim. You can also opt for a 5-mile loop if you follow the western trail down.
Schoodic Mountain (1,079 ft., elevation gain 960 ft.) and Schoodic Beach (dark pink on map) — You can ascend Schoodic Mountain from the south or from Donnell Pond Public Lands. From Donnell Pond Public Lands, the path up Schoodic Mountain is roughly 1.8 miles if you counter-clockwise, or 1.3 if go clockwise. (The loop is about 3 miles in total.) I recommend doing the loop counter-clockwise, so you end at glorious Schoodic Beach. You’ll find the Schoodic Mountain trailhead at the far end of the parking area, farthest away from the kiosk and close to the port-o-potty. This leg, though steep, seems slightly less steep than its alternative. You follow it 0.9 miles to the final 0.4-mile leg that takes up to the AMAZING summit — it’s open and rocky, with views everywhere. The descent to the beach is quite steep. Walk to the mid-way point of the beach to find the 0.5-mile leg back to the parking area. This path is gentle, ascending at a gradual incline.
Also, the Schoodic Mountain trail hooks up the great trail system on Baker Hill and Long Ledges.
Schoodic Mountain nubble (blue): West of the summit is a trail to a beautiful view from a smaller peak on the mountain. If you leave from the large parking area (it can fit a dozen cars) at the intersection fo North End Road and the Downeast Sunrise Trail, it’s two miles one way. The trail starts on the Sunrise Trail before turning right at about 0.5 miles onto an old jeep road. In 1.1 miles from this point, at the base of Schoodic Mountain, turn right onto an old fire tower trail. In 0.3 miles, you’ll see a footpath on your left to Schoodic Nubble. It is marked with flagging tape. For the best views of Acadia, look for a trail to the left of the nubble summit. In another 0.1 mile, you’ll reach open ledges. (Info contributed by Travis Chandler.)
Black Mountain (1,099 ft., elevation gain 985 ft.) (orange on map) — From the parking lot off Black Mountain Road (which has space for just about three vehicles), you walk up the dirt access road about 50 feet before taking a left onto the footpath. The trail is marked with a sign for Big Chief Trail. Then you climb steeply for 0.7 miles before you reach an intersection. To get to the summit, take a right. The path descends briefly before climbing again to a GLORIOUS top, at 1.3 miles, with views for miles in every direction. There is some rock scrambling involved close to the summit. At the summit, you can go left to do a short loop to head back to the trail head.
Tunk Lake trail (black on map) — If you are coming down from Black Mountain, headed toward Caribou Mountain, you will reach in 0.4 miles or so a blue-blazed trail that descends into the woods on your right. If you follow this down, it will take you to a quiet, sandy beach on Tunk Lake in about 1.1 miles.
Black Mountain Cliffs from Schoodic Beach (blue on map) — Those who want a more subtle, but still beautiful and challenging, hiking experience than up Schoodic Mountain can head in the opposite direction up the Black Mountain Cliff Trail. This is a steep, short hike to a trail that lines a mossy, tree-lined ridge, with views here and there of Schoodic Mountain from between the trees.
Caribou Mountain (970 ft.) and Redman Beach (light green and dark green) — Parking for Caribou and Catherine mountains is about 0.1-miles before the actual trailhead on Dynamite Road. Look for a small dirt parking area about a mile in on your left. Then walk a bit farther down the road, and you’ll see the trail on your left, before the bridge. In another 0.2 mile, you’ll come to the intersection for Catherine Mountain. Continue another 0.6 miles to the intersection with the Caribou Mountain loop. It is a short, steep climb to this point (elevation gain about 450 feet.) From the intersection, you can go right and follow a ridge with some marvelous views, or you can head left, down to the valley between Caribou and Black Mountains. If you head down, you might be disappointed that there is no official path to the secluded Rainbow Pond. As far as I could tell, you have to bushwhack to its shores if you want to glimpse it. From the Caribou Loop intersection, it is 2.8 miles to Black Mountain. The ascent up Black Mountain from this direction, like all of the ascents in this preserve, is steep!
From the parking area at the end of Schoodic Beach Road, the hike to Redman’s Beach, a long stretch of sand with views of Schoodic Mountain, is about 4.3 miles, and entails a steep climb up the Black Mountain Cliff Trail and down the backside of the mountain. If you want to access the beach from Caribou Mountain’s trailhead off Dynamite Brook Road, it’s a a roughly 4.1-mile hike up and down steep Caribou Mountain.
