TRIP REPORT - Stone Tower (Acadia)

            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.