Hiking the Jordan Cliffs – Penobscot – Bubbles – Pemetic Loop in Acadia National Park: The Best Hike Around Jordan Pond
If you’re looking for an epic day hike in Acadia National Park, look no further than the hikes around Jordan Pond.
Yes, there’s the Jordan Pond Path, a flat easy trail that loops gently around the lake, but this can get crowded, and it’s infinitely less fun than the other hikes in the Jordon Pond area of Acadia. There are a number of hiking trails that surround Jordan Pond that can be connected into one epic day hike. They still loop around the lake…just a little bit more…creatively (yea, that’s how I’ll say it).
These trails will take you across narrow cliffside ledges, up iron rung ladders, have you scramble your way up to several mountain summits, and give you access to gorgeous views of lakes, mountains, and ocean. Sounds so much better than a simple lakeside stroll, am I right?! Well, it did for us anyway!
In this post, we’ll show you how to combine several of the best hikes around Jordan Lake in Acadia National Park into one epic day hike. This hike includes the Jordan Cliffs Trail, Penobscot Mountain, both North and South Bubble, Pemetic Mountain and small sections of the Jordan Pond Loop.
Article Contents
About the Jordan Pond Loop Hike
This epic Acadia day hike includes all the best hikes around Jordan Pond and features iron rungs with a tad bit of exposure, four summits, and views of Jordan Pond and beyond.
Distance: 7.9 miles
Elevations Gain: 2900 feet
Time: 5-6 hours (depending on how much time you spend enjoying the views!)
Trail Profile:
Getting to the trailhead for the Jordon Pond loop hike
Park at the large Jordon Pond lot at the south end of the lake along Park Loop Road. It’s a pretty big lot and when we got there at about 9:15 am, there was still plenty of parking, but expect it to fill by midday.
But overall, your best bet is with the large lot at the south end, near the Jordon Pond House.
From this parking lot, you can head down towards the Jordan Pond boat launch for your first glimpse at the lake and the two iconic “bubbles” on the opposite side that you will be hiking over later in the day. Spoiler alert: these aren’t the best views along the pond…those come later! We like to save the best for last around here!
From the boat launch, continue west along the Jordon Pond Path until you hit the carriage road. Follow this road just a short distance until you see the trailhead on your right leading you towards Penobscot. This is where your hike begins! You’ll cross a small foot bridge to meet up with the Spring Trail.
The Spring Trail starts on the right, across the footbridge.
We recommend hiking this loop in a clockwise direction around Jordan Pond for several reasons. You’ll want to hike the Jordan Cliffs Trail specifically in this direction because it’s easier to climb and scramble you way up this kind of trail than it is to go down. Generally, the iron rung trails are encouraged to be unidirectional for this reason and to keep traffic travelling in one direction so there isn’t clutter along the more dangerous sections of the trail. You’ll also want to hike the Northwest Trail of Pemetic Mountain in this direction as well, since it is pretty steep with some tricky scrambles that would be tough on the knees going down. We did pass plenty of people coming down this trail as we were going up, so it is doable, but I was not jealous of them. Finally, we think in general the views get better and better as you go in this direction, with the view off Pemetic Mountain the grand finale before heading back down to your car.
The Jordan Cliffs Trail
Alright, let’s start this hike, shall we?!
The Spring Trail
From the carriage road, you have to hike the Spring Trail for 0.3 miles until you hit the intersection with the Jordan Cliffs Trail. This is a nice gradual climb through the forest up a series of stone steps (a nice introduction to them here, as you will see a lot of stone stairs throughout this hike and through all of Acadia!). At 0.3 miles, you’ll come to the next intersection. Each intersection is well marked, so simply follow the signs leading you towards the Jordan Cliffs Trail.
Shortly after this intersection, you’ll cross another carriage road, and continue onto the Jordan Cliffs Trail.
