QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 47,000 acres
- Trail Mileage: 1.5 miles
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy
- Sights: headland, harbor
This trail is one of two relatively short and flat trails on the western side of Mt. Desert Island that lead to beautiful seaside areas. The other is Wonderland Trail.
When I visited in mid-June, the Ship Harbor Trail was crowded! All the spots in the parking lot were full, and others were parking up and down Route 102A. The approximately 1.5-mile trail is made up of two loops, forming a figure eight. The first one is slightly easier than the second, and almost wheelchair accessible with a few rough spots. However, the remarkable views are really at the end of the second loop, where it comes out onto rugged pink cliffs rising up from the sea. Then it winds back into shrubby, rocky landscape. It’d be nice if the park could make both loops wheelchair accessible.
What the first loop has going for it are views along the quiet harbor, which doesn’t look quite big enough for ships? Supposedly it’s named after a shipwreck that probably never happened there! Curious.
Directions: The parking area is off Route 102A, three-fourths of a mile east of the intersection with Lighthouse Road, and about 1.3 miles west of Seawall Campground. When the lot is full, people park along the road.
