Pemetic Northwest Trail

Dogs No Dogs

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When a trail is only just a little over half-a-mile long, you don’t think it’s going to be too challenging, but rest assured, there’s a lot of climbing when you head up this path. The elevation gain is over 700 feet. Although it’s the shortest of Pemetic’s trails, it’s also the steepest, rockiest and most “in-your-face” of the lot.

This path starts climbing very quickly up the northwest, forested side of Pemetic. At only 0.1 miles in you’ll come to a fork, where you can either follow a short, but very rocky, gully that you’ll climb out of via some fixed wooden ladders, or you can hike along a granite shelf that overlooks that gully. Either way provides a nice little adventure. It doesn’t take long before both sections come back together. From there, you’ll negotiate a switchback and then begin the long, straight, southwestward climb to the summit.

It’s a steep, rocky, and sometimes root-filled hike, but it’s well worth the effort, especially when you see the 360-degree view you get at the top. This is one of the initial panoramic, top-down, perspectives I had of the park when I first began going to Acadia so many years ago. I’ll never forget those visual memories. There are great views of Jordan Pond, Eagle Lake and Bubble Pond, as well as some terrific looks at several of the park’s other key peaks including Cadillac, Penobscot, The Bubbles, and Sargent. The views of ocean and its islands aren’t too bad either.

In sum, this is a very challenging but yet fun hike up the rocky and steep northwestern side of Pemetic Mountain. It travels through forests most of the way, until you summit and are rewarded with some of the parks best panoramic vistas, ones that you’ll treasure.

Pine trees, granite, and various mosses.