If the Cadillac vehicle reservation sold out, this is the answer — with one caveat: it is a round trip, on foot, both ways.
Yes, walking up avoids the reservation
“Vehicle reservations are not required for any other areas of the park, or for visitors who enter the area by foot, bike, or taxi.”
So the reservation system governs the road, not the mountain. You can walk to the summit of Cadillac in the middle of August without booking anything.
And no, it is not a one-way shortcut
This is the part that catches people who assume they can walk up and ride down.
“Please note there is no public transportation to and from the summit of Cadillac Mountain.”
That is the Park Service’s trail page.
“If you plan to hike up, you must return down the trail to an Island Explorer shuttle stop or parking area. It is not advisable to walk down the Cadillac Summit Rd, especially with heavy use by vehicles, bicyclists, and motor coaches.”
4.4 miles round trip, both halves on foot. Not 2.2 miles and a bus.
The walk
| Distance | 4.4 miles round trip |
| Time | “For an average pace, this hike takes 2.5 to 4 hours.” |
| Terrain | “Granite slope and stairs, rocky trail” |
| Exposure | “The trail is mostly exposed” |
| Navigation | “Follow blue blazes and Bates cairns to stay on the trail.” |
Bates cairns are the two-legged stone markers unique to Acadia — a base, two uprights, and a lintel with a pointer stone on top. They are the navigation system above the treeline and they are easy to miss in fog.
Starting from the bus, which is the recommended way
The Park Service’s own first option:
“First option (recommended): Take Kebo Brook Trail from the Island Explorer bus stop for .1 miles. Turn right up the stone stairs, cross the road, and continue onto the Cadillac North Ridge Trail.”
Recommended by the Park Service, not just by us. And driving is the option it describes second and less warmly:
“Just past the start of the one-way section towards Sand Beach, there is a small pull-off on the left side of the road. Parking is extremely limited.”
Which makes this one of the cleanest arguments on the island for the Island Explorer: the free bus delivers you to the recommended trailhead of the hike that bypasses the park’s most oversubscribed reservation.
The other way up
“Cadillac North Ridge Trail (4.4 miles roundtrip) and Cadillac South Ridge Trail (7.1 miles roundtrip) connect to the parking lot at the summit.”
South Ridge is a longer, gentler, quieter day. North Ridge is the one most people mean.
At the top
The summit is 1,530 feet, and the actual high point is not where the crowd is:
“Where is the ‘true’ summit? The true summit is near the radio tower behind the gift shop.”
Dress for somewhere else entirely:
“Temperatures and conditions can be dramatically different from the Park Loop Road to the summit. Be prepared for wind, rain, fog, and cold—even in the summer months.”
Exposed granite at 1,530 feet on the Atlantic coast is its own weather system. People walk up in shorts on a warm morning and stand at the top in a gale.
Sunrise, with a warning
“This hike is a popular option for sunrise and sunset, but carry appropriate gear and headlamps when hiking at dawn, dusk and dark.”
From 7 October to 6 March, Cadillac is the first place in the United States to see the sunrise. Most of that range is outside the reservation season, but most of it is also outside the driving season:
- 26 October to 30 November: you can drive up without a reservation, if the road is open.
- 1 December to 14 April: the Park Service closes the Park Loop Road, “including Cadillac Mountain”, to vehicles (winter page). The summit is a winter hike.
A closed road is not a plowed road. In winter the Park Service calls microspikes, crampons, cleats or ice grippers “essential for hiking snow-packed and icy trails”, warns that conditions change quickly at higher elevations, and tells you to expect early darkness. This trail is exposed granite most of the way up. The reservation page has the season dates, and Acadia in winter has the winter sunrise and sunset times.
If you are walking it in the dark, that is 2.2 miles of exposed granite each way with a headlamp, and the descent afterwards in daylight is the easy half.
Dogs
Allowed, on a leash no longer than 6 feet — which is more than can be said for the Beehive or the Precipice.
So is this a substitute for the reservation?
If you are fit and have half a day, yes. It is a better experience than driving, it costs nothing, and the bus takes you to the start.
If you are not, or you have small children, or your day is tight, no. Then it is either a $6 reservation booked the morning it releases, or a guided tour that includes the summit and drives up on its operator’s own reservation. The tour comparison goes through the options, and one of them is below.
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