Catherine Mountain (954 ft., elevation gain 420 ft.) (light pink on map) — Parking for Caribou and Catherine mountains is about 0.1-miles before the actual trailhead on Dynamite Road. Look for a small dirt parking area about a mile in on your left. Then walk a bit farther down the road, and you’ll see the trail on your left, right before the bridge. In another 0.2 mile, you’ll come to the intersection for Catherine Mountain. The climb is quick, about .7 miles, and steep, and takes you to great views. There are two paths on the summit — one is interior, more gentle, and takes you through the woods; the other rims the open ledges and offers lovely views. If you continue past the summit, you can follow the blue-blazed 0.8-mile trail all the way down to Route 182, where there is a parking area off the side of the road. I didn’t see a trail sign here, but the path is blazed all the way from the parking lot to summit.
Caribou Mountain Loop (green on map) — The total loop, starting and ending at the parking area off Dynamite Brook Road, is almost 8 miles, and includes the summits of Caribou and Black mountains. You can hike down two side trails to reach sandy beaches on Donnell Pond or Tunk Lake.
Note: The elevation gain is going to vary depending on where you start! I tried to give the elevation gain on the most popular route up these mountains.
The following trails are unblazed but easy to follow. By Travis Chandler.
Black Beach North and South Trails (light brown, sort of gray, on map): The Black Beach North Trail is a 3.7-mile unblazed but easy-to-follow trail that leads from the Caribou Loop parking area to Black Beach, a beautiful beach of (white!) sand and several camping sites. The trail continues along a logging road before merging into a trail at 1.6 miles. There the trail meanders through hard and softwood forests with little elevation change as it makes it way to the north end of Black Beach. The 1.2-mile Black Beach South Trail takes hikers from the Black Cliff Trail to Black Beach without having to summit Black Mountain. This 3.5-mile shortcut passes through mature hardwood forest with little elevation change as it makes it way to the south end of Black Beach.
Black Mountain East Trail to Tunk Pond Beach: The 2.7-mile trail starts at the East Peak parking area and kiosk and continues east along the road. In a half mile, a rotted bridge stops all traffic except ATVs. Here the trail progressively decays from a modern logging road to a jeep trail. At 1.6 miles there is a confusing fork—go right (east). Here the road turns into a trail to the beaver dam. Cross the beaver dam on the unblazed but obvious foot trail. A half mile beyond will bring you to the Black Mountain and Tunk Lake Trail. Tunk Lake is 800 feet down the trail to the right.
Black Mountain Cliff Trail to Black Mountain Road: A 1.2-mile hike west along Black Mountain Road will bring you to a logging road on the right. Go right. In 0.4 mile, you’ll reach Black Mountain Cliffs Trail. Crossing the trail will bring you to an old jeep trail that in a half mile reach the second Black Cliffs Trail. You can also continue on the old jeep trail to Black Beach or even farther to the Caribou Loop Trail parking area on Dynamite Brook Road with little elevation change since it skirts the peaks of Black and Caribou mountains.
Directions: There are several ways to access Donnell Pond Public Lands. See the official map for ideas on where to park. The trailhead to Tunk Mountain and Tunk Stream is off Route 182; they are both well marked with visible signs from the road. The largest parking area is off Schoodic Beach Road, off Route 183. The parking area for Black Mountain, off Black Mountain Road, is quite small — just about big enough for three cars. There is also a parking area for Caribou and Catherine Mountains off Dynamite Brook Road that is big enough for several vehicles. All of the roads in Donnell Ponds Public Reserved Lands are well-maintained dirt roads, passable by low-clearance vehicles as long as you drive carefully.
On a paper map of the Schoodic Peninsula there is an additional unofficial hiking trail from the end of the Dynamite Brook Road down to Redman Beach. This makes for a wonderful hike since you can park your vehicle at the North Caribou Trail loop parking area, take the trail up and over Caribou Mountain, then down to the Redman Beach spur trail. From the beach, take the trail that leads past the bathroom which will take you along an old logging road until it reaches the end of Dynamite Brook Road. From there you hike back to your vehicle for a modest 7 mile hike.
Thank you for the tip! I love “unofficial trails.” It seems like this trail might include some nice views of the lake and Shillalah Pond? Excited to explore it!
Update on the Eastern Peak of Black Mountain down to Tunk Pond Trail.
