One of the more popular spots in Maine’s Acadia National Park, the Jordan Pond loop trail offers spectacular views of the surrounding cliffs and the natural flora of the region without the trials of a strenuous hike. The entire trail is incredibly flat and it’s very difficult to get lost as it follows the edge of the pond the entire way around.
One of the most interesting flora features to pay attention to is the prevalence of paper birch trees near the pond and on the surrounding slopes. Birch trees tend to proliferate in regions of new forest growth. This area experienced a fire in 1947, which has led to the unique forest composition we see today. Interestingly, we can see what the forest may have looked like before the fire occurred by traveling to the western side of the park, which was not impacted by the event. Near Acadia Mountain, birches are significantly less prevalent as they are short lived trees and are typically replaced by trees with longer lifespans in older growth forests. Keep an eye out for the very young, small birch trees around the pond to mountains identify this feature!
As someone who lives in Massachusetts, it was also very fascinating to compare the relative proportions of tree types in this region as compared to my home state. Acadia, and much of Maine, lies in a transitional region between the deciduous forests of southern New England and the northern boreal forests of eastern Canada. As such, we tend to see significantly more and greater varieties of evergreens here than in eastern Massachusetts. However, there are still many beeches, birches, maple, and oak to be found, which are the predominant types we tend to see further south.
The western side of the pond features a very long boardwalk that sits above the muddy shoreline. There is only enough room for one party at a time to pass so be prepared to move to the boardwalk side areas that periodically double the size of the path for other parties passing through. During rainy days this boardwalk can also be very slippery so walk with caution!
Jordan Pond itself, named after a family that previously owned the land and a nearby farmhouse, is a quite impressively sized pond. While the shoreline areas look fairly shallow, the body of water reaches an overall depth of 150 feet! It was carved out by the Wisconsin Ice Sheet during the most recent ice age. It’s a water supply source for the nearby town of Seal Harbor; therefore, wading and swimming are not permitted, so make sure you stay on the trail! Due to the sheer circumference, it is not a super short hike and took us a good couple hours to walk around the entire pond. If you are traveling with younger kids and toddlers and want a shorter, or more customizable option, the Wild Gardens of Acadia and nearby Jesup path are great options, but this path is great to go on with older elementary-aged kids, middle schoolers, or adults with limited hiking experience if you plan to tackle the entire route. The entire path is very flat and you will be able to experience the grandeur of Acadia without scrambling.
There is a large parking lot nearby with access to the only restaurant in the park as well, historic in its own right and famous for its popovers since 1893. The lawn and gardens around the restaurant are surprisingly manicured, having been actively managed before the National Park was established.
Be aware that because of the accessibility and popularity of national park locations, this trail gets extremely busy. We were in the area on a rainy day and still encountered a decent crowd. The restaurant is consistently busy and there was a 40 minute wait to sit down. The parking lot can also quickly fill up. There are sometimes alternative routes into the pond trail from pullover sites on Park Loop Road, but they are tend to lengthen the length of the hike and add more elevation gain. If you are looking to escape from other humans a bit more, I recommend finding routes on the western side of the park or avoiding the national park altogether and exploring some local nature preserves instead.