Hiking the Jordan Cliffs
The climb up the cliffs of Penobscot Mountain starts right off the bat up granite rocks slopes through the forest. But it doesn’t’ take too long before the views really start to open up and you can see down to Jordan Pond, and out over to the Bubbles and Pemetic Mountain.
The further you get along the trail, the rockier and more rugged it becomes (the good stuff!). It’s no longer just a walk through the park, but you’ll have to maneuver your way around and over rocky obstacles as you continue to climb up along the cliffside.
The further and higher you go, the views of Jordan Pond and the surrounding mountains keep getting better. This part of the trail took us a surprisingly long time because I couldn’t keep myself from stopping every five seconds and taking pictures (anyone else have that problem or is it just me?).
Along the trail, you’ll find yourself climbing up plenty of stone steps and maneuvering through big boulder fields and up rock piles. But the trail is easy to follow…just keep following the obvious blue blazes along the rocks.
The trail continues as a pretty steady climb up rocks and boulders the whole way. You’ll eventually come to the first set of iron rungs…two rungs placed to get you over a giant boulder. We joked that this was the “exposure” and how simple it was, but don’t worry, there’s more later!
The first set of iron rungs along the Jordan Cliffs Trail
There’s a few scrambly bits along the trail that require you to climb up or down some interesting features and requires some thinking…that’s the stuff we love!
An interesting down climb along the trail.
A few fun elements are found along the Jordan Cliff Trail.
You’ll come to a spot where you hike down for a bit, and then you hit the fun part of the trail…the iron rungs. The first set has no exposure…they are there just to get you up some rocks and then you scramble your way up alongside some big cliff faces to your left.
After this is where you’ll see the most exposure of the Jordan Cliffs Trail hike, as you walk along a narrow rocky ledge with a drop off to your right, however, this section still isn’t too bad, because the width of the rock that you’re walking along is still pretty wide.
The views from these ledges are pretty darn amazing, though.
A note on exposure and the iron rungs: There are places with a bit of exposure along the trail as you traverse the cliffside, but I never felt nervous about it. The exposure here isn’t quite like that of the Precipice Trail or the Beehive, two of Acadia’s other famous iron rung routes. On the Jordan Cliffs Trail, you don’t get the same sense of crazy exposure because usually the drop off isn’t quite as stark (it’s more of a gradual slope outward) and because often there are trees along the edge and so you don’t get an overwhelming sense that there is a steep drop off right next to you. But that said, don’t get me wrong…you are still walking along a ledge on the side of a cliff! We would say that this is a good warm up trail for those planning on hiking the Precipice or Beehive, or to test your nerves to see how you would do on these more intense trails in Acadia!
After 1.2 miles, you’ll come to the intersection for the Penobscot East Trail, which will take you up to the Penobscot summit. You might be done with the iron rungs and exposure, but don’t worry, you’re not done with the fun! Take a left at this intersection for the trail up the mountain.
Penobscot Mountain
The trail from the intersection to the summit of Penobscot Mountain is short – a mere 0.4 miles – but it’s pretty interesting and fun. Almost immediately after the junction, there is some really interesting scrambling up some boulder piles that really makes you think. I came up with some interesting moves to get up and over.
Once through these scrambles, it’s a pretty straightforward hike up the granite rock, with beautiful open views back over Jordan Pond. With a lot of these Jordon Pond hikes, I almost felt as if I was hiking some of the high peaks of the Adirondacks (our favorite local hiking place in upstate NY), with the granite slabs and open summits. It’s kind of cool that you can get that feel here in Acadia at just 1,000 feet up!
At the summit of Penobscot mountain, you get beautiful 360 degree views of Acadia looking out at the Atlantic Ocean, Sargent Mountain, Eagle Lake, the Bubbles, Pemetic Mountain, Cadillac Mountain and even out to Frenchman Bay. The summit is pretty big, so definitely be sure to walk around and take in all the views. If you walk a little south on the summit towards the Penobscot Mountain Trail, Jordan Pond will come back into view.
