After 2 days in Portland and beginning at noon we drove up the 3 hours towards Acadia National Park, a 47,000-acre situated primarily on Maine’s Mount Desert Island.
About a 20 minutes’ drive north of Portland, we stopped for a quick lunch at the “Famous L.L. Bean Boot.”
At around 3pm and before reaching the outskirts of Acadia, we took a 45 minute detour to the southwest point for a photogenic shot of 19th century The Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.
Nobody tells you this but after a 5 minute hike from the parking lot and down a flight of wooden stairs, you need to also venture onto the precarious rocks to get the viewpoint everyone raves about.
We then headed into Acadia proper on Mount Desert Island where by 4pm we showed our park pass (which you can purchase beforehand online) at the gate and continued onto the summit of Cadillac Mountain.
This is the highest peak in the Northeast and the first place to view sunrise in the United States from October 7 through March 6.
From the parking lot you can take an easy scenic half-mile hike around the summit.
You can also easily detour out from the summit loop for adjacent hikes.
Then we drove back from the summit onto the scenic drive along the 27 mile long Park Loop Road.
Jutting out from this road are also countless non-vehicular carriage paths that you can detour off for bike and horseback rides.
Midway through the loop we parked at Jordan Pond House Restaurant, a historic place to stop for tea and lunch in Acadia.
And from there you can hike the serene 3.5 miles around Jordan Pond, which took us about 1-2 hours the next morning.
Back on Park Loop Road and on our way from Jordan Pond we then stopped at Thunder Hole, a natural rock inlet which physics cause waves to crash with the sound of thunder.
There are times posted everyday when to show up for the biggest and loudest-sounding waves.
After a full loop around Acadia with its numerous detours, we finally checked in at our lodgings at Atlantic Eyrie Lodge, located in the quaint bayside town of Bar Harbor.
Just walking here and you can get a feel for the small town vibes that have been emblematic of the New England character. It’s also a wonderful place for sunset….
…and for moonrise.
- At time of posting in Acadia National Park, it was 16 °C - Humidity: 96% | Wind Speed: 10km/hr | Cloud Cover: cloudy