Acadia NP: Coves, Carriage Roads and Cadillac

(2022 Newfoundland Ep 4)

After saying goodbye to our friend Norm, we pointed Max and Oscar northeast for our next stop at Acadia National Park on the Maine coast.

We arrived at Ellsworth, Maine that afternoon, a few miles north of the park.  We saw lots of signs for Maine lobster – lobster dinners, lobster rolls, lobster chowder, fresh and steamed lobsters from roadside stands with large steaming pots.  Despite these temptations, we decided to wait for Newfoundland lobster.

Hanging out at Sand Beach

The next morning we visited the park visitor center to get our bearings and to get our National Park book stamped.  We decided to take a free shuttle bus around the 27-mile park loop road.  The first stop was at Sand Beach, a beautiful beach where we ate a picnic lunch and watched visitors enjoying the sand, waves and summer sun.  Honestly, it was hard to get excited about the beach, considering the frigid temperature of the water and fantastic beaches we have in Florida.

Waiting for thunder…

From Sand Beach we walked about a mile to Thunder Hole.  Thunder Hole is a natural formation that thunders loudly when sea water races up a narrow inlet to a small cavern.  The thunder is loudest just before high tide. We were there a little early and had to settle for fainter, distant thunder.

Lunch on the Jordan Pond House Lawn

We reboarded the shuttle and rode to Jordan Pond House.  Many were enjoying dining on the lawn, an appealing grassy area dotted with chairs, tables and green umbrellas.   Having already eaten lunch, we opted for a 2-mile trail along the east side of the pond and then another trail back to the loop road and a shuttle bus stop.  Little did we know that the shuttle no longer stopped at that location.  As we considered whether to go back to Jordan Pond House or to continue along the road to the next shuttle stop, a volunteer park ranger and his wife from Tennessee kindly offered us a ride back to the visitor center.  We enjoyed visiting with them and learned we had much in common – RVing and past travels to Alaska and the US west.  

Deciding which way to go on an Acadia Carriage Road

We packed a lunch the next morning and set out to ride our bikes on Acadia’s carriage roads.  Forty-five miles of gravel lanes, gifted by philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, run throughout the park and are used by hikers, horseback and carriage riders, and cyclists.

From the visitor center we circled Eagle Lake and returned for a total of 12 miles.

Although the roads are designed so they are not too steep for horse drawn carriages, there were some rather substantial and long hills that required us to walk our bikes.  Of course, the rides back down were lots of fun!

Serene Eagle Lake view

A drive to Cadillac Mountain is not to be missed when visiting Acadia.  At 1530 feet, it is the highest point in the park and offers great views of Bar Harbor town and the Maine coastline.   Many get up early to see America’s earliest sunrise from the mountain. Sunrise the next day was at 4:37 am and that would have meant we leave our campsite at 2 am.

We decided to see the sunset instead.  We brought our dinner and were rewarded with a beautiful close to the day.       

Sunset on Cadillac Mountain

During our final day at Acadia we explored the lesser visited western side of the park.  We visited the picturesque and much photographed Bass Harbor Lighthouse and hiked to Ship Harbor, a beautiful, secluded cove. 

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse and secluded Ship Harbor

Next week:  we cross the border into Canada, travel through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and arrive in Newfoundland.