I noted the Maine by Foot website was the only notation that made mention of the trail even being there. It is not shown on AllTrails, and even on a printed map of the Schoodic Peninsula I have showing even unofficial hiking trails, that map did not show the trail either. Wanting to determine the trails current status, on 07/03/2026 I set out and hiked the trail.
The best word to describe the trail is “Vague”. It is there, but appears to be abandoned, most likely because it crosses into private land outside the Donnell Pond Public Land area. That is not to say it cannot be followed. It can, and it should because it is a delightful trail to hike with a wonderful sandy beach on an isolated pond at the end. There are blue blazes that are visible, cairns that are in place, and someone even has used fluorescent flagging tape to mark the trail, but in some places the lack of hikers has caused the trail to be hard to see. A few times I had to use scarring on the trees to see where the trail probably was between blazes, cairns and flagging tape. The trail also has not been cleared of blow downs recently.
Being 94 degrees outside, I did not want to hike up and over Black Mountain to get back to my vehicle, but looking at Google Maps it looked like there was an old logging road that that goes around the bottom of the mountain. To my surprise, there was, and it was an unofficial hiking trail!
This makes for an excellent loop by parking at the Black Mountain East trailhead, going up Black Mountain and taking the Eastern Peak of Black Mountain. From there take the Caribou Loop Trail towards Caribou Mountain for .4 miles. There you will see a cluster of signs and the vague, but existent hiking trail down to Tunk Pond and the sandy beach. Enjoy the isolated beach and even take a swim if you wish. Then head back up the same trail you came down for a few hundred feet. You will find the old logging road which I would say is used by Game Wardens to access the beach area, just after the Witches Forest sign. If you reach the boundary marked by surveyors with red blazes, you went too far. Taking that old logging road which has been cleared of limbs and is quite evident it is a trail, will lead you past a beaver bog, then to the Black Mountain Road. Take a right onto the Black Mountain Road and a mile hike along it will bring you back to your parked vehicle. This makes for a nice 5 mile loop complete with mountain summit, wonderful hike down off a mountain, and to a sandy beach on a lake. This is a nice mild hike back to the vehicle without having to go up and over Black Mountain again.
To Rebbecca Goldfine regarding this comment who said: “Thank you for the tip! I love “unofficial trails.” It seems like this trail might include some nice views of the lake and Shillalah Pond? Excited to explore it!”
On some maps I have seen a Shillalah Day Use Area pointed out, but on others not. On the map where it is said to exist, it’s exact location is kind of vague. I have yet to find it. I suspect it is located on Hemlock Point, but I am a hiker and not a boater, so it means bushwacking from me in an area that has been recently logged (last 5 years) so it is confusing. But I intend to find out if this elusive day area exists, and if it does how hikers can reach it. I will report back on this site of my findings.
Good sleuthing, this sounds like a very worthwhile hike! (Even in 94 degrees.) Next time I’m there, I’ll try to retrace your steps.
Update to Tunk Mountain: It is a pure gem but offers a lot more than what first appears. At first glance there seems to be just a short, steep trail to the top of the mountain, and then a loop trail around some ponds, but the area offers far more hiking trails than that.
On Alltrails and some printed maps there is a “Boundary Trail” shown. It can be found only a few hundred yards down the main trail from the parking lot on the left. I found this trail is blazed with very faint blazing marks, blowdowns have been cut, and the trail is easy to follow all the way to the top of the mountain. However, near the parking lot the trail goes through a wettish area and there are no bog bridges.
What is unique is there is another trail not found on ANY apps or maps. This is a cross trail that goes from the main trail at the Three Sisters and a Baby (Large boulders that lay against each other) and crosses at the base of the mountain. This is a REAL trail that has been cut, blazed and has cairns every fifty feet or so. This takes a hiker from the main trail over to the boundary trail and is about ¾ of a mile long.
All this is important because whenever I am at Tunk Mountain I love to spend as much time as I can on the west side of the mountain. It just has this western states feel to it, like I am hiking Banff, Glacier, or Yellowstone. A trail that angles up a mountain instead of going straight up it like they often do here in the East.
A great hike that keeps your feet dry is to hike up the main trail to the Three Sisters and a Baby. On the left side it looks like kids just played around the boulders and wore down a path, but it is actually a trail. Take that easy to follow trail until you reach the scree pile. You will see cairns going down, but also upwards. This is the connection with the boundary trail. Take it up over the notch. This “notch” is readily apparent when you are there. This will be the steepest section you scramble up and is only a hundred so feet in length. Then it is a wonderful looping hike through a mature forest to the top of the mountain. You will come across several vistas with sweeping views, but keep going, you have not reached the summit until you are at the communication tower!
