Man O’War Brook Falls, Maine

Acadia National Park is already a stunning place to visit, and there are a few waterfalls in the park to add to the list. One of them, Hadlock Falls, looks very beautiful, but it didn’t seem to show up on my searches before visiting in July 2021. I’m not sure why, though many reviews on Google seem to be more recent. The other that has popped up when I searched many years ago before visiting the park is Man O’War Brook Falls.

There are two different options for viewing the falls. You could take a boat into Somes Sound. The falls are right along the water. Or like we did, you could hike to the falls. To get a somewhat good view of the falls, the boat is probably a better option, but you can still get a portion of the falls from the hike. We visited in late July 2021 and so there may not have been as much water flowing over the falls at that time. After a snowmelt or good rainfall is probably the best time.

The falls aren’t wildly spectacular. There are better falls in Maine. It was still worth the hike to the falls, though. It gives a sense of the stunning beauty found in Acadia National Park.

Directions:

1. Head toward Mount Desert Island, which you can get to by heading south on ME-3. If you continue along ME-3, you’ll end up in Bar Harbor, which is the main lodging location on the island.
2. Instead of going along ME-3, take ME-102 south toward Mt. Desert and Southwest Harbor. ME-102 forms a loop on the left/west side of the island. You want to stay on the eastern portion of the loop.
3. About 7.5 miles after the split of ME-3 and ME-102, you’ll find the parking area for the Acadia Mountain Trailhead.
4. From the trailhead, you’ll want to follow the Man O’War Brook Trail to the falls. I rated it as an easy/moderate hike when I completed the hike in 2021, so I don’t think it was a particularly hard hike, though the falls is about 1 mile from the trailhead. Google Maps makes it look like the falls are inland. They are along the shoreline, so continue along until then.

Accessibility: 8/10 (easy/moderate)
Length of Hike: 2 miles round-trip
Height: 20′

Where in the World is Man O’War Brook Falls?