Sure Acadia National Park can get crowded in the summer, especially on the hot spots such as Jordan Pond, Mount Cadillac, Sand Beach and Thunder Hole. But there still are quite a few areas that no one seems to visit. Especially on the "Quite Side" of the island in the Seal Cove area.
We discovered one of these areas on a beautiful October Sunday. Planning on hiking the Western Trail off of the Long Pond Fire Road we found the parking spot (yes spot not spots) in front of the trail head taken. So we turned around and parked at Pine Hill. Now Pine Hill is a very strange place. Its a loop of road with seemingly no purpose. There is no view. No trail heads. No picnic tables. Nothing. Its like an abandoned parking lot.
But at one time I have long suspected, it must have been a picnic area with a view of Hodgdon Pond. Its all overgrown now and the art of picnicing seems to have been tossed aside by modern society in favor of fast food. Looking for clues to the original purpose of this area we found a stone staircase leading to somewhat of a trail. We followed what we thought was a trail into the woods and discovered a number of stone fire pits complete with cooking grates. We also found one red metal trail marker in the shape of a bird stuck in a tree. Obviously some kind of trail was here but its not maintained and it felt like we were the first humans to set foot on the trail in many, many years. -- Edward Fielding
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