The Jesup Path, Acadia

Recently we visited Acadia National Park in Maine and the only hike that was mandatory for me was The Jesup Path.

Why? Because of the birch trees.  Anyone who knows me knows that birch trees are my favourite tree so when I was researching our trip to Acadia National park, I was excited to find this trail.

The Jesup Loop is an easy walk through The Great Meadow Wetland, which features stands of hundreds of birch trees and a wide wooden footbridge, which starts near the Nature Centre at Sieur de Monts and provides access to the Jesup Path. 

Sieur de Monts, often referred to as the “Heart of Acadia” includes Sieur de Monts Spring and Nature Centre, the Wild Gardens of Acadia, the Great Meadow Wetland, and access to multiple historic memorial paths. It is the first major stopping point along the Park Loop Road. Once in the site, you can learn the natural and cultural history of Acadia through interpretive signs and hiking trails of various lengths and difficulty.

Jesup Path is a short hike, really. It’s the photos that took me so long…

After crossing the Hemlock Path, the Jesup Path starts along a beautiful and much-photographed boardwalk through a boggy, white birch forest. The boardwalk is of a flat grade, and is built to be wide enough for a wheelchair. There is a smooth transition between the gravel trail surface and the boardwalk, which has no lip.

Along the boardwalk, there are information panels describing various aspects of the wetland environment and the plants and animals which inhabit it. There are also numerous locations along the boardwalk where there are platforms off to the side with seating, providing places to rest and enjoy the surroundings.

One of the ideas for these platforms is to encourage visitors to slow down and enjoy the sounds of the park. The rustling of the trees, the swoosh of the grasslands, the sounds of the birds…

The boardwalk then ends just before the trail crosses the Hemlock Path, at which point I noticed the stand of birch trees I had come here to find, veering off just to the right, which, technically is called The Hemlock Trail, which is a bit of a misnomer as it was absolutely filled with white birch trees. I was giddy…

Yim, as always, allowed me the time to take as many photos as I wanted.

The Jesup Path actually continues through the Great Meadow at that point and continues to Park Loop Road. Then, if you take a right on the Great Meadow Loop, it leads to the next junction with the Hemlock Road, allowing a loop to be made back to the Jesup Path. A right on the Hemlock Path across the Park Loop Road again leads back through the stand of birch trees, and then passes the Jesup Path boardwalk and leads through a forest of large hemlocks for which the path, originally a road, was named. It sounds complicated, but the trails are well marked, although we met several people who were a little confused, us included. We asked for directions…

The Hemlock Path ends at the Sieur de Monts parking lot. This hike was too short for me. I could have spent the entire day taking photographs here and listening to the leaves rustle in the wind…

Being in those stands of Birch Trees was pure glory for me.

Length: 1.5 miles, Network

Difficulty: VERY easy.