Acadia National Park

Visited: June 2017

Nearby town: Bar Harbor, ME

"Some days, walking Acadian summits, soaking up the informed silence of these mountains, you'll want to bow to everything you see."

-Christopher Camuto, from "Time and Tide in Acadia"

The first National Park east of the Mississippi River is an utter delight. Acadia National Park is a brilliant showcase of the beauty of New England: sloping and graceful granite mountains, craggy cliffs spilling into the ocean, thick green forests, and of course, scenic lighthouses. Most of the park lies on Mount Desert Island, the second largest island off the U.S. Atlantic seaboard, behind Long Island.

Mount Desert Island had long been a summer playground for the uber wealthy. Leaders of the community, including John D. Rockefeller and George B. Dorr, began to really appreciate the beauty of the area and wished to preserve this natural wonder as the rest of the landscape changed during the Industrial Revolution. They and other citizens of Bar Harbor's "Millionaires' Row" decided to privately donate land they owned on Mount Desert Island to the newly established National Park Service. Acadia became the first National Park created entirely from private donations.

Acadia National Park is divided into 3 regions: (1) Mount Desert Island - the large majority of the park covers nearly half of the island, (2) Isle au Haut - a small island accessed only by ferry that is interspersed with national park land and private land, and (3) Schoodic Peninsula - the only part of the park on the mainland.

Our stay started on the main feature of the park, Mount Desert Island. This large island has a year-round population of over 10,000 people, and handles nearly 2.5 million tourists and visitors to the park every year, almost all of them arriving in the summer. This island is divided into two long peninsulas by the Somes Sound, which some geographers characterize as a fjord, the only fjord on our East Coast. We visited the western arm of Mount Desert Island first to take the short hike to the top of Acadia Mountain. Acadia Mountain stands 681 ft and only about a mile long hike.

It's all uphill, but not too strenuous. A pleasant stroll through the forest.

At the top, we were rewarded with outstanding views of the Somes Sound.

At the southern tip of Mount Desert Island's western peninsula you'll find the beautiful Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.

The lighthouse keeper's home

We then stopped at Echo Lake. You can go swimming here, paddling is also available.

The next day we got an early start to hit the eastern peninsula of Mount Desert Island. This is the most visited part of the Park. The must-do is to take the scenic 27 mile Park Loop Road. During the busiest season (July - September) there is a shuttle bus that runs along the road stopping at all the main spots. The other must-do is one of the adventure hikes, (1) The Precipice or (2) the Beehive. The Precipice was closed due to peregrine falcon nesting. So, we hiked The Beehive. At only 520 ft and loop trail only 2 miles, it doesn't sound too bad, but it's pretty precarious. The trail is not for small children or those who are afraid of heights. The climb up the Beehive is literally that, it's straight up. There are a number of iron rungs and ladders to ascend the rocky face. There are also some very narrow parts of the trail with very steep drop-offs. It was a little hair-raising, but very exciting and fun. And absolutely gorgeous. It was a highlight of the trip. The precarious part going up is one-way, and the descent is down the west side of the mountain which is much easier and no craziness. 😊 So if you're too afraid to take the hike you can still get to the top of the Beehive from the back way.

Yep. That's the trail you'll be going up.

overlooking Sandy Beach

a little scary along the edge here

they have these iron rungs here to help you up the mountain

Don't look down!

This part freaked me out a little bit 😊 but, just keep going and think to yourself "I don't have to go down this way"

overlooking Frenchman Bay and the Porcupine Islands

The lighthouse on Egg Rock

After we got down, we could see a lot more people making the climb on the trail

The Beehive from the parking lot at Sand Beach

The parking lot for the Beehive is also the same lot for Sand Beach. Spend some time here, there is plenty of easy hiking along the coast or if you're brave, go for a swim! The water was incredibly cold!

Make sure to stop at Thunder Hole and Otter Point. If the weather is kind of stormy and as the tide rolls in, Thunder Hole can provide some very dramatic views as the waves slam into these rocks. We didn't see anything too crazy, the sea was pretty calm. But still worth a visit.

The next stop is Jordan Pond. Here you will find the famous Jordan Pond House Restaurant, which is famous for its popovers, a delightful pastry that is New England's answer to old England's Yorkshire pudding. It's a bit pricey and touristy, but very delicious. Make sure to walk around the pond for great views of two small hills, The North and South Bubble (you can climb to the top of these after a short hike), and also hike or bike the carriage roads. These carriage roads are very unique, constructed by John Rockefeller between 1913 to 1940 and are designated only for use by horse-drawn carriages, bicycle or foot traffic. If you have time, you can arrange a horse ride or rent a bike. We walked around the carriage roads for a while and saw some of the attractive bridges.

Jordan Pond, North and South Bubble

Eagle Lake

Our last stop on the Park Loop Road was the top of Cadillac Mountain. At an elevation of 1,530 ft, it's the highest peak on the Atlantic seaboard. The views up here were spectacular.

Frenchman Bay and the town of Bar Harbor

Although not in the park boundaries, Bar Harbor is a beautiful town that should not be missed. Make sure to eat plenty of lobster (or as the locals call it...lob-stah!) It is so good and fresh here, it will blow you away. We also took a sunset cruise on an old four-masted schooner, the Margaret Todd.

We also took a boat tour to Little Cranberry Island to the see the tiny picturesque town of Islesford (pop. 65). As we traveled along the shore, we saw all the summer mansions of Mount Desert Island, ironically referred to as "cottages"...cottages indeed.

We stopped on the shore of Cranberry Island for about an hour to check out the town.

Bald Eagle on top of the house and Bear Island Lighthouse

One of the highlights is to see the sunrise while on top of Cadillac Mountain. The top of the mountain sees the first rays of the sun in the entire United States. We woke up at around 4:00 in the morning (it's so far east in its time zone that it's a very early sunrise in the summer). There were a lot of clouds so it wasn't quite as brilliant as it usually is. 😊

On our way back to Boston, we stopped for a short stay at the Schoodic Peninsula on the mainland.

We loved our time at Acadia. It is one of the greatest national parks we have been to. The scenery is spectacular, the hikes were adventurous, and the lob-stah was delicious! For more info: https://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm