Acadia National Park · Maine

Great Meadow Loop

2.1 mi of trail, end to end · about 90 ft of climbing · 40 ft–120 ft · earth surface

58 ft 91 ft · 0.3 mi high 91 ft

Hike Village Green to Sieur de Monts with Island Explorer Bus the Park Service's write-up

1-1 Hours · dogs allowed · Spring, Summer, Fall

Start Hike Village Green to Sieur de Monts with Island Explorer Bus

Two sunlit green mountains are reflected in a pool of water with grasses under a clear blue sky.
  Dorr and Cadillac Mountains catch the light of the sun on a late afternoon. Photo: Photo courtesy of Maribeth Kambitsch. Used with permission.

This hike starts in downtown Bar Harbor within walking distance to many hotels and other lodgings. It is a great alternative to driving into the park with gorgeous views of the Great Meadow and the mountains beyond.

If you are staying in Bar Harbor and want to stretch your legs by walking into Acadia, this hike is a wonderful alternative to driving. It begins in the middle of Bar Harbor at the Village Green, crosses through neighborhoods, and soon reaches the boundary of the park. The trail crosses the Great Meadow, the largest freshwater wetland in Acadia, and traverses a boardwalk which is a popular area for bird watching. It ends at Sieur de Monts, an area that includes the Nature Center, the Wild Garden and an Island Explorer bus stop that can take visitors to sought-after sites in the park or return them back to Bar Harbor.

Accessibility The Jesup Path boardwalk is a 3-foot-wide wooden boardwalk with benches and pullouts running through a wetland area. The Jesup Path boardwalk is 3 foot wide and accessible.

This hike on nps.gov

On the parks map

All 219 trails in Acadia National ParkFind a trailOn the parks mapPark on nps.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the National Park Service's public trails layer, the trailheads and the waterfalls, views, peaks and historic places along them the Service's public points of interest, read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end. The write-ups are the Service's own "things to do" text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the park's own site before you go.