Acadia National Park

 


Takes a lot of planning to visit this park. First you have to find a campground then you have to order tickets to get a timed entry for some of the popular spots in the park. 

For the campground we chose a place in Trenton, ME.  It is the last town before you head onto Mount Desert Island, the largest island in Maine - the home of Acadia.  We had an okay spot in our campground, but some of the spots are actually on the water and you can watch the tides come and go. At low tide you can actually go out and gather clams.  those on the water spots are awesome.  Below are some photos from the spots on the water.







The map of Acadia shows you the two primary sections of the park. 


Most visitors concentrate on the areas near Bar Harbor. There is a one way loop that you can drive that takes you around the perimeter of the island on the east side. The drive up Cadillac Mountain is a separate spur that requires a timed entry pass. The most popular time to drive to the top is sunrise as this is the first place to see the sunrise on the east coast as Maine sits farther east than any state. Sunrise was too early for us so we chose 8:30 am. You have to get tickets on Recreation.gov way in advance. If you wait til you arrive in Maine you won’t get in. Senior pass does get you in for free but you still have to order the timed entry ticket. We got into the park no problem and drove to the Cadillac Mountain spur. We were early and tried to enter early but they are sticklers. You can get in 1/2 hour early or up to 1/2 hour after your entry time but no more. Real issue is with the parking at the top.  There’s lots to explore so people park and then stay. 

We spent a couple of hours up there hiking around the rocks.  We also went on a quest to find the marker for the highest point 1,530 feet.  We found it. 













Spent the day driving the loop through Acadia taking in some of the natural beauty of the area.  Had a hard time trying to make it to Jordon Pond House where they serve tea and popovers every afternoon.  There were no spots to be had in any of the area parking lots— next time. This is the same area where the roads where no cars are allowed are open to cyclists, hikers, horses and dogs.  The land for most of Acadia was donated by the wealthy families that had homes here, e.g., Rockefeller, who insisted  the “carriage paths” remain auto free.



















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