Summit Dorr Mountain via the Ladder Trail
3.6 Miles
1100 Feet
Photography, Hiking
Intermediate
Spring, Summer, Autumn
Loop
Quick ascent leads to 360 degree views of Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park, and the surrounding water without the crowds on Cadillac Mountain!
To find the trail head, drive out of Bar Harbor down Route 3. There are no signs for the trailhead or for parking, so as soon as you pass Tarn Lake on the right, you can pull off and park on the side of the road.
Elevation on the ladder trail starts immediately and doesn't let up until you reach the summit, which is the downside of summiting a 1200ft mountain in one mile. The trail is 90% rock stairs, 5% large, sloping rocks, 3% ladders and 2% flat. About 0.75 miles up, you start to get a good view of the water and the views only get better from there. There are a couple of trail junctions, but just keep following the signs for Dorr Mountain!
From the summit take the Dorr South Ridge trail down to enjoy amazing views for the first quarter of the way down. At the first junction go left on the Canon Brook Trail and then take that straight onto Kane Path to lead yourself back to the Ladder Trailhead. The entire descent is 2.6 miles.
We wrapped up our hike with a stop at Lompoc Cafe, which has some of the more delicious and cheap food in Bar Harbor!
Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations.
Nearby Lodging
Reviews
Overall rating:
Death by stairs
We hiked this trail in September of 2017. We started off at the nature center and followed the tarn a long a swamp/pond until we got to the ladder trail. The ladder trail is mainly stairs with 2 or 3 sets of small ladders and once you get closer to the summit a sloping flat surface. The tarn, stairs, and ladders are relatively covered over head by trees but once you get to the flat sloping part of the trail you will start to see all the views! Beautiful and challenging trail would climb again in a heart beat :)
Loved It!
We accessed the Ladder Trail by hiking along The Tarn from the nature center parking lot. The Ladder Trail was definitely challenging due to the amount of stairs, but it was totally worth it. The views were gorgeous as we neared the summit, and even better at the top! We descended on the North Ridge trail, which I recommend, as the Ladder Trail's large steps might be precarious on the way down.
