After experiencing the beauty of Acadia National Park you’ll wonder why you didn’t visit sooner. The rocky coastline, crystal clear lakes, pine-filled forests and fresh seafood make this a perfect vacation destination. There are many things to do in and around the park, and for my first visit I wanted to try a variety of adventures and I loved them all. I hope my recommendations will help you have a truly fantastic visit to the park.
Start planning your trip by visiting my Resources page to book your flight, rental car and hotel. I also provide recommendations for outfitting yourself and providing the most useful apps for mapping hikes and finding healthy restaurants. My post about where to stay and eat in Acadia provides more specifics so you have less planning and more enjoying to do!
Acadia National Park is located on Mt. Desert Island and the Park Loop Road provides access to the most popular activities and attractions. As with many national parks, you’ll do a fair amount of driving but the best way to see the park is on foot or on the water.
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Beehive Trail
This short hike is one a very popular and is one of Acadia’s “iron rung” hikes. This means you’ll be climbing steep rock faces and using ladder-like rungs to help you. The views are fantastic and as you climb you’ll have a perfect view of Sand Beach and Frenchman Bay. It’s a super fun hike as long as you’re not afraid of heights. Also, the trail is quite rocky so you’ll need to be steady on your feet to enjoy it.
Access the trail by parking in the Sand Beach parking lot or on the side of the Park Loop Road and look for the Bowl Trailhead across the street from the Sand Beach parking lot. You’ll soon come to an intersection with the Beehive Cliffs Trail requiring a right turn to the Beehive. If you prefer you can continue straight to the Bowl Trail and take thealternate route to the Beehive summit. This route doesn’t involve iron rungs but is still fairly steep and rocky.
Climbing down the iron rungs is definitely not a good idea, which is why you’ll descend on the opposite side of the Beehive. From the summit, follow signs to the Bowl Trail for a short but worthwhile detour that brings you to a serene pond (The Bowl) where you can rest, enjoy your lunch and cool your feet in the pond. As you leave the Bowl follow the trail markers back to Sand Beach and the Park Loop Road. Round trip is about 2 miles.
Ocean Path and Thunder Hole
This 2.1 mile walking path along the rocky shoreline starts at Sand Beach so it’s convenient to combo this with the Beehive Trail. Or create a large loop by starting with the Beehive, joining the Gorham Mountain Trail on the descent and walk the Ocean Path back to the Beehive trailhead.
Ocean winds along the coast for fantastic views of the Gulf of Maine, plus it brings you to Thunder Hole, Otter Cliff and Otter Point. You’ll likely see rock climbers at Otter Cliff, as it’s a popular spot for rock climbing tours. You can book rock climbing tours and lessons in Bar Harbor. Check out Acadia Mountain Guides. I didn’t have time to try this but it looks like a great introduction to rock climbing.
If you want to see Thunder Hole make sure you time it right. Ideally, you want to be there two hours before high tide in order to see the water crash into the “hole”. It was about four hours before high tide the first time I went to Thunder Hole and there was nothing special to see. I timed it right the second time around and it made a huge difference! The waves were crashing into the hole, with a few splashing the onlooking crowd. Thunder Hole is more impressive if there’s a storm at sea. It’s not unheard of for the water to rush in with enough force to crash over the Park Loop Road.
Cadillac Mountain
Perhaps the most well-known and visited spot in Acadia National Park, Cadillac Mountain is the park’s highest peak and offers panoramic views of Frenchman Bay and the Porcupine Islands. Fun fact- Maine has over 4,000 islands!
I was running out of time on my visit to see Cadillac Mountain so I had to drive instead of hike to the summit but the road to the summit offers incredible views of Mount Desert Island. Hiking options include the Cadillac North Ridge Trail and Cadillac South Ridge Trail. The North Ridge trailhead is nearby the Park Loop Road and there is a small parking area. Combine the North and South Ridge Trails for a large loop by starting with the North Ridge and using the South Ridge for your descent. Take the Island Explorer bus back to the North Ridge trailhead to complete the loop.
