Acadia's Beehive Trail will leave you buzzing with excitement.

Hiking trails are a special bunch, with almost as many different characteristics as people. Some are long, some climb high, some are fun, and some are exciting. Heck, some are all of the above. But it's the exciting ones that seem to be in short supply these days, and Acadia is no stranger to trails such as these. It's most famous, the Precipice Trail, will leave you fearing for your life during half of it's almost two mile length.

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A trip up the Beehive Trail takes the concept of "hiking" to a whole new level.

A small wooden bridge makes the going a little easier, but three steps to the right and you're finished.

Iron rungs help you climb, and hike, and climb. They help you go up.

But the Precipice Trail is closed to accommodate nesting falcons throughout most of Spring and Summer. On the adventure podium, the second place slot is shorter in length, but not in thrills, and offers a hell of a view as a bonus. Welcome to the Hive.

The Beehive actually, a 500-foot tall rock outcropping, was the first parcel of land acquired for preservation by the public land trust almost 100 years ago. The Beehive Trail is accessed by the Bowl Trail, so that’s where our journey begins. The trailhead for the Bowl Trail is located 100 feet north of the Sand Beach parking lot across Park Loop Drive in the eastern section of the park. It starts out rocky, almost more boulders than dirt in some places, as it gently slopes upward. Piece of cake. Winding up the valley between the Beehive and Gorham Mountain, it changes over to all rock, giant slabs of Acadia's famed pink granite, although so dirty that you can hardly tell it's pink under there.

At the intersection cairn, take a moment to glance up to the right. With the Beehive being such a popular route, you can most likely see some of the hikers who came before you, up on the face of the wall. This is your chance to point towards them and say things like “Holy shit, those dudes are crazy!” Then make a right on the Beehive Trail to begin your climb up the hive. Did I say climb? I meant hike, really, I did. The trail steepens slightly, with larger rock steps leading the way up. Shortly after the urge to use your hands first enters your mind, a view of Sand Beach opens up to your right, and behind you a small pond comes in to view. Maybe you see a moose taking a drink from the pond, but I doubt it, because there's no way a moose would come and visit that crowded-ass pond.

The trail is blazed with a small blue blotch on rocks every now and then from here on in, so just think of it as following the smurf. Some of you might choose a specific smurf as your guide.

I chose Smurfette, and she told me that this trail is not a good one to save for a rainy day, or for a nice winter afternoon either. In wet weather, or colder weather, one small slip and that's it, you're hiking that long trail in the sky. (No, not the AT.) The rule of thumb is- if you think you might run into some bees on the Beehive Trail, the time is probably right to hike it. When in doubt, dry days during warmer months are best. For all of you apiphobic people out there, I saw very few bees along the Beehive Trail, and not a single hive.

As it winds it's way up the side of the cliff face, the hand holding gets a little more important. Ladder bridges and iron rungs in the rock are there to assist you, but they're not foolin' anybody. This is dangerous ground. If you've been planning on joining the armed forces, spend some time sprinting up this trail before shipping out. I bet the Marines spend millions of dollars each year trying to create obstacle courses to recreate the workout that you’ll get here. It’s like a lat machine and a stair climber, cross-bred in nature. On my last visit, some genius tried to walk his dog up. If you have similar intentions, let's squash those right now. This is not the doggy trail. But we'll give you an option towards the end to make Fido happy.

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