Get ready to explore the only national park on the northeast coast of the United States: Acadia National Park! And that’s just one of the many things that makes Acadia so special.

This national park is quite diverse, from its jagged cliffs, granite shores along the Atlantic Ocean, coves, and inlets…to its ponds, lakes, wetlands, forests, and mountains.

All of which contribute to an array of interconnected ecosystems that make Acadia unique. It's also quintessential New England, from the lobster fishing boats to the towns and villages in and surrounding Acadia.

Explore Acadia with Shaka Guide

With Shaka Guide, you’ll explore Acadia National Park at your own pace. Our tour is a can’t-miss list of the best things to see and do, but with our app, you can stop and go as you please. It’s your day and your adventure. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

With 34 stops and 109 narration points, our Acadia National Park tour will take a day or two to complete but can go much longer depending on how many hikes you take and how much time you spend exploring the park's beauty.

Don’t forget, you can get out of your car anywhere you’d like along the way if there’s something you want to see up close or photograph.

It’s a good idea to enter the park at daybreak in order to experience not only sunrise over the ocean (or from atop Cadillac Mountain), but to access of the other popular spots on this tour.

Plus, you'll beat the crowds and have better chances of finding parking if you arrive early!

Itinerary

1. Hulls Cove Visitor Center

NPS Photo by Michelle Read

• Duration: 30 min

Acadia National Park & The Hulls Cove Visitor Center, where you purchase park tickets and get maps.

2. Frenchman Bay/ Gulf of Maine Overlook

Image from Flickr by Jim Lukach

• Duration: 5 min

Your first overlook after entering the park, high above the Gulf of Maine and the Atlantic Ocean.

3. Sieur de Monts Nature Center and Wild Gardens

NPS Photo/Kent Miller

• Duration: 30 min

An exhibit center for park nature and science, plus Wild Gardens and trails like Jesup Path, on the site of Acadia's origin.

4. Champlain Mountain View Overlook

• Duration: 5 min

Another view from afar showing you how high up you still are above Bar Harbor and the ocean, before you get closer to sea level.

5. Schooner Head Overlook

• Duration: 10 min

A larger, still elevated overlook area with a vista of the sea.

6. Great Head Trail

• Duration: 1 hour

This is a popular, two-mile round-trip, moderate loop hike high above the ocean and Sand Beach.

7. Sand Beach & Ocean Path

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• Duration: 1 hour

From the Sand Beach parking lot, head down to the sandy beachfront, or walk up to the Ocean Path and walk parallel to the road and coastline all the way to Otter Point. It's 2.2 miles or 4.4 miles round trip.

8. Thunder Hole

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• Duration: 1 hour

This is a small inlet, naturally carved out of the rocks, where the waves roll in. At the end of the inlet, down low, is a small cavern where, when the rush of the wave arrives, air and water are forced out like a clap of thunder, with splashes as high as 40 feet to accompany the thunderous roar.

9. Otter Cliffs Overlook

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• Duration: 5 min

These cliffs rise a hundred feet above the coast and are a popular rock-climbing spot over the ocean.

10. Otter Point Overlook

NPS / Victoria Stauffenberg

• Duration: 5 min

This is the very southern tip of the peninsula, and the other end of the Ocean Path that began back at Sand Beach. The view from here is one of the most spectacular sights along the North Atlantic seaboard.

11. Otter Cove Bridge

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• Duration: 30 min

This is where the road curves around the inlet known as Otter Cove, featuring a one-of-a-kind stone bridge. The inlet leads to a creek on the other side. This cove is a great place for tidepooling!

12. Wildwood Stables

• Duration: 15 min - 2 hours

A giant barn holds stables for enormous, strong horses that pull carriages up and down some of the historic carriage roads of Acadia, just as they've done since the days of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who began building them in 1913.

13. Jordan Pond and House

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• Duration: 30 min - 2 hours

This pond is more like a lake. It covers 187 acres with an iconic view of the Bubbles Mountains. Jordan Pond House is a historic house...and home to an iconic tradition at Acadia...the baking of hot, piping popover rolls that remains one of the most popular reasons that folks flock to Acadia!

14. The Bubbles & Bubble Rock

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• Duration: 1 hour

Bubble Rock is a gigantic boulder hanging off the side of South Bubble Mountain. To get to it, hike the Bubbles Divide Trail. This is a short, easy-to-moderate hike, only about a mile long, with a total elevation gain of 608 feet. Plus some boulder scrambling at the end if you want to get really close to the rock. Hike the Bubbles Divide Trail to South Bubble, following signs to Bubble Rock. Just keep left the whole way up the trail.

