Acadia National Park- So Much to Do- Part 1

I've been to many national parks. I have never been to a national park that disappointed me. Some of course have more spectacular scenery than others. Some have more animals than others. The one thing I can say about Acadia National Park, it probably has more things to keep you busy  than any other park. We went there from Tuesday afternoon until Saturday morning. We found so many fun things to do that we never found time to get off of Mt. Desert Island to buy a lobster roll.

If you like spending time outdoors, it is impossible to get bored on a trip to Acadia. Here is a list of just some of the things one can do in the park or surrounding area. Of course, we did not do all of these in three and a half days, more on what we actually did below the list.

Hiking, Freshwater fishing, Saltwater fishing, Deep Sea Fishing, Kayaking, Canoeing, Sea Kayaking, Biking either the loop road or carriage roads, horseback riding, take a ride in a horse drawn carriage, Ranger program, Campfire program, Birding, Whale Watch, Nature Cruises, multiple other boat rides/trips, Tidepooling, Walk through the Wild Gardens, check out the Bass Harbor Lighthouse, get popovers at Jordan Pond, find all of Rockerfeller's bridges, Drive up Cadillac Mtn, Take in the first sunrise to touch the United States, Watch the Sunset, Star Gaze. These are just summer activities. In a month the park will be buzzing with leaf peepers. After that, cross country skiers will take over.

These are just things to do in the park. In Bar Harbor of course you can go out to eat, get an ice cream, shop, etc...

We did so many different things, it seems the best way to show you what we sampled is to go in order.

Tuesday afternoon-
Upon getting to the park we stopped at the Visitor Center and watched the film. We signed up for a boat trip to Baker Island for Wednesday. Then we drove to the summit of Cadillac Mtn. We stayed on top for over an hour

Frenchman's Bay from atop Cadillac Mountain

The town of Bar Harbor. The island on the left is Bar Island.
Notice the sandbar going out to it. You can walk out at low tide.
The right island is Sheep

After driving down Cadillac Mountain he went to our campground and checked in. We set up our tent in Blackwoods Campground. The site was smooth (crushed stone for a tent pad) and the bathrooms were clean.

Next we drove to Jordan Pond House. We stopped at Jordan Pond and walked one of the Carriage Roads to Cliffside Bridge. We saw a Porcupine along the way.

Jordan Pond and "the Bubbles" North Bubble is on the left
South is on the right. We hiked South Bubble Wednesday.

Cliffside Bridge

After we walked back to the car we went back to our campground. There was a campground program at the amphitheater about finding the Primeval Forest. It was pretty scientific and interesting.

Wednesday morning. 

We had to be in Bar Harbor before 8 am to catch our boat to Baker Island. Baker Island is owned by the Park Service. It used to be inhabited by a family that lived on the island. The house is still there, and it gets used occasionally. There is also a lighthouse. You have to make reservations with the boat company to go. There is a ranger on board the boat that narrates the highlights of the trip. He also goes ashore and leads the group.The boat trip to the island took 90 minutes.  It is really pretty and my favorite part of the trip.

The boat ride is with a private company (Bar Harbor Whale Watches). The cost is $49. The trip lasts approximately five hours (8-1 pm)There are a lot of pictures below

View from Baker Island back towards Mt Desert Island

Baker Island Lighthouse

This is the little shuttle boat that took us from the main boat
 Ranger Dusty watching the passangers 

Another view from Baker Island. The boat is what took us from
Bar Harbor to the island. Her name is Miss Samantha

House still occasionally used

As I said, the boat ride was my favorite part of the Baker Island Tour. We saw an eagle (well, some people did) . Laurie and I saw Black Guillemots, Harbor Seals, and Harbor Porpoises. The scenery along the Mt Desert coast is second to none. The sky was perfect and the seas were flat. Just a great day to be on the water

Harbor Porpoises

Harbor Seals 

Sea cliffs

I just liked this buoy

Thunder Hole from the ocean

Classic Maine coastline. Notice how calm it is.
There isn't even any whitewater splashing the rocks

After we got back, we drove the Park Loop Road and we took off for our hike to South Bubble. South Bubble is a short hike of about .5 miles and an elevation gain of 500 feet. What makes it special is a large boulder on top. A glacier carried a huge boulder to the top of this mountain depositing it on the edge of a cliff. We marveled at it for half an hour before heading back down

After we got down from South Bubble we drove back to Cadillac Mountain. We managed to get to the top to catch the sunset. The sunset was really just a bonus. We really went to the top to stargaze. After it finally got dark, we lied on our backs and looked at all the stars for an hour (it got chilly). Acadia is the darkest national park east of the Mississippi River. The sky was clear and the moon was new so the sky was black. We were in awe of all of the stars and the Milky Way. After leaving our tent at 6 am, we finally made it back at 9:30 after a really fun filled day.

Note- Acadia is so dark that the weekend after Labor Day there is an Acadia Night Sky Festival.  The festival ran from Wednesday night thru the weekend. We got to enjoy some of the festivities, but that is for part 2.

Others taking in the sunset