Acadia National Park Itinerary helps you plan 1-3 days in Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. The jam packed itinerary can also be spread out over more days. Acadia National Park is a wonderful place for families to explore the outdoors. The National Parks website is a wealth of information so if you are looking for specific information I recommend visiting their website. Planing a trip can be overwhelming and I hope to provide information to make planing easy and provide tips to make your trip go smoothly.
Tips
- Admission is $25 for one day or $55 for a year pass. A national parks pass for all national parks across the country for one year is $80 which I feel is the best option.
- Ordering your park pass online will assure you have it before you arrive and can enter the parks early before entrance booths are staffed. We did see signs allowing early morning parking which may be ticketed and required to pay the parking/admission fee by a set time. We were able to pick up our pass on arrival by 7pm the first day.
- Part of the park is one way only, some sites are better at high or low tide, the mornings (or all day) can be covered with fog. So planning can be tricky and flexibility is a must
- Our kids can pretty much handle 2 hikes in a row and at most 3 in a day. We kayaked along with 2 hikes one day and biked along with 2 hikes another day. We also added scenic stops into our itinerary.
- The Jr Rangers program is only held at select times. During Covid-19 restrictions they are offering booklets kids can fill out and submit for their badge. The booklets are available at the visitors center and is best to pick up at the beginning of your day due to the location.
- Due to covid the park is not operating their shuttles.
- We found that parking lots started to get busy or full around 10am. Also after 2:30pm things quieted down as well. If you can start your day early you may be able to get 2 popular places in before the crowds.
- While Driving up to Acadia National Park, stop at Reds Eats about an hour north of Portland for the best Lobster Rolls around. They are not over hyped and are amazing.
Accommodations
We Stayed at the Acadia Sunrise Motel. Its located in Trenton about 25min drive to Acadia National Park. It’s a great value as we paid around $130/nt including a kitchenette which we used daily. The motel has renovated rooms with super soft sheets. The heated pool was the main reason we chose this motel and it was perfect for evening swims. They also have a ship play ground, basketball hoop and fire pit. Bring smores kits for a fun evening of story telling by the fire. It also is next to a private airport so if you kids love airplanes they will love watching them take off and land.
1 or 2 Day Acadia National Park Itinerary
Day 1 is jam packed and designed in case you only have 1 day in Acadia National Park. If you do not get to everything you likely can make up for it the next day or so.
Day 1 Acadia National Park Itinerary:
8:30 am Visitors Center Junior Rangers Program
Stop at the visitors center at opening and pick up your junior rangers books. The children can work on the activities while your driving between stops.
9:30 am Bubble Rock Outlook Hike
This is an up hill hike as well as climbing over large rocks at one point. The end is a worth while photo op but also some nice views (if the weather is cooperative it wasn’t for us). I am scared of heights so I was a bit nervous around the boulder but our fairly non adventurous family did it.
11-12:30 Thunder Hole, Boulder Beach and Otter Cliffs Outlooks
Thunder Hole
Best to be seen midday between high and low tide. However you will still hear the thunder at other times as well. While there are some steps on the walk way to get down to the viewing platform this is not a hike and is an easy way to end a busy day.
Water rushing in to a carved cavern and when the wave smacks against the back it makes a loud thunder sound. Water can shoot very high so be prepared to be wet.
The path down is across the street from the parking lot
Location: Thunder Hole Parking lot Latitude 44.321011; Longitude -68.189330
Boulder Beach
Scenic photo opportunity beach covered with boulders as well as views of Otter Cliff
Otter Cliff Overlook
Some say the best view of the entire park. The path is across the street from the log
Location: Otter Cliff Parking Latitude 44.310803; Longitude -68.189828
12:30-1 pm Cadillac Summit
You can drive to Cadillac Summit. It’s an easy walk to viewing areas. We were out of luck as both days we visited were foggy especially in the higher elevations and we did not get a clear view.
Location: Cadillac Summit Parking lot.
