Offering 5.8 mile and 9.8 mile loops, the trail system takes hikers through a variety of environments. Starting at the trailhead and parking area on Route 191 in a spruce-fir forest, the rocky trail becomes a narrow bog walk though a cedar swamp, then passes through maritime spruce-fir forest (significant because of its limited occurrence in coastal Maine) before reaching a bare, tundra-like headland, 100 feet high. Then, the Coastal Trail winds in and out of the forest and up and down steep knobs, which offer scenic views of Grand Manan Island and the Bay of Fundy. Log ladders provide access to cobble beaches.