Hike Ocean Path Trail with Island Explorer Bus

Ocean Path is Acadia's greatest hits reel compressed into a single, gloriously easy walk. You'll start near Sand Beach — where the brave swim in water cold enough to reset your nervous system — and follow a mostly paved path that hugs the top of pink granite cliffs dropping straight into the Atlantic. Within the first half mile, you'll hit Thunder Hole, where the ocean detonates into a narrow rock channel with a boom you feel in your chest (time it for incoming tide or you'll just stare at a wet rock). The trail rolls south past Monument Cove's sea stacks to Otter Cliffs, where the continent meets the ocean at a sheer wall that makes you feel appropriately small. The genius move here is the Island Explorer bus: hike one direction along the coast, then hop a free shuttle back instead of retracing your steps. This is the perfect trail for anyone who wants dramatic coastal scenery without dramatic physical effort — families, photographers, and anyone whose knees have opinions about elevation gain.