The rugged coastlines draw the tourists in. The granite-topped mountains, spruce-fir forests, and lobster bakes endears them to this small, quiet island on the northern Maine coast. Covering just over 50,000 acres, Acadia National Park may be the 13th smallest national park, but its beauty draws over three million visitors each year making it the 5th most visited national park in the United States.
The massive number of visitors is what limited our visit here in 2021 to just one day. The fall colors were popping, and people were finally starting to travel again after too many months of ''staying put''. We did get to enjoy a bike ride on the carriage roads but were unsuccessful in securing a spot in the popular national park campgrounds.
So when we found ourselves in Maine once again equipped with my newly acquired ''Senior'' Park Pass, we knew that it was time to see more of what draws millions of visitors each year to Acadia National Park ... The crown jewel of the Maine coast.
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Here, like most national park campgrounds, you need to make a reservation on-line at least a day ahead of time, so these ''fly by the seat of your pants'' travelers had to do a little more pre-arrival planning than we're used to doing. Doug used the app ''Wandering Labs'' to find last minute cancellations at Blackwoods Campground in the heart of the park. While we ended up having four different sites during our five night stay, it was no problem for our nimble van to change locations every day. My national parks senior pass gave us half price camping as well as free admission to the park.
The number one draw of Acadia is the beauty of the rugged coastline that surrounds its location on Mount Desert Island. This national park, established in 1919, was the first one to be created entirely from private donations of land. Many conservation-minded philanthropists on the island wanted to see their beloved coastal paradise preserved for future generations to enjoy.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr was one of the generous individuals. After donating 11,000 acres of land, he funded and supervised the development of the 45 miles of broken-stone ''carriage roads'' that weave through the forests and around the lakes and mountains of the park. No matter how busy the main park roads are, one can always find beauty and solitude on these quiet paths that are only used by bicyclists, walkers, and passengers in an occasional horse-drawn carriage.
You can expect a sweet ride on the occasionally hilly gravel roads, except when you let Google Maps plan your route. We wanted to check out the famous Jordan Pond House restaurant, but we had heard that parking there was extremely limited. Doug ''asked Google'' and saw that we could park at the Day Mountain trailhead and bike the rest of the way. Google did find us a nice place to park, but we had to ''bushwhack'' a short distance up a rocky hiking trail in order to finally connect to the carriage road.
And then there was the minor detail of how to get up on that bridge from the carriage road ...
... but the blueberry lemonade and blueberry soda at Jordan Pond House hit the spot when we finally made it to our destination. And yes, while it would have been nice to try some of Acadia's famous popovers that are a specialty there, we realized that would have involved making reservations a few days in advance. Planning ahead is not one of our strong suits!
Miles of beautiful hiking trails is another reason outdoor enthusiasts are drawn to Acadia. During our five days in the park we were able to enjoy a few of the picturesque trails. One of our favorites was the Ocean Path Trail. From Blackwood Campground, it was an easy walk to the trailhead. The trail led us through the spruce-fir forest and alongside huge trees whose roots were wrapped around even larger boulders.
The majority of the trail followed the rocky coastline that treated us to beautiful ocean views.
Another fun hike was the Bar Island Land Bridge Trail, but this one involves coordinating your hike with the local tide schedule.
That's because access to the island from the city of Bar Harbor via the sand bar is only possible during the hour and a half before and after low tide ...
when unique sea treasures usually covered by ocean waters wait to be discovered.
Once on Bar Island, it's nice to enjoy a little solitude while looking across at Bar Harbor which is always buzzing with activity. But best pay attention to the time or else you'll miss your window of opportunity to cross back, and you'll ''enjoy'' eight more hours of solitude as you wait for the next low tide.
A trip up Cadillac Mountain, a must-do for all park visitors, is accomplished by either hiking or driving up. This is the most popular activity for visitors who want to see the views from the highest point on the United State's eastern seaboard, therefore, one must make a vehicle reservation to drive up the mountain during the busy summer/fall season. With our lack of advance planning skills, I thought that we would be out of luck, but happily, I was wrong. The very popular sunrise time slots do fill up quickly, but Doug was able to go online and reserve an entrance time to view sunset just the day before. There is a minimal fee ($6) to make the reservation.
Sunrise or sunset??
Both are spectacular when viewed from 1527 feet above the sea!
Doug tried a few local lobster shacks near the park, and his favorite was The Travelin' Lobster. We came back twice, despite the lines, for him to enjoy a lobster roll and the 1.5 pound lobster dinner. It's probably good for our budget that I'm not a lobster fan. It's nice to be able make something for myself in our van while he feasts of this ''filet mignon'' of the sea.
Like us, you are going to be drawn in by the crushing of the waves against the rocky shoreline at Acadia National Park.
- Enjoy rustic, forested campgrounds ... just secure the campground reservations at least a day, a week, or a few months ahead of time.
- Be the first to greet the sun on Cadillac Mountain ... just make your vehicle reservation ahead of time.
- Hike some beautiful trails ... just be prepared to share the views with a lot of other hikers.
- Bike the carriage roads ... just be ready for a few rolling hills and some occasional ''off roading''.
- Savor the taste of a warm popover with blueberry jam ... once again, just make your reservation at Jordan Pond House Restaurant ahead of time.
- Enjoy some delicious Maine lobster ... just be prepared for lines and have that credit card handy.
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Follow the call of the sea ... and enjoy all the beauty that Acadia National Park has to offer!
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