Off the beaten path to do/see in ME - Acadia

Visit the Schoodic Peninsula.

In main part of park, hike one way along the coastal road and take the shuttle back. Hike up Beech Mountain. Ride your bikes on the carriage roads.

Take as many boat trips as you can. Ones I've especially enjoyed: nature tours from Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor and taking the boat to Duck Harbor on Isle au Haut and then hiking back to the main island harbor to catch the late day boat back to the mainland. BTW: I'm the kind of person who gets seasick, but these are sheltered waters and I had no trouble.

Further afield: Cutler Coast has some pretty wild hiking. There are hiking trails on Monhegan Island.

On the Acadia National Park website, there are many downloadable brochures which will help you to plan. There's even a 206-page "Guide's Guide to Acadia."

Enjoy!

We would hit all the usually places like Thunder Hole, Jordan Pond, Sandy beach, Whale and puffin watch, kayak tours of the harbor and the shops downtown. During low tide you can walk over to the island across the harbor (just watch the tide charts or you may have to swim back!). We would avoid the downtown when the cruise ships came into port so we would avoid the crowds.
We traveled on all eight bus routes and would hop off at different sites of interest along the way. We would chose a bus route for the day and explore. We would hop off at Seal Harbor on hot days to swim. Acadia water is freezing, but this particular beach has water temps that don't turn you purple! Check for times because some are long trips. Visit the Atlantic Brewing Company Brewery which is near the KOA Campground.

Hike all the trails. The Western MT trails; Bernard MT, Great Notch, Manseli Mt. and Beech Mt are very nice and often overlooked. Check out the ranger lead hikes. Have long leisurely lunches/dinners along the rocks at Seawall as well as many other places. Explore all the pullouts, some have little used trails leading to great rocky beach areas or cliff views. Take some kayak trips or rent your own. Bike the carriage roads, you can park your bike where hiking trails cross the roads and hike from there. Look for wild blueberries sometimes in August. Walk to Indian point. Spent the afternoon on the beach on the North side of Seal Cove by the boat ramp. Lots more to do just take your time and explore.
Enjoy your selves.

Try this if you like old cars http://www.sealcoveautomuseum.org.
If you are traveling with a dog try the dog park at Little Long Pond in Seal Harbor

Finelli's pizza in Ellsworth is excellent. Ny style thin crust. I second the schoodic penninsula. Grindstone neck rd/west oval in winter harbor have many grand old mansions that are beautiful even just to drive by.

Hi Kathy! In Bar Harbor, hike out on the namesake gravel bar at low tide to Bar Island! You get about 1 1/2 hrs that the gravel is exposed before the tide returns and covers it again - very cool! Drive farther north - head to Eastport area. If you overnight up there, the Cobscook SP is very nice. Bring your passports - visit Campobello Island (http://www.nps.gov/roca/index.htm). Head up to Bangor, Orono, and Old Town - check out the Paul Bunyon statue, visit the Old Town Canoe factory, eat at Govenor's! LOTS to do around there! Hope this helps! ST

pack a picnic lunch and take the ferry to the Cranberry Islands, not the national park ferry, the regular one. We did that on one trip, just walked the roads on each of the islands.

Breakfast at Jordan's (80 Cottage St, Bar Harbor, ME). I highly recommend their blueberry pancakes. We stopped there for lunch one day also, good as well. A nice dinner is Galyn's (17 Main St, Bar Harbor, ME).

On the quiet side of the island there is an old farm, we took a tour of that.

If you are there for July 4th, find out from the locals if there will be the private fireworks over the Sound. (It's been about 10 years since we saw these, I have no idea if they are still done.) If so, climb the mountain to watch them. Also, drive out onto the Bar to watch the fireworks in Bar Harbor.

We drove the hikes to either Echo Pond, Long Pond, or Seal Cove Pond I don't remember which. But there were no other people around since it is on the Quiet Side.

Get some Lobster Rolls and have a picnic on the Seawall along Seawall Road in Southwest Harbor. Our favorite place was closed when we were up there 6 years ago, as a local for a good recommendation.

Enjoy your time! We used to go every other year, it has been 6 years since we where up there last.

I second everything above. If you're into lobster, I think Thurston's is the best. Out of the way, hard to find place. The restaurant is actually on the dock. Get their lobster fresh off the boat. They ruined me and now I can't eat lobster anywhere else. Check out their website for directions. http://thurstonslobster.com/

OP here. Can anyone tell us about the ferry to the smaller islands - like Cranberry? Should we take our bicycles? Any tips/details appreciated

thanks for all the great suggestions

Wow, several months is great. All those jagged peninsulas have such fun things to see.

I liked driving down to Pemaquid Point lighthouse, and on the way back up, loved Round Pond which has a lobster cooperative.

Enjoyed seeing Owls Head where the lighthouse dog spot is buried. Not far from there is the house Andrew Wyeth painted as Christina's World. It's a museum with info about the Olsons who lived there.

Pretty town of Camden where movie Peyton Place was filmed. You can drive up to the top of Mount Battie in the state park there, which has a nice campground.

Wild Blueberry land (dome shaped purple building) down east, with delicious pastries. (On the way up to Lubec to cross bridge and border to Campobello.) On the US side, you can see West Quoddy Lighthouse. And on Campbello, the East Quoddy Lighthouse. And of course the Roosevelt park and summer home.

If you stay on Campobello, there's a nice Provincial Park with campground. From the island, you could go on to Deer Island by ferry to see the Old Sow...one of the largest whirlpools in the world - a campground overlooks it.