Hadley’s Point
Campground, Bar Harbor, Maine
Photo link:After leaving the wilderness of Baxter State Park, we headed south to Acadia National Park. We stayed in a commercial RV park near Bar Harbor. We arrived there late in the afternoon, got set up and were ready to just relax for the evening.
The next day we stopped by the Visitor Center, then decided
to drive the Park Loop Road to get our bearings and get some idea of what we
wanted to do for the remaining days. We were immediately stunned at the
wilderness, mountain settings and views of this amazing island park. Acadia is
a 47,000 acre park, primarily on Mount Desert Island on the coast of Maine. The
landscape is marked by woodlands, rocky beaches, lakes and glacier scoured
granite peaks such as Cadillac Mountain, the highest point in the United States
East Coast. One of the best features of the park is the free shuttle bus that
drives visitors to various points around the park where they can get on and off
at trailheads or places of interest, such as the village of Bar Harbor. The
buses stopped right inside our campground, which was very convenient. This
allowed us to utilize the shuttle system and not have to worry about finding
parking spaces which most of the time very hard to get.
The next morning, we took the dogs on the shuttle bus and
headed for Jordan Pond. We hiked part of the trail around the lake and relaxed
looking at the awesome views from the lake. It was wonderful that they allowed
dogs on the buses and the hiking trails. We continued the bus ride around the
park to determine where the hiking trailhead locations and which ones we would
hike. We made our plans for the next four days in Acadia.
We knew that most of our activities in this park would be
hiking and also discovered that there were historic Carriage Trails throughout
the park where we could ride our bicycles. We drove to Jordan Pond parking
area, where many of the carriage trails emanated. We had intended on taking our
bikes on the shuttle bus, but the bike racks they had would not fit our new
29" fat tire wheels. We then took our bikes and drove our truck to Jordan
Pond, and were very lucky to find a parking space. We rode the beautiful trails
for several miles and around Jordan Pond.
Later that day we took the bus to Bar Harbor to check out
the village and the amazing views of the bay. Bar Island is located a few
hundred feet from the shore and during low tide, the sandbar is exposed and people
can walk across to the island, but must come back during low tide. Frenchman
Bay is dotted with many small islands and the waters were filled with moored
lobster boats and sailboats. We walked along a coastal path through Bar Harbor
and followed the rocky coast. The village was filled with restaurants, shopping
and touristy shops. We did stop by a local bar and have a drink while we waited
to get on the bus back to camp.
The next day we drove over to another part of Acadia, called
the “quiet side”. We parked at the trailhead for Beech Mountain Trail. The dogs
were with us as they also love to hike. The hike to the peak of Beech Mountain
was not too steep or difficult, relatively speaking for Acadia. At the peak was
a fire tower and spectacular 360 views of the ocean, islands, inland lakes and
mountain peaks. After that hike we rested for a while at the trailhead and Kurt
decided to hike to another trail, Beech Cliffs; while the dogs and I hiked the
Valley Trail. Both of these trails again presented us with amazing views and
beautiful forests. After returning to camp, we decided this was the night to
have our Maine lobster. We went to a nearby lobster market and brought back a complete
dinner, two lobsters, two pounds of mussels, corn, and even melted butter. It
was so delicious and comfortable to eat in our RV.
Another day we went hiking again. Kurt wanted to hike a
serious trail called Precipice. This trail has metal rungs in order to climb
rock faces. I chose another trail, based out of the Sieur de Monts location.
This was the homestead of the original founder of Acadia, George Dorr. There
was a spring on this beautiful property, a nature center, gardens with native
plants and several trails. I hiked up the mountain on the Emery Trail, which
was built by the CCC and consisted of over 500 stone steps to the top. The
trail I took back down was the Homans Trail, which was more steep and very
rocky, but enjoyable with great views of the harbor. Kurt continued his hiking
to meet me at Sieur de Monts. From there we took the bus back to the
campground.
Our final hike was to the peak of Cadillac Mountain, the
tallest in the park. The bus stopped at the trailhead for the North Ridge
Trail. This rocky 2.1 mile trail took us to Cadillac Peak. There we again saw
amazing views and ate our lunch. We had decided to take a shorter trail down
the mountain to Bubble Pond, where we could get back on the bus. This 1.4 mile
trail was extremely steep with mostly rock faces to descend. OMG, I was so
challenged and Kurt was so frustrated that I moved so slow. Even though it was
a shorter trail, it took us much more time to descend. Even as careful as I
was, I did slip on a wet section of slick rock. Fortunately, I only gashed my
right elbow and arm, and sprained my wrist. I always carry a first aid kit and
it came in handy. We were so relieved when we finally made it to the bottom. I
felt the pain that night and the next day was very sore. At least I didn’t
break anything!
Our last night in Acadia was spent with a drive to Cadillac
Mountain peak to watch the sunset. On our way, we stopped at the lobster market
and got lobster roll dinners to go. We also took the dogs. When we found a
place to park at the top, the wind was blowing around 40 mph and the horizon skies
were cloudy, so there was not much to view of the sunset. The dogs got to get
out and run leash free for a while and had fun. Even with the sunset and wind
issues, we enjoyed this special place and time as our last adventure in Acadia.
The next day we would head southwest in Maine to stay in the
lakes region. We could have stayed longer in Acadia, but there is still so much
to experience in Maine.
