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two_travelers's avatar
Sep 24, 2013

Crowds in Acadia NP

We're thinking of going to Acadia in early Oct., before the RV parks close for the season. How crowded does this area get at leaf peeping time?

9 Replies

  • Lots of B's here, apparently by choice.

    The smaller rigs are great for that campground-you can get the waterfront sites. We always wound up on the back part of the open area, which was fine because we were high and got a nice side view of the water.

    Somewhere on one of the Maine/Bar Harbor websites is a schedule of when the cruise ships are coming in. I might be crazy, but sometimes that's when Bar Harbor is at it's best-when it's packed with crazy tourists. Acadia gets frustrating when it's like that, though.
  • ryegatevt wrote:
    We are at Acadia right now! We New Englanders say we're goin' down t" Maine...
    good time to come on down!


    We have been exploring and staying at the "quiet Side" of MDI. Yesterday we headed out on the Acadia Loop Road, the Jordan Pond House, and the village of Bar Harbor. All the destination places were packed! There were two big cruise ships in the harbor, and the tourists were thronging the streets and touring the island in Buses. We circled the Jordan Pond Parking Lots 6 times until finally finding a place. The RV lot is a joke: Most spaces are for cars and only 3 short pull-thru spaces for RVs. Best to go with nothing bigger than a class B, Small C, or a truck camper...
  • Crowe wrote:
    I'll be there after everybody's left! We are renting a house on the ocean the week of 10/20. My son's school break was bumped out a week this year due to school starting a week later. Going to miss being at the Bar Harbor KOA!


    Hi Crowe! We are at the KOA right this minute looking out over a sparkling Western Bay. We're headed out to Jordan Pond with friends in a few minutes. Lots of B's here, apparently by choice. Mostly Roadtreks (5 or 6 last night), a couple of Pleasure Ways, and one new but so far unidentified Sprinter.
  • I'll be there after everybody's left! We are renting a house on the ocean the week of 10/20. My son's school break was bumped out a week this year due to school starting a week later. Going to miss being at the Bar Harbor KOA!
  • We are at Acadia right now! We New Englanders say we're goin' down t" Maine...
    good time to come on down!
  • We went during October last year and the private campgrounds were quite empty compaired to our trips in August. One interesting thing we noticed was the Friday before Columbus Day most campgrounds were almost empty but when we went past Blackwoods campground in the park they had a "No Vacancy" sign out.

    Being New England, the weather changes hour to hour. We had some great sunny days and some cloudy / rainy days.

    Again, compaired to August, the traffic in the village of Bar Harbor was very light in October. One caution, the summit of Cadillac mountain was jammed with tour busses, I never saw crowds that large in the Summer. We plan on going again this October and once again closing the campground on Columbus Day.
  • Just left there. No crowds unless cruise ship is in Bar Harbor. Weather was ok. Fog really blocked views at times.
  • Keep track of the news from DC, if the, well, morons we elected shut the government down on 1 Oct, all National Parks, including Acadia will be closed.
  • Almost deserted. That was several years ago, but probably still true.

    Cold, wet, and windy, but few people.

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