Gary Stellpflug says he is not sure when he first noticed the flat-topped granite rock off Kane Path in Acadia National Park, but he knew right away that it was not just any other boulder and more likely an undiscovered hidden gem in Acadia National Park.
We were thrilled to discover the Kane Path granite bench, a hidden gem in Acadia National Park, with Gary Stellpflug, seated on the left, and Terese Miller, standing on the right, as our guides.
“I remember walking by it, and saying, ‘Gee, that’s a bench’,” said Stellpflug, who retired from the National Park Service in 2022 after more than 35 years as foreman of the Acadia trails crew and now volunteers for the park.
Stellpflug said the stone bench was “unquestionably constructed,” likely hoisted out of a nearby boulder field more than a century ago by trail builders using a winch.
The Kane Path granite bench, roughly triangular-shaped with each side about 42 inches, is directly off a popular, maintained hiking trail. It’s very visible, but few people know of the bench’s existence and over the ages, countless visitors have probably walked by without noticing it. Or, if they did see it, they likely didn’t identify it as a bench and a hidden gem in Acadia National Park.