Acadia National Park | HIKING ON ISLE AU HAUT

Hiking the Western Head Trail on Isle au Haut, Acadia National Park

Hiking the Western Head Trail on Isle au Haut, Acadia National Park

There are eighteen miles of hiking trails within the Isle au Haut unit of Acadia National Park, but as a day tripper I only had five hours on the island, so it was not possible for me to cover all trails in one visit. I chose to make a loop by combining the Western Head, Cliff, Goat, and Duck Harbor Mountain trails, a distance of 4.6 miles that takes about 4 hours. The Duck Harbor Mountain Trail is very difficult despite the fact that Duck Harbor Mountain is only 315 feet in elevation, but you can complete the loop by returning on the Western Head Road if you want to skip this leg of the journey.

During my late August hike, I encountered a good many mosquitoes and biting flies, so I advise wearing long pants and applying insect repellent to your arms and face, and perhaps even bringing a mosquito net for your head. At the top of Duck Harbor Mountain there were so many flies buzzing around my head that I must have looked like Pig Pen from the Peanuts cartoon. Unfortunately, repellent doesn’t seem to deter flies, so I got out of there as quickly as possible.

Ticks are also prevalent, and 75 percent of those on Isle au Haut carry Lyme disease. While some of the trails skirt the coast, others pass through forests and are often a little overgrown. Each time you brush up against vegetation is a chance to pick up a tick. Ticks do not live in trees and drop down into your hair. They live low to the ground where they can grab onto any animal, and as soon as they attach themselves they start climbing upwards. Most of the time you will find them crawling up the front of your legs since that’s the direction from which you run into them. Thus, whenever you brush into vegetation be sure to check your legs. It only takes a couple minutes for a tick to crawl under your shorts, if that’s what you are wearing.

When estimating how many miles you can cover during your visit to Isle au Haut, figure about half of your normal pace, especially if you hike the Duck Mountain Trail. The ferry does depart on time, and you will get left on the island if you don’t make it back. If so, you will either have to charter a private boat to come get you or sleep on the floor of the Ranger station and take the ferry back the next day. I am a very slow hiker, averaging only a mile an hour on the mountainous trails at Acadia National Park, and I was able to make my loop hike and be back in time, so I’m pretty sure this is doable for most people.

See the following reports for details about the hike along each trail in the loop. The Ranger recommended hiking the Duck Harbor Mountain Trail from the east coast of the island, so I began on the Western Head Trail and hiked the loop in the counterclockwise direction.

Western Head Trail

Cliff and Goat Trails

Duck Harbor Mountain Trail

Isle au Haut Loop Hike map (click to enlarge)

Isle au Haut Loop Hike map (click to enlarge)

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Last updated on August 18, 2023
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