Acadia National Park

One of the must see places to visit if you make it out to Mt Desert Island. Tons of trails, lots to see, and plenty of places to stop and take scenic pictures you can send to family and friends and say, "look how beautiful it is here".

The busiest time to visit is summer but the warm weather and bustling towns on Bar Harbor and Southwest harbor are hard to beat.

If you're looking for less people and cooler climates, come visit during fall when the trees showcase the most stunning kaleidoscope of vibrant orange red and yellow colors that can only be described as a quintessential New England fall vibes.

If you're looking for even less people and can stomach a Maine winter, come during winter where you can experience the majestic beauty of Acadia Park gently blanketed in a fluffy layer of pure white snow.

I love Acadia because it offers such a good mix of things to do for beginners to people who really want to hike.

There's a free walking trail outside of the park where you can see the park.

And going into the park - it's beautiful. The driving tour part is such a good add on and there are actual places to quickly stop and park and take a quick picture. We went during peak fall foliage is it was breaktaking.

What I also love is that most national parks are in the middle of nowhere and there's not much to do around it, but Bar Harbor is such a fun place to be for those who want to shop, go sightseeing, and get souvenirs.

Housing wise, we chose not to stay at Bar Harbor because it's pricier, but would highly recommend looking early because there are very limited options at peak season.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

Acadia is beautiful but...if you want to camp in it...make sure you reserve eons a head of time.

That's my biggest complaint about this park: I don't know how the average family can afford to come here for a getaway. Your options are reserve camping WAAAAAAY ahead of time, or stay in pricey hotels at the nearby hotel.

This is a problem with many National Parks now, to be fair, but many in the west at least have BLM lands or National Forests nearby where free or cheap camping is available. Not here. The psuedo-urban/developed areas all-around the park largely prevent that. Here, I'll find private campgrounds that charge you $40-$50 for a plot of dirt to put a tent on. Absolutely insane!

OK, rant over!

This is a beautiful park, and I'm glad New England has something like this. There just aren't enough public lands in this part of the country.

The trails here are very scenic and very well-graded. The park maps are intuitive and include lots of relevant info. Definitely hit the Beehive trail! Yes, it will be crowded, but it's short and steep and has fantastic views!

This park is a lot smaller than I was expect, so a lot of it can probably be seen in a really long summer day.

Beautiful! This park lives up to the reviews. It's vistas are vast and bright. The park has many trails to offer and it's very easy to navigate. If your a National park enthusiast I recommend an annual pass. This allows entry to all parks in the country.

If you want to go to Cadillac mountain in the park you'll need an additional pass. And I recommend you do this in advance of your visit. The rangers at the visitors center were helpful and very nice.

The Jordan Pond trail is gorgeous. This loops around the lake and is an easy hike.
We also visited the Acadia garden center which is run by volunteers. They have an array of botanicals and it's a zen place to chill. There are many trails to explore and the park is relaxing well maintained.

All in all, Acadia national park is a must visit if planning to be in Maine.

We only had a few hours to explore Acadia while our cruise ship was docked in Bar Harbor. Lucky us, it was a gorgeous day!

We checked out sand harbor, otter point, and thunder hole just by taking the shuttle to sand harbor and walking along the ocean path trail. The views are breathtaking!

Make reservations at Jordan Pond for their notorious popovers and request a seat outdoors if the weather is nice. We loved the lobster popover! Our best National Park meal yet!

Finally, use the free shuttle! Parking looked ridiculous on both sides of the one way road everywhere. We initially rented two cars (there were 8 of us) at the Trenton airport and quickly realized that a cab (there's only 4-5 cabs TOTAL in Bar Harbor) and Uber (basically non-existent) wasn't going to happen.

Acadia National Park is one of the most popular outdoor destinations in New England to visit for fall with scenic drives, short but thrilling hiking trails, and breathtaking views. Acadia National Park is packed with scenic drives, short but thrilling hiking trails, and breathtaking views.

this national park protects the rocky coastline in Maine, the tallest mountain on the Atlantic coast of the United States can be found here.

There are three main regions of Acadia National Park. Mount Desert Island (MDI), Schoodic Peninsula (north), and Isle au Haut(south). course MDI wheres all the actions are...

for people like me, there are many short, easy strolls, hike Ocean Path or the loop trail around Jordan Pond. The Cadillac Summit Loop Trail is a short, easy hike on Cadillac Mountain that offers some of the best views in the park.

Of ofcourse The best time to visit Acadia National Park is fall.

Fact: it includes 158 miles of hiking trails. This tiny but mighty park gets 3.5 million visitors a year making it one of the top 10 most visited National Parks in the US.

Fee: A vehicle pass costs $30 and is valid for 7 days. If you plan to drive the Cadillac Summit Road (which most people do), you will also need to reserve a separate entrance ticket for this road which costs $6.

Words are just not available that I could type to describe how soul filling this spot on Earth is and can be! It is a national treasure, without doubt!

Be it Cadillac Mountain on a clear nearly warm sunny day with the most breath taking views (the highest spot on the US Eastern Seaboard) of a glaciated coastal and island landscape or the fact it is the first place on the Continental US to see the rising sun. (A tip - take your first trip by a tour bus. Passes up to the summit are limited and a tour bus makes it simple. Reservations are limited up to 90 days out.) Some love the hike up to the summit to see the sun rise! It's just 1100 feet or so up!

Be it the Thunder Hole, where crashing waves crush the water and air against the rocks to make a thundering clap! (A tip - be mindful to hold on tightly to kids and be very mindful of rogue waves that may cause the spray to reach over 100' tall.)

Be it the amazing scenery and the fact that for a while, automobiles were not allowed.

This is a destination to plan for and see! See it in the late fall and you can catch the New England color change!

Absolutely breathtaking. Lots of trail choices. Easy to hard.

4 hours up to the mountain top.

Park for free on street and walk.

It can be muddy, so dress accordingly.

Absolutely stunning!! The views, the serenity, the joy in hiking and viewing mother nature. Many hiking or bike trails with routes leading you. The Acadia National Park is a beautiful place to unplug and getaway, with no cell service as a Verizon user, you will truly feel like you have escaped. The air is crisp and everything around you is breath-taking.

Because I heard about Acadia National Park being so amazing and one of the busiest NP, I had high expectations that were unfortunately not met. Being from CA, there's Yosemite, Kings Canyon/Sequoia, Lassen Volcanic with big WOW factors and Acadia missed the mark in so many ways. Understandably, mother nature plays a factor in our experience, but we missed so many marks: the sunset and stargazing at Cadillac Mountain was lackluster at best, the wildlife viewing was nonexistent, Thunder Hole was a bust, walking to Bar Island was a snooze, Sand Beach was a beach (plenty of those in CA) and camping inside the park at Blackwoods Campground meant you had to drive outside the park to pay for a $3 shower in quarters for only 4 minutes. If you do the math, that's 12 quarters people.
What did I enjoy?
Hiking to Bubble Rock was challenging. Apparently the NP cut the shuttle to the top forcing people to hike up a half mile vertically after getting to the base which is 2 miles around half of Jordan Pond. After arriving at the top, the views are breathtaking, but there are no signs to continue to Bubble Rock. You just have to know to continue forward and hopefully find it. Luckily, we found it and took some fun photos. Camping outside the park at Bar Harbor Campground was a much more enjoyable experience with amenities like 25¢ showers for 5 minutes, a dishwashing station, a pool with a view, free shuttle from the campground to the NP, and Travelin' Lobster a 10-15 minute drive away.
While I liked Acadia NP, there were several logistics to overcome in order to camp across the country only to find the experience just ok.