ABANDONED GURNEE TRAIL - ACADIA NATIONAL PARK
Many years ago I began exploring the woods off of West Street, by the corner of Eden street, and discovered an old abandoned footbridge. At the time I did not pay much attention to it and over the years pretty much forgot about that old stone footbridge.
Years later I came upon an old article on the Gurnee path. It stated that the Gurnee path began on Cottage Street in Bar Harbor, cut across West Street, and ran along Eden Street before crossing the roadway, where it continued to follow Eden street, crossing Duck Brook and continuing on to Hulls Cove. It served to connect the village of Bar Harbor with the village of Hull's cove.
The Gurnee path did much more than simply connect two nearby villages. A connecting trail once ran from the Gurnee path making its way up and across the Park Loop Road, than toward the general direction of Witch Hole Pond. It came out on the Witch Hole carriage road, across from a section of wetland - that section of the trail between the loop road and the carriage road is still very visible and easy to follow.
The Gurnee trail is an abandoned trail, or phantom trail, and thus it is not marked in any way or kept up by the Park Service. Even though it's unmarked, if you follow the directs on the map you should have no problem finding this trail which the Park Service has listed as a trail with historic value.
To learn more about the history behind this historic trail, click on the link below which will bring you to my website which has much more information on this trail as well as other abandoned hiking trails within Acadia National Park.
