CHASM BROOK BRIDGE

The Most Remote Carriage-Road Bridge:

Chasm Brook Bridge is probably the most remote bridge in the carriage-road system. Built in 1926, this fairly modest and understated bridge is located along the isolated northern loop of Around-Mountain Carriage Road on the north face of Sargent Mountain. The bridge is 50 feet long and stretches over Chasm Brook, a small gorge with a light flow of water during the summer months.

The quickest way to visit Chasm Brook Bridge is by biking the carriage roads, starting at either the Eagle Lake Trailhead (2.5 miles one-way), the Parkman Trailhead (3 miles one way), or the Jordan Pond House (2.6 miles one-way). After visiting Chasm Brook Bridge, a downhill cruise past the "Seven Bridges" section is a blast. (The "Seven Bridges" are a series of little wooden bridges where the road constantly zig-zags back and forth over the brook.) Unlike all of the other carriage-road bridges, hikers have no alternative trail that offers quick and easy access to Chasm Bridge. You could perhaps detour to see the bridge while hiking the Giant Slide Trail or the North Bubble and Conners Nubble hike.

To navigate the trails and carriage roads of Acadia and find the classic stone bridges, get a copy of the wonderful Map Adventures Acadia National Park Trail Map or Diane Abrell's Carriage Roads of Acadia: A Pocket Guide. And for more in depth information on the construction and history of the bridges, please see Robert Thayer's Acadia's Carriage Roads book.