Because the summit is so big, it makes it a pretty uncrowded mountain, as everyone can spread out. But it’s not really a busy summit to begin with. Between the views and lack of crowds, this combination of the Jordan Cliffs and Penobscot is definitely one of the best hikes around Jordan Pond that you can do in Acadia.
Deer Brook Trail
Once you’ve had your fill of summit views (I mean, do you really ever get tired of them?), it’s time to head down and continue the loop hike around Jordan Pond. Continue North along the Penobscot Mountain Trail, following the cairns down the granite path.
After just 0.1 miles, you’ll come to an intersection with both the Deer Brook Trail and Sargent Mountain. Sargent Mountain is not too far of a hike away, but we decided to skip that as we didn’t feel it would give us very different views from anything we would be seeing on this loop hike, but if you’re up for it, go for it! It can easily be added on as detour to this loop.
Stairs along the Deer Brook Trail
If you’re skipping Sargent Mountain, continue onto the Deer Brook Trail. This trail will take you all the way back down to the North end of Jordan Pond in 0.8 miles. It’s a nice quiet hike through the forest that can get steep and rocky in parts, and of course, can’t forget those stone steps! After a half mile, you’ll pass through an intersection with both the Jordan Cliffs Trail and Sargent Mountain…keep straight here. After another 0.1 miles, you’ll cross a carriage road to continue along the trail. The final 0.2 miles is a rocky path down to the lake side.
At the lake, you’ll hang a left and take in the gorgeous lake views from a different perspective than where you started. You can also see the climb ahead of you up to both Bubbles and Pemetic Mountain.
The Bubbles
The Bubbles are the two iconic hills that sit along the north end of Jordan Pond, including North Bubble (the slightly taller one) and South Bubble. The South Bubble is probably the most popular Jordon Pond hike (after the Jordon Pond Path).
To get to these summits, you’ll take the Bubbles Divide Trail from the north end of the pond. This is another short and sweet, but steep, and rocky, trail (common in Acadia, if you hadn’t noticed at this point in the hike!). It climbs quickly up a steep rocky path to the saddle between North and South Bubble.
South Bubble
From the first intersection, it’s a short jaunt up to South Bubble. This is the busiest section of trail you’ll come across as you hike around Jordan Pond. This is because South Bubble is a popular hike that can be reached through a short hike from the Bubbles Divide trailhead along Park Loop Road (which you’ll be hiking down later). Unless you started the hike early, you’ll definitely be sharing this small summit with a crowd. But despite the crowds, this hike is worth.
After the short climb, you’ll see the summit sign, but the views are just beyond it. Keep walking along the trail and soon it will open up to beautiful granite slab with views over Jordon Pond…there’s a reason this hike is so popular!
But aside from the views, there is another reason South Bubble is a favorite hike in Acadia…Bubble Rock. Bubble Rock is a giant boulder that seems as if has been precariously placed over the edge of the cliffside, just teetering enough such that it doesn’t fall over. You’ll find it shortly after the summit sign on the left…you’ll probably spot it by finding the crowd of people around it trying to get the perfect picture. Admittedly, it is a pretty cool feature, because when you see it, it does make you think, how the heck is it staying put?
North Bubble
You’ll retrace your steps back to the Bubbles Divide Trail and continue onward a short way to get to the next intersection that will take you up to North Bubble.
It’s about 0.3 miles up a steep and rocky (you should be used to this by now!) trail to the summit. North Bubble is a bit less crowded than South Bubble. I’m really not sure why…it’s not much more distance to add on North Bubble during a hike across Bubbles Divide on the way to South Divide, but hey, I’m not complaining! The summit is very small, and we had it to ourselves for a short while before 2 or 3 other groups joined us, which was great.
The views over Jordan Pond are different than that of South Bubble, with yet a different vantage point over Jordan Pond, but they are no less awesome.
