Quest for the Precipice

Why It Took Us Years to Bag the King of Trails

We thought our quest for the Precipice Hiking Trail would never end.

The Precipice Trail is the king of hiking trails in Acadia. Rich in historic significance, a status climb, and possessor of great beauty, we wanted to do it... from the first moment we saw it.

You see, we love a hiking challenge, especially one that involves scrambling over rocks and bagging a high peak, characteristics that Precipice has in spades.

But we also always arrived in the early summer for our first 4 trips, and that's not the right time of year to do the Precipice Hiking Trail. But it IS when we wanted to be there, because of the annual 4th of July festival.

Finally, on our 2000 trip with "the boys" (see our planning page for more information), we went to Acadia in August... with high hopes that we'd finally get to go on the Precipice Hiking Trail, but... no dice.

So, What Was the Problem?

Well, it was a little thing called an endangered species. You see, there is a breed of bird called the peregrine falcons, one of our most beautiful birds of prey. In recent decades, suburban sprawl and other modernization factors have taken away much of their habitat and greatly decimated the numbers of peregrine falcons.

So, a few years ago, when peregrine falcons began nesting on some of the cliffs in Acadia National Park in the spring, park officials closed the trails. Besides Precipice, Beech Cliffs on the western side and sometimes the Jordan Cliffs trail are closed. In addition, the Flying Mountain Trail on the western side of Somes Sound may be closed too.

How long each trail is closed each spring/summer depends on how long it takes for the baby peregrine falcon chicks to leave the nests. Usually, it will not be before mid August at the earliest that Precipice Trail opens.

Now, we love peregrine falcons and support their return to the "wild", but year after year we were disappointed to not be able to hike Precipice. So, we were certain that when we vacationed there in mid August 2000, we'd finally do it. We even "gave up" the 4th celebration for it.

But, unfortunately, that year the nesting lasted late.

One More Try Before the Girls Grew Up...

So, in 2004, we purposely vacationed later in August in hopes that a miracle would happen and that the Precipice Hiking Trail would be open. Sarah was already out of college and moving on to adult life, Jenn had only a year of college to go before moving away and Kathi had a move to the western Rockies in the works.

So, we knew if we didn't do it that year... it might be many years before we could all vacation together again in Acadia NP. So, we packed up our stuff, drove to Maine and crossed all our fingers and toes, hoping that the peregrine babies would be flying their nests as we drove.

And, lo and behold... it happened!

So, finally, after 6 trips to Acadia National Park, we finally bagged the Precipice Trail. Was it worth it? You bet!

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