A weekend at Acadia National Park

This is one of the most random trip that I have ever organized in awhile. Basically, one of my friends from Chicago is visiting Boston and she wanted to go to Acadia National park. So, she asked me whether I would know enough people to go to Acadia together. The target number for the trip is 5 people as it can fit exactly in one small car. I manage to find other 3 people fairly quickly so that we can start to organize the trip.

This weekend is pretty simple. We start by leaving Boston Friday afternoon so that we can get to Ellsworth (a small town near Acadia) before it is too late (5 hrs driving to get there). We stopped in Portland for some quick dinner before heading to Ellsworth.

Gorham Mountain with Sand Beach in the background

We started Saturday pretty early as we have day-packed schedule ahead. The weather was amazing that day as it wasn't too hot or too cold. Before starting the trip, we stopped at the information center to get a map and asked for some specific trails that we want to go to. Then, we decided to hike on the Beehive trail and Gorham Mountain trail. The Beehive as an interesting hike as we have to climb iron rung ladders and handrails to get to the top. The view on the top was amazing with a view of a Sand Beach and many small islands nearby. The hike took us less than 2 hours to complete, so we decide to continue hiking to Gorham Mountain. This second hike is less steep than the first one, but a little longer. We also stopped at the peak for some lunch that we got before coming into the park.

Sunset in Acadia National 

On the way back, we have to walk along the road. We get to stop at the Thunder hole to wait for some loud action as waves hit the shore, but the waves were calm so we didn't get to see much action. The Sand Beach was our next destination. We only spent about 15 mins there as the water was way too cold for anyone to go in. Plus we have to make our way to Bar Island by 5pm as it was a low tide to see some tide pools. Before we headed to the Bar Island, we also stopped at Jordan pond. It was one of my favorite places in Acadia as the sky and the pond were in a perfect blue. It did feel like a very nice spot after a long hike even though we simply drive to the pond. Land Bridge to Bar Island was a great walk in the summer. We can see different creatures around tide pools, but we only saw some kind of shellfish on the beach (still not sure what kinds of shellfish it was). We end the day at Bass Harbor Lighthouse in order to see the sunset. However, the sun didn't actually set there (If you want to see the sunset, I don't really recommend to go there). We had to drive back for awhile so that we can have a good spot for sunset.

Crystal clear water at Jordan Pond with a perfect blue sky

Sunday was an easier day with not many plans. Basically, we drove up Cadillac Mountain to get a good view of the park as a whole from the highest spot. The view was nice and the weather was refreshing. Then after a quick breakfast, we rented a bike from Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop for $25 per person to drive around Carriage Roads in Acadia. This road was first developed by the Rockefeller family for horses and buggies. There were some uphill parts that might be difficult, but I was surprised by a long-way downhill path around the Eagle lake. It was fun and a little bit dangerous. The road is very good for biking. I highly recommended for people who had some time in the park. We finished our biking around 3pm which left us enough time to drive back to Boston before it was too late.

Biking on Carriage Roads

Overall, it was a pretty nice weekend trip which required only a small planning. If  you are in New England for the weekend, Acadia national park is one of the options that you should keep in mind.