Watching the sunrise at Cadillac Mountain’s summit is extremely popular, and if you decide take part, be sure to allow enough travel time. By car from Bar Harbor it will take about 25-30 minutes to reach the summit, and it’s light by 4:30 AM.
Shore Path
After lunch or dinner in Bar Harbor, help all the delicious food in your belly settle with a walk along Shore Path. Accessed via Agamont Park in Bar Harbor, this approximately mile long path offers striking views of Frenchman Bay and the Porcupine Islands.
Bike the Carriage Roads
The carriage roads were my favorite part of Acadia National Park. You can explore the park at your own pace, away from all the cars on the Park Loop Road, and not have to worry about finding a place to park if you want to see the popular attractions. I have my own bike, but if you need to rent one there are multiple places in Bar Harbor to do so.
There are about 45 miles of interconnected trails on packed gravel, and I suggest choosing one or two loops to start with, depending on your fitness level and desired pace. I rode two of the most popular, Eagle Lake and Jordan Pond, for an approximately twelve mile ride. Many people start at Eagle Lake and ride counterclockwise, so if you want a less crowded ride start off clockwise toward Bubble Pond.
Many people will tell you the carriage roads are fairly flat, making them an easy ride. Just remember, despite the fairly low elevation, you’re in a mountainous region, so there are quite a few low grade hills. Several of the hills on the Eagle Lake and Jordan Pond trails seemed to stretch on forever! The longest and steepest one I encountered runs along the west side of Jordan Pond. If you ride counterclockwise around Jordan Pond you’ll ride down this hill and enjoy sweeping views of the pond as you descend towards the main Jordan Pond viewing area and Jordan Pond House. I of course learned this the hard way since I went clockwise around the trail.
If you’ve read anything about Acadia National Park you’ve probably read about the popovers at Jordan Pond House. I can attest they are as good as everyone says! Add a little butter to the warm popovers and you’ll be eating the second one before you know it. The restaurant opens at 11AM, so if you get an early start to your bike ride this is a good spot for a break. I arrived just before 11:00 and, based on the number of people waiting to get in, I thought the wait for a table wouldn’t be worth it, but I only had to wait five minutes for popover goodness. To reach the restaurant, look for the short path near trail marker 15.
Kayak Western Bay
I loved my kayak tour on the west side of Mt. Desert Island. Taking a break from the crowds of Acadia and Bar Harbor was a nice change of pace. I booked my tour with National Park Sea Kayak because of the great reviews and their commitment to small groups. The ride to Western Bay from Bar Harbor was about twenty minutes in a comfortable, air conditioned van. Paddlers were paired up and given a two person kayak but since I was the “odd man out” I had a single.
Our guide promised we would see plenty of wildlife during our 2.5-3 hour paddle and he delivered big time on his promise! About 15-20 minutes into our paddle we came upon seals sunning themselves, and since it was mating season the males were putting on quite a show for the females. We also saw a couple of bald eagles watching over their nest and were lucky enough to see the “baby” pop its head out of the nest. The most incredible experience of the trip was being surrounded by Harbor Porpoises. We sat quietly in our kayaks while these shy, non-threatening mammals swam around, continually breaching close enough to hear the air escaping their blow holes. It was definitely unique to experience this and our guide, who was as enthralled as the rest of us, said it was the best porpoise sighting of the season.
As you can imagine, the splendor and beauty of the Maine coast is on full display at Acadia National Park so hop in your car or book your plane ticket today!
Bonus Tips
- If you’re looking to extend the Beehive Trail hike, look for the trail marker pointing to Gorham Mountain as you descend. The Beehive/Gorham loop is about 3.5 miles and from the Gorham trailhead you can walk the Ocean Path back to where you started at the Beehive trailhead.
Little Hunters Beach - Read up on DownEast Magazine’s guide to visiting Maine’s islands if you want to explore those further.
- As you drive the Park Loop Road take it slow and look for the scenic spots many people skip. Little Hunter’s Beach is one such spot that is quiet and peaceful. Be on the lookout for this small rocky beach below the road and a short distance from Otter Point. There isn’t a sign but you can see the staircase from the road if you look carefully.
