Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Anemone Cave
No longer marked on maps, the Anemone Cave harbors tiny pink
sea anenomes in its tide pools. When the cave was marked with
signs, so many people visited that the park service worried about
the anenomes being harmed. Caution is in order though, and not
just due to environmental concerns. The rocks are very slippery
and water fills the cave at high tide. The cave is not off-limits, but
should definitely be treated with respect.
Just past the entrance station the
Ocean Drive
section of the Park Loop
Road begins. Here, the scenery really explodes. Sand Beach with its
chilly waters is on the left, offering facilities and a parking area. The road
soon hugs the top of ocean-side cliffs, passing by
Thunder Hole
, where
the incoming waves when the tide is just right (an hour or two before high
tide) compress air under rocky overhangs and send the water back out
with a loud boom.
Otter Cliffs
, a granite headland more than 100 feet
high, is just ahead. The road continues past the
Fabbri Picnic Area
,
where one of the first wireless radio stations was once located, and
around
Otter Cove
on a graceful causeway. It continues along the rocky
shore for several more miles past more parking areas, some of which lead
down to pretty pocket stone beaches.
Heading inland, the Loop Road passes
Wildwood Riding Stables
,
which offer guided carriage rides on the park's 50 miles of motorless
paths. Here it returns to two-way traffic and then passes the
Jordan
Pond House
, a gift shop, restaurant and hiking hub famous for after-
noon tea and popovers on the lawn. The road then begins to climb as it
clings to the west side of
Pemetic Mountain
. Wonderful views of
Penobscot and Sargent Mountains to the west and the Bubbles to the
north entice the eyes. Jordan Pond immediately below frames the scene.
Bubble Rock
On top of South Bubble sits Bubble Rock. This truck-sized boul-
der is a “glacial erratic.” Composed of rock different from the
granite upon which it sits, it was actually torn from another
mountain by the mile-high glacier that once covered most of
Maine. The melting ice left the massive rock where it sits today.
As the Loop Road winds through attractive forests with occasional views,
it begins to climb up the western side of Cadillac as you head back to the
intersection where you first joined the one-way road.
But you're not done yet. Take a right onto the
Cadillac Mountain Sum-
mit Road
and being the 2½-mile climb to the top of this 1,532-foot peak.
Views are spectacular as you switch from one side of the mountain to the