It will take about 40 minutes to Drive from Cadillac Summit to Wonderland Trial. Timing this around low tide is ideal so that there are tidal pools to explore
2pm Wonderland Trail Hike and Exploration
Plan a visit here around low tide. This was our favorite hike and experience. If you do not have a second day here I would plan to do this in place of the kayak or bike ride but note it is out of the way at the western side of the park so I would skip the visitors center if you already have your park pass and head to this trail, then hit the visitors center when you come back up for the other experiences.
Location: Wonderland Trail
Bass Harbor Head Light House
If there’s time make a stop at the Bass Harbor Head light house before heading back to the the Visitors Center for your Junior Rangers Badges.
Before 4:30 pm Visitors Center Junior Rangers
You can turn your activities books in to any Park Rangers but if you do not run into any you can return to the Visitors Center, which we did, to receive a pin or badge.
Dinner
Head to Bar Harbor or Trenton for a Lobster Dinner. There’s many seafood restaurants to choose from. Driving toward Trenton the further away from Mt Dessert Island you the the cheaper the steamed lobster meals seem to get.
Day 2 Acadia National Park Itinerary :
8:30am Hike Gorham Mountain Trailhead
This is a 2 mile hike and is one of the most popular hiking trails due to its proximity to the coast.
Location: Gorham Mountain Trail
10:30 am Jordan Pond Kayak or Hike
If you have kayaks, canoe or other non-motorized boats, you can head out to Jordan Pond. The parking lot was busy on our return due to hiking trails in the area but we had the pond all to ourselves. Its very calm and crystal clear. The pond is very large so for us we just stayed around 1/4 of the area. If not you can head out on the hiking trail around the lake the entrance is to the right of the boat launch area.
We often eat our lunch or snacks while kayaking or you can eat while driving to your next stop.
Location: Jordan Pond Parking
1:00 pm Eagle Lake Bike Ride
The Bike Ride around Eagle Lake is challenging. We only made it about 1/3 of the way before we needed to turn around as our youngest was tired. It was our first time riding on a dirty/stone path and lots of large hills. On our return we saw several groups with rented motor bikes so that’s another option.
Location: Eagle Lake Bridge
3pm Sand Beach
If you still have some energy to burn head to Sand Beach. Just be prepared for chilly waters and waves.
Dinner
If you looking for a break from seafood, check out one of the BBQ Joints in Trenton this evening .
Bar Harbor 1 Day Itinerary or Day 3 Acadia National Park Itinerary
Bar Island Trail
A natural Bridge path connections Bar Harbor to Bar Island, called Bar Island Pathway.. It is only accessible about 2 hours before and 2 hours after low tide. Make sure to keep track of time as you could become stranded and a taxi is a whopping $50 ride back and requires a phone call and long wait time. The kids enjoy walking the pathway there and looking for sea life. We mostly found crab parts. When you arrive at the island there is an island path you can take.
Location: Bridge St and West St (street parking on West)
Lunch and Walking Around Bar Harbor
Bar Harbor is full of little shops you can explore including toy stores. Grab an out door table at a restaurant to enjoy lunch. We ate at Galyn’s Restaurant. The food was very good while portions a bit small for the price.
Enjoy lunch and ice cream in Bar Harbor and check out some local shops.
Timber Tina’s Lumberjack Show and Experience
Spend the Afternoon Watching the Timber Tina Lumberjack show and participating in the Lumberjack experience. It was the highlight of our trip. You can read all about it in my review.
Summary
This Acadia National Park Itinerary can easily be adjusted to fit your families needs. If you only have 1 day in Acadia national park, the 1 day packs in all the highlights. These itineraries are jammed packed and can easily be cut pack to cover a week while enjoying more of the national park, relaxing pool side at your accommodations or enjoying other location experiences.
Our Children spent both evenings swimming in the heated pool at Acadia Sunrise motel. We also enjoyed smores (we brought) over the fire pit and Ship playground. The inside of the rooms looked recently renovated and came with kitchenettes. our room seemed to have an adjoining room which would accommodate larger families.
These were mostly highlights of Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. There’s so much to do you could easily fill a week or more.
This is such a great itinerary for Acadia National Park! Saved for later.
I love everything about this itinerary! We love being out in nature, and I am so glad to see all of the things that the Acadia National Park has to offer! Nice! 🙂