Little Harbor Brook & Birch Spring Loop
To walk the watershed of Little Harbor Brook from the ocean to the rise of
one of its tributaries is to walk backwards through history from the death
of a brook in the arms of the sea to its humble birth at the foot of a steep
mountain cliff 800 feet above and only three miles inland from its salty
release. The brook spans a small bioregion on the verge of resurrection as
snow and ice melt to flood the soil.
Much of the brook lies on private land outside the boundaries of Acadia
National Park. The owner maintains a trail that runs next to the brook from
Route 3 almost to its junction with the Asticou Trail a mile and
three-quarters to north of the road. The only tracks on the Little Harbor
Brook Trail were those of squirrel and hare, fox and deer, muskrat and
raccoon, weasel and grouse.
From the upper end of the Little Harbor Brook Trail (or simply the Harbor
Brook Trail) I followed the Asticou Trail east a short way to the first
carriage road it crosses, where I turned north along the carriage road,
descending to Little Harbor Brook Bridge. The Amphitheater Trail begins on
the north side of the bridge at a trailhead which reads:
AMPHITHEATER TRAIL
BIRCH SPRING
1.4 MI/2.2 KM
PENOBSCOT MT.
2.2 MI/3.5 KM
SARGENT MT.
2.6 MI/4.2 KM
ASTICOU TRAIL
.3MI/.5 KM
JORDAN POND
.9 MI/1.4 KM
From the bridge, the Amphitheater Trail rises gradually toward the north
along Little Harbor Brook to Amphitheater Bridge, then more steeply up the
valley between Cedar Swamp Mountain on the west and Penobscot on the east to
a tun to the west, from which it rises rapidly across ledges to Birch Spring
and a junction with the Sargent Mountain South Ridge Trail. As hinted by the
old sign on Route 3 at the beginning of the Little harbor Brook Trail,
JORDAN MTN. VIA AMPHITHEATER 5.3 K, the brook and Amphitheater trails used
to run in an straight line through the Amphitheater (the closed valley
between Cedar Swamp and Penobscot mountains) almost to Sargent Mountain
Pond. The trail no longer continues past the turn for Birch Spring, though I
one followed its former course in March across soggy ground and made it to
the summit of Penobscot (formerly Jordan) Mountain.
From the harbor to Birch Spring, the brook rises very gradually to Little
Harbor Brook Bridge, then somewhat more steeply to Amphitheater Bridge, and
more steeply still to the turnoff, where a small tributary rises rapidly to
the spring. Above the spring, the Cedar Swamp Mountain Trail (a continuation
of the Sargent Mountain South Ridge Trail) rises to 900 feet, skirting the
942-foot summit.
On the return, I followed the Cedar Swamp Mountain Trail past the
Around-Mountain Carriage Road to the junction with the Asticou Trail, which
I followed east to Little Harbor Brook, retracing my steps back south along
the brook.
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Champlain Mountain
The Carrige Paths
Around Little Long Pond
Around Jordan Pond
Acadia Mountain loop
Around Mansell Mountain
Little Harbor Brook & Birch Spring Loop
Penobscot Mountain & Jordan Cliffs
Western Mountain Loop
Champlain Mountain Loop
Norumbega Mountain Loop
Around Dorr Mountain
Pemetic Mountain Loop
Beech Mountain
Cadillac Mountain
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