15. Cadillac Mountain

NPS / Victoria Stauffenberg

• Duration: 1 hour

Cadillac Mountain rises 1,528 feet above sea level. That makes it the highest mountain in Acadia and on Mount Desert Island. It's also the highest point along the entire east coast of the United States. You can drive up to the summit for breathtaking views of Bar Harbor, Frenchman Bay, and the Porcupine Islands.

16. Somesville Bridge and Museum

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• Duration: 30 min

This is one of the most photographed bridges in all of Maine, with a graceful arch reflected by the waters of Somes Creek, framed by nature for a picturesque and charming view. It's nicknamed the Monet Bridge after the French artist because it's as pretty as one of his paintings. There's also a small museum on-site in case you want to peruse the history of Mount Desert Island.

17. Echo Lake Beach

Image from Flickr by Christian Collins

• Duration: 30 min

With a sandy beach on its south shore, Echo Lake is a gorgeous little lake on the western side of Mount Desert Island just south of Somesville and part of Acadia. It makes for a nice swimming hole in summer, and voices tend to echo off the surrounding mountainous granite rocks.

18. Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

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• Duration: 45 min

Built of brick in 1858 on a stone foundation, this lighthouse stands 56 feet above the high watermark. It's the most famous lighthouse in Acadia. It's the only lighthouse on Mount Desert Island and one of the most recognized and photographed in the United States.

19. Ship Harbor Trail

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• Duration: 1 hour

This is an easy 1.3-mile figure-eight loop along the forest floor off Seawall Road near the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, with stunning coastline views.

20. The Wonderland Trail

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• Duration: 1 hour

This is an easy 1.4-mile round trip hike to the ocean along Seawall Road near Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.

21. Seawall Picnic Area

• Duration: 30 min

This is a picnic area with a parking lot where you can stop and take in an up-close view of the ocean.

22. Rhoads Butterfly Garden

• Duration: 45 min

This butterfly garden at Charlotte Rhoades Park gives visitors a chance to learn more about butterfly habitats and spot some up close.

23. Carroll Homestead

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• Duration: 30 min

This historic homestead is an example of a typical Maine mountain farm. It was first settled by John Carroll and his family in 1825 and has been preserved after being donated to Acadia.

24. Seal Harbor Beach

• Duration: 15 minutes

On the optional Northeast Harbor leg. There's also a beautiful village green here, along with a small sandy beach.

25. Thuya Garden

Image from Flickr by Jesse! S?

• Duration: 30 minutes

An optional stop on the Northeast Harbor leg to explore some beautiful landscaped gardens.

26. Asticou Gardens

Image from Flickr by Lee Coursey

• Duration: 30 minutes

An optional stop on the Northeast Harbor leg to explore a beautiful azalea garden.

27. Northeast Harbor

• Duration: 30 minutes

A small village along the optional Northeast Harbor leg.

28. Sergeant Drive Along Somes Sound

• Duration: 15 minutes

An optional drive along Somes Sound on the Northeast Harbor leg.

29. Suminsby Park

• Duration: 15 minutes

A small park along the Northeast Harbor leg, along Sergeant Drive and the Somes Sound

30. Seal Cove Auto Museum

• Duration: 45 minutes

Along the westernmost option leg of the southwest peninsula, this is a museum featuring some of the very first automobiles.

31. Seal Cove Picnic Area

• Duration: 15 minutes

Along the westernmost option leg of the southwest peninsula, this is a small park area near the water.

32. Eagle Lake

Image from Flickr by Peter Rintels

• Duration: 45 minutes

This is the largest freshwater lake in Acadia and on Mount Desert Island. It's 452 pristine acres, with an average depth of 50 feet.

Parting Thoughts

Congratulations on exploring Acadia National Park! Feel free to head into Bar Harbor for shopping, dining, entertainment, lodging, and museums!

Hopefully, you'll have time in Bar Island (and low tide on your side) to walk 'across the water' to Acadia's Bar Island, and to take a meander along Bar Harbor's Shore Path to see Balance Rock. Or to learn more about the Wabanaki tribes, visit Abbe Museum while you're downtown!

Mount Desert Island's just loaded with things to see and do, all connected to Acadia and the surrounding islands.

So I hope your adventure continues, whether by land...or boat excursion! And if you happen to go for a Whale Watch, be sure to show us your pictures!

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Ready to take the tour? Check out Shaka Guide's Acadia National Park Tour!

We hope that we’ve given you all the information you need to make the most of your day. Your vacation is extremely important to us so if you have any questions feel free to reach out at aloha@shakaguide.com.

For more detailed information to help you plan, check out our Acadia National Park Know Before You Go article.