Carriage Roads

It’s been a busy day. I’ve already posted twice, but not yet about our hike on the Carriage Roads in Acadia National Park. There are forty-five miles of Carriage Roads inside the park and several more outside. Along those roads are seventeen beautiful bridges. Chuck began “bagging” those bridges a few years ago. By the end of last Friday afternoon we had been to numbers fifteen and sixteen! This year we went to Cliffside and Amphitheater (via the West Branch bridge which we had been to on a previous walk). They were both lovely, but Cliffside had the added advantage of wonderful vistas. It’s also a comfortable hike. While there are ups and downs along the way, it is not the relentlessly uphill trek we took last year from Jordan Pond to the Deer Brook and Chasm Brook bridges. For Cliffside and Amphitheater you start out at Jordan Pond and head out on the wide crushed stone Carriage Roads to Signpost Number 14 and head toward Signpost 21. (You can download maps and brochures here.)
Here’s a sample of what we saw:

Chuck heading out toward Cliffside


Chuck looking over the edge of Cliffside Bridge


Looking out toward Seal Harbor and the Cranberry Islands


Amphitheater Bridge


Near Signpost 21


Golden foliage framing the ocean beyond


These were uploaded in lower resolution, but they are still “clickable” for a better (and more vivid) view.