From there check out the north side vista. At the bottom of the communication tower there is a trail that both goes over to the north vista, as well as the main trail back to the parking lot. Take that for a 5.5 mile loop hike up over GORGEOUS Tunk Mountain.
This is a long explanation I know, but I think a lot of people will find the west side of Tunk Mountain worth explaining.
It really is an amazing place but also why it is known as the Downeast Outback. From undiscovered hiking trails to gemstones that have the greatest clarity in the world; it is all there to discover. I keep returning to it because it is a half hour from my home, but there is just so much more to discover.
Just as an example, one day I did a loop trail around Black Mountain and my intention was to hike down to the beach, take the trail to the parking lot, loop back up the Black Mountain Cliffs trail and go back to my car. But dropping down the mountain I saw an old logging road. I took that just to see where it went. It went straight back to my car and saved me a mile of hiking on trails I had hiked before. But this place has miles of these old logging roads from the 1950’s, and in some places, old hunting cabins that have burned or fallen down. There is one of these old cabins be found in Redman Ravine: the hiking trail located between Black and Caribou Mountain alongside the trail that goes to Redman/Black Beach. It is miles from anything, but someone chose to build a cabin there at one time!
I still need to find a hikers way into the Shillalah Day Use Area, and I would like to forge a hiking path onto Schoodic Nubble. A cross path from Big Chief Trail to the West Side of Caribou Loop would be nice too! Now if that connected directly onto the junction for Redman Beach, that would be ideal! So my exploration of that area is hardly done.
It is truly one of the most amazing places. You should write your own guide to Donnell! Something like this, maybe?: https://abandonedtrailsofacadianationalpark.blogspot.com/
Just wanted to reiterate that the unmarked trail at the end of Dynamite Brook Rd is cool because it allows for walk-in access to the Redman’s Beach campsites without having to access by water or hike several miles from either Caribou or the Schoodic Beach area. I’m curious about the history of the trail because it’s very established..I’m guessing it was the main route that they took to set up the campsites etc? Perhaps. Coincidentally I just did the exact loop somebody above described; Caribou to Redmans and back to DB road via the unmarked trail – 7.09m, 924’ gain, 2h 24m at a brisk pace.
Dear Reilly:
The history of the trail harkens back to the days when Diamond Match owned the property who operated a lot of commercial property in Maine. Thankfully when they started to divest withholdings in the 1980’s-1990’s, Maine bought it up and we have Donnel Pond, Hot Hole Valley and Rocky Lake public Lands to name just three public land purchases. Specifically of the Redman Beach area (now called Black Beach) you can see remnants of old 1930’s camps and 1950’s bottle dumps occasionally. Longer term, we are left with the old logging roads that are slowly fading with time. If you know what to look for you can see scars of this logging everywhere where bulldozers via 1950’s style of logging pushed roads high into the mountains. Many of the hiking trails at Donnell Pond dart in and out of these old logging roads often obscured now because of deep, heavy erosion.
Most likely the Redman/Black Beach camping area was crafted using boats via the boat ramp off the Northwest end of Donnel Pond, but possibly this trail, and the other trail leading from Schoodic Beach and even all the way in from Black Mountain Road. When Maine Conservation crafted the recreational areas in 1989 when the lands were bought, these logging roads would have been freshly abandoned and much more usable. I know this specific trail is currently used by Conservation Officers to check that hunting, fishing and camping laws are being adhered to since they can operate ATV’s almost fully to the beach. This is very similar to another trail on Black Mountain Road that leads to Tunk Lake beach. It too is used by conservation officers to check for legal compliance since ATV’s can be used for much of the trail and without having to go over the mountain to get there.
I hope that answers your question on the history of the trail.
For another great hike start at Schoodic Bog Preserve then hike up Schoodic Mountain then down the other side to the beach. Then hike up over Black Mountain and take the Caribou Loop Trail to Caribou Mountain. From there descend the other side, but turn before Dynamite Brook Road and hike up and over Catherine Mountain and down the other side. This was an 11.5 mile hike for me where I had my wife pick me up atop Catherine Hill on Route 182 also called Black Woods Road. For an even longer hike start at Baker Hill on Route one and hike across to Route 182. That would be a 16 mile hike one-way.