The
abandoned road winds its way through the dark forest before coming to an abrupt
end. Through a break in the trees, a clearing becomes visible. Sunlight bathes
the small, somewhat out of place field. A strange shadow rises from the random
opening in the woods. As you draw closer, the shadow takes form. The
immaculately stacked stone blocks come into view. Before you stands a
mysterious tower. A doorway at the base of the ominous structure leads inside.
Enter the Stone Tower.
In
1895, the Bar Harbor Water Company abandoned their original storage house and
screen tank off the north eastern shore of Eagle Lake. A larger one was built
upstream but the old one is still standing today, a two story stone tower
constructed in 1887 with thick walls and an open doorway which peers up the
twenty foot tall square shaft into the sky. Some of the original woodwork is
still intact although a lot of it has been lost to time. Most of the blocks are
sturdy as can be and show no sign of crumbling any time soon.
Getting
to the Stone Tower is actually quite easy, you just have to know where to look.
Exit the Park Loop Road right after Great Hill, shortly before you get to the
one-way section. This will bring you to Route 233 where you take a right
towards Eagle Lake. At the bottom of the hill, just before the Eagle Lake
parking lot, turn right onto Duck Brook Road, it will be the first road on your
right. At the very beginning of the road there is a small dirt pull-off large
enough only for a car or two. Park here and walk along Route 233 for a couple
hundred feet, crossing over Duck Brook. On the other side of the bridge there
will be a wide path in the woods on your right. That wide path was once a road
paralleling Duck Brook and it will bring you directly to the Stone Tower.
It is
impossible to miss the abandoned road once you know to look for it. Across the
street, it continues along Duck Brook where it meets the Eagle Lake carriage
path. This area does offer a few more parking spots but they fill up rather
quickly and require crossing the busy road. Right off the bat, you’ll notice
two half acre foundations, once part of a water filtration system that was
filled with sand as well as an aeration tank that helped eliminate the taste
and odor of algae that grows in the lake. The former road is wide and level,
making for a short and pleasant stroll through the pine forest. It follows Duck
Brook, although the stream isn’t visible through the trees. Running alongside
the road is a large mound of stones which once shielded the water pipes from
frost.
In
just over 0.1 mile you’ll come to a clearing with the standpipe rising abruptly
from the center of it. It’s not often you get to see a beautiful stone
structure just sitting in the middle of the woods. So far there is no graffiti or
vandalism present and I only hope we can keep it that way. This one is perfect
for a dark rainy day or right before dusk, giving the area a haunted feel.
For more abandoned trails and forgotten places in Acadia National Park be sure to check out The Acadia You Haven't Seen, available now on Amazon in E-Book and Black & White format or http://www.matthewmarchon.weebly.com for your color copy today. Over 50 destinations including many you won't find anywhere online.
