ACADIA
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK TRAVEL GUIDE | After 11 years in New England, how is it that I have just now traveled up to Acadia National Park to adventure? I have no idea where my head has been all these years that I haven’t taken the time to visit this incredible destination…but golly did it live up to the expectations! It is New England’s response to the Pacific North West. Rugged coastlines, endless hiking trails, beautiful lighthouses…all recipes for the perfect adventure!
My good friend, Michelle, and I had been talking about going for a while, but once we decided on it for sure, the trip was all very last minute. We chose to camp, and it took me a couple days to actually find a campsite with availability at this time of year.
Eventually we found one place that still had availability, and let me tell you, we scored! Quietside Campground could not have been more charming. They had several unique and adorable cabins on site, each one different, with window boxes full of flowers. The tent sites were beautiful, each with its own platform, picnic table, and fire pit.
The primary purpose of our trip was to be outdoors, exploring, and hiking. We took this idea and ran with it.
We hiked the Ship Harbor trail, a coastal trail near out campsite. There we skipped rocks and watched the most beautiful barrel waves crashing all around us as we stood out on the furthest point of Ship Harbor.
At Schooner Head Overlook, just south of Bar Harbor, we explored a tidal cave. The Anemone Cave sits just below the trail, which means you have to do a lot of rock scrambling to get down to it. It is only accessible at low tide, so plan accordingly! We thoroughly enjoyed exploring it!
After the Anemone Cave we drove the terrific park loop drive to Jordan Pond. Starting at the Jordan Pond house, a lovely restaurant overlooking the pond that is famous for its popovers, is the Jordan Pond trail. It is a 3 mile loop that takes your around the pond, mostly on a beautiful boardwalk!
We times everything so that we would get to the Beehive Trail at around 5 o’clock. The Beehive was my absolute favorite! Basically it is a cliff face with a series of traverses and iron rungs drilled into the rock that you have to climb all the way to the top…about 500 feet in all. It was the biggest adventure, and nothing could beat the down toward the crystal clear waters of Sand Beach, and out to the open ocean.
Our last morning we packed up camp, and then drove back into the park to go around the Park Loop drive once again, stopping wherever we wanted to admire the views all around us.
It was a fantastic trip, and I can’t wait to go back to Acadia!
HELPFUL LINKS:
TIPS:
- The Beehive trail is SUPER popular, i.e. very busy. I highly recommend a 5 o’clock (p.m.) hike. At noon there were cars parked a mile out from the trailhead, and a line of people snaking up the mountain. At 5, we were one of five groups at the top of the mountain. LATER is BETTER!
- Most of what there is to do/see in the park is on the Park Loop. The Park loop is a ONE WAY loop, so plan the things you want to do IN ORDER, or else you will be forced to keep looped 20-30 minutes around each time you want to go back and do something. (you could walk back and forth, but they are a bit spread out)
- SLIDESHOW -
