Acadia

[dvbl]

Spent a week in Acadia. Here are some pix. For those who've been there, you know the deal. For those who are thinking of going...do it. Beautiful place. Mountains, lakes, rocky coast with pounding surf. Lots of quiet places to escape the crowds if you want, but also some busy places. Cadillac Mountain is the Mount Washington of Acadia...crowds, auto road, gift shops, bathrooms...loved every minute of it.

A few random thoughts:
--Beehive and Precipice are as fun as advertised. Lots of iron rungs. If you can climb a ladder, you can climb this trail.
--Jordan Cliffs Trail, although not as popular (we saw zero people), was for us more tricky than Beehive or Precipice. Some of the ledges were not the place to screw around.
--Sunrise and sunset on Cadillac are all they're cracked up to be. You can find quiet spots if you look. Small plea...if you arrive to watch the sunrise and you see someone already there with a tripod set up, please DO NOT go stand 20 feet in front of him. Duh.
--Thunder Hole is mesmerizing. You can easily stare at it for an hour. Arrive about 1.5 hours before high tide for the best water show. A little earlier than that to hear the "thunder". A little further up the road is Monument Cove...great spot also.
--Little Hunter's Beach is a great place to explore and watch the surf smash against the coast. Again, timing is everything.
--Take the time to get out of your car and explore, even if there's no sign indicating that you're "supposed" to stop there to see something. There are many hidden wonders.
--Finally, don't be fooled by the size of the mountains. Yes, they're much smaller than the Greens, Whites, and Daks, but the lesser used trails are every bit as rugged. Lots of fun.

Highly recommend. By the way, I like to go in mid-September, so please help me spread the word that mid-September is a terrible time to go .

 

[Artex]

--Take the time to get out of your car and explore, even if there's no sign indicating that you're "supposed" to stop there to see something. There are many hidden wonders.

So true. Even in the height of tourist season in July and August, solitude is easy to find.

I'll be camping there twice in October.. once for the Mt. Desert Island marathon and the other for the VFTT trip. I'm really looking forward to both. Acadia is fantastic.

Glad you had an enjoyable trip! You took some great pictures.

 

[mtnmama]

Acadia is rather magical..... there is no other place like it.
Your so right about finding everything you need there.
Can't wait to get back!

 

[spider solo]

Nice report and great pictures !!
Particulary fond of the surf photos......

 

[DougPaul]

so please help me spread the word that mid-September is a terrible time to go .

October is also a terrible time to visit Acadia.

Doug

 

[Sheomet]

I love Acadia, beautiful place.

 

[Roxi]

Cadillac Mountain is the Mount Washington of Acadia...crowds, auto road, gift shops, bathrooms...loved every minute of it.

It's also a great place to bicycle. Cycling up Cadillac Mtn is a good workout and cycling down it is a rush! The rest of the island is also fun to explore by bike. This was the first summer in a long time I didn't spend a few days there, and now after reading your post, I'm missing it big time! Thanks for the pix!