When ready, retrace your steps back down to the Bubbles Divide Trail, hang a left, and continue the Divide trail down to the Bubbles Divide lot.
Pemetic Mountain
At the parking lot, you’ll cross Park Loop Road to find the North West Trail up to Pemetic Mountain. This is one of several ways to get to the summit of Pemetic Mountain, but it’s the most challenging and most interesting of the bunch. And lucky for you, it happens to be a part of this loop hike around Jordon Pond!
The trail is only 0.6 miles to the summit, but you know what that means…it’s steep! On this trail, you gain more than 700 feet of elevation as you make your way up rock fields and fun scrambles. There’s really no break from start to finish, so hopefully your legs aren’t too tired by this point in the hike!
About half way up the trail, you’ll have an option of taking one of two paths of equal distance the meet up again just a short ways up the trail. We recommend going the ravine route towards the left. This path will bring you through a narrow cleft between two rock faces where you’ll climb up two wooden ladders to maneuver your way through.
Before you know it, you’ll arrive at the summit. As you approach the summit, it again has a sort of Adirondack-like feel as you walk across open granite faces. The views from the summit are an amazing finale to this epic day hike around Jordan Pond in Acadia.
You’ll be treated to 360 degree views from the expansive bald summit out over the Atlantic Ocean, Jordan Pond, Penobscot and Sargent Mountains, the Bubbles, Eagle Lake, and Cadillac Mountain. And what’s even more awesome is it’s a pretty quiet summit, and it’s so big that there’s no shortage of spots where you can have great views that you feel you have all to yourself.
The hike back to Jordan Pond parking lot
Sadly, at some point, you’ll have to head back down and finish off this epic Jordan Pond hike. To find your way back down to Jordan Pond, continue south over Pemetic Mountain, following the cairns and blue rock blazes as you weave up, down and around the summit rocks.
You’ll eventually come to an intersection where you’ll follow signs for the Pemetic South Ridge Trail. This is a 0.6 mile steep and rocky (surprise surprise!) trail that will take you most of the way down off Pemetic Mountain.
At the end of the trail, you’ll bear right and walk an easy half mile through the forest back to Jordan Pond.
As you traverse back around the pond toward the parking lot, you’ll be rewarded with the absolute best views of Jordan Pond and the Bubbles (at least in our humble opinion, anyway). For us, it was the perfect end to incredible hike in Acadia.
You’ll come to a junction along the lake where you can either take a left for a direct route back to the parking lot, or continue along the pond to get back to the boat launch where you started.
All in all, we thought this was an incredibly scenic and super fun hike in Acadia. It brings together the very best hikes around Jordan Pond to make a single day hike that involves all the elements that makes hiking in Acadia so great and unique…exposure, iron rungs, fun scrambles, steep rocky climbs, lakes, ocean, mountains, and great views. What more could you ask for?
Tips for Hiking Around Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park
Wear good boots that can grip granite, especially along the Jordan Cliffs Trail where you’ll be walking along somewhat exposed granite ledges and doing a bit of rock scrambling.
The Jordon Cliffs Trail is often closed from the spring until mid to late summer due to peregrine falcon nesting along the cliffsides. Make sure to check the status of the trail on the NPS website before planning out your hike around Jordan Pond.
Start early, both to ensure a parking space and to avoid the midday crowds on the trails.
Make sure you bring a trail map with you. There are lots of intersecting trails in this area of Acadia.
Bring sunscreen and a hat. You’ll often find yourself on open exposed granite ledges and summits and the summer sun can be strong.
Remember to practice Leave No Trace principles while out on the trails.
While we think combining all these trails creates the best hike around Jordan Pond, really just doing one or a few of them are great options for a hike in Acadia. Each section has its own challenges and amazing views, and no matter which option you choose, we can promise you this – you won’t be disappointed.
Any question about hiking around Jordon Pond in Acadia? Have you done any of these Jordon Pond hikes? Which was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!