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

[klm]

Spending the season in the Bar Harbor/Acadia area, very excited about it. We have been in the area for short vacation type visits. Now that we have several months, not just a few days, we want to explore all the nooks and crannies. Can you help us find those gems? We like to hike (short, day hikes), bike (out of shape flatlanders), historical sites, museums - and oh - we love to eat!!!!

Thanks for sharing your Maine "to do's"
Kathy

[JoeH]

We will be going up there again this year and have visited some of the spots mentioned in the past trips... many good ideas for new adventures , thanks !

[fwed]

Assuming you've done most of Acadia and Schodic -- range further afield. Bring your passports for a long day-trip to Lubec and Campobello, stopping along the way in Columbia Falls (a small historic house), and lunch or something at Helen's Restaurant in Machias (great pie!). Don't be trying to do something all the time. Spend an afternoon in old junky shopsor staring at a flock of gulls. Maine is about being, not doing.

[ryegatevt]

We see beautiful sunsets over Western Bay, looking west towards Blue Hill. We camp at the Bar Harbor KOA, where the bay is right in front of our rig. Sunsets also would be spectacular (as are sunrises!) from the top of Cadillac Mountain.

[bigred1cav]

mgh122 wrote:

bigred1cav wrote:

mgh122 wrote:
go out to Hadley Point and watch the sunset

Not being a smart ass just trying to understand how to watch sunset in Maine?

As the name says Hadleys Point is a peninsula on Mt Desert Island the sun sets across a bay and behind some Mountains. Quite stunning some nights.

Thanks

[mgh122]

bigred1cav wrote:

mgh122 wrote:
go out to Hadley Point and watch the sunset

Not being a smart ass just trying to understand how to watch sunset in Maine?

As the name says Hadleys Point is a peninsula on Mt Desert Island the sun sets across a bay and behind some Mountains. Quite stunning some nights.

[bigred1cav]

mgh122 wrote:
go out to Hadley Point and watch the sunset

Not being a smart ass just trying to understand how to watch sunset in Maine?

[mgh122]

go out to Hadley Point and watch the sunset

[splinter7]

Go to a movie at Reel Pizza.

Check out the Gilley Bird Carving Museum in Southwest Harbor.

Walk out to the Adirondak chairs at Indian Point / Blagden Preserve.

Go out with a kayak tour (recommend National Park Sea kayak tours) or go out on your own on Long Pond (rental on North end of Pond).

If you'd like to hike with a local hiking group, send me a PM and I'll send you details and schedule.

[loggenrock]

Cranberry Islands are accessed by a (dog-friendly!) passenger ferry/shuttle, not a car ferry. Vehicles are transported to the small islands usually by barge. It is fun to see the collection of vehicles parked at the ferry docks on some of the islands (Isle au Haut comes to mind - a bit distant from the main part of Acadia NP, but worth a day visit - bikes might be good here). Cranberry Islands are small enough to wander about. ST

[Pirate1]

Bold Coast Trail

[NCWriter]

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.

[klm]

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

[drillagent]

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/

[Camper_Mama_Bea]

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.