LITTLE HARBOR BROOK BRIDGE

An Older Modest and Remote Bridge:

Completed in 1919, this modest yet elegant little bridge is similar to the later-built Jordan Pond Dam and Hadlock Brook bridges. Constructed of dark-stained rock and located in the Amphitheater pantheon roughly a mile downstream from the majestic Amphitheater Bridge, this is a fairly remote bridge that requires a bit more work for hikers to get to. From the Jordan Pond House, you could take the Around-Mountain carriage road loop past West Branch Bridge and Cliffside Bridge and then take the lower portion of the Penobscot Mountain Trail near junction 21 as a shortcut to the road that leads to the bridge. Or you could hike along the mostly flat Asticou & Jordan Pond Path to intersect with the carriage road to the bridge. (Either route is about 1.5 miles one way; see map below.) Alternatively, if you are doing a loop hike up Cedar Swamp Mountain, you can descend down the rugged Amphitheater Trail to see both the Amphitheater Bridge and the Little Harbor Brook Bridge.

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.