A Fall Weekend in Acadia National Park, Maine
Portland, Maine, a pit stop on our way to Bar Harbor
Exchange Street
We left the South Shore late Thursday morning and stopped in Portland, Maine. We popped into a couple of shops, mostly staying on Exchange Street, and grabbed a coffee at Bard Coffee.
Barb Coffee
We joined the line at The Holy Donut, known for its Maine potato donuts. Even on a Thursday afternoon, the line was about 25 minutes long. We tried a few flavors, and the pumpkin spice cannoli was our favorite. Worth the wait!
Holy Donut
3 Days Acadia National Park
Whenever I visit a national park, I use the itineraries from Dirt in My Shoes, created by a former park ranger. Her guides are incredibly helpful for deciding which hikes and scenic stops are worth visiting and how to plan your time.
Our Favorite Hikes and Scenic Stops
Thunder Hole: We visited on a calm morning, so there was no thunderous crashing of waves that this spot is famous for. But honestly, it was one of my favorite places in the park. Sitting on the rocks with the morning sun shining over the ocean was beautiful. I could have stayed there all morning.
Gorham Mountain Trail: A beautiful hike with views of the rocky coastline and ocean. Definitely one I'd recommend.
Beehive Trail: I watched a few videos online that made this hike look really scary. I almost didn’t do it. We didn’t find it as scary as people make it out to be. We all found it super fun. The trail uses iron rungs and handholds. The views overlooking Sand Beach and the ocean are incredible. Even if it didn’t have great views, it was a really fun trail in our opinion. We considered doing the Precipice Trail the next morning, but it rained the night before, and you can’t do it when it’s wet.
Acadia Mountain Trail: Another fun hike, with a mix of rocky terrain, climbing, and beautiful views. A great choice if you enjoy a slightly more challenging hike.
Bubble Rock Trail: The trail to the Bubble Rock is beaituful and once you get there the enormous glacial boulder perched near the summit is so cool to see, but the views overlooking Jordan Pond are just as impressive.
Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse: We also made time to visit the lighthouse perched above the rocky coastline. A classic Maine stop. We parked in the lot on the left as soon as you get on the street and walked. I don’t know if it’s even technically a parking lot. But the lighthouse parking lot is small, and you wait in line for a car to leave.
Jordan Stream Trail to Cobblestone Bridge: This was another favorite! The trail begins near Jordan Pond House and follows a beautiful stream through the woods to Cobblestone Bridge. It's an easy, approximately one-mile round-trip hike. The bridge is the oldest of the 16 historic stone bridges built along Acadia's carriage roads and the only one constructed of cobblestones. Such a pretty, peaceful walk and definitely worth adding to your visit.
Lunch at Jordan Pond House
Jordan Pond House is known for its famous popovers, and we wanted to try them.
Reservations can be difficult to get, so we arrived at 10:30 am and got in line before lunch service began. Even after reaching the front desk, we waited another half hour to be seated.
It was worth including in our day. The restaurant is a lovely place to sit down for lunch, enjoy the scenery, and try the famous popovers.
They also have a popover station behind the restaurant and a beautiful lawn overlooking Jordan Pond, where you can relax and enjoy them if you don’t want to wait.
Side note: We were there later in the day on E-Bikes, around 4, and nobody was at the restaurant. The place was dead.
E-Biking the Carriage Roads
We decided not to bring our own bikes since we knew we'd be spending most of our time hiking. Instead, we rented e-bikes to explore Acadia's historic carriage roads, and this ended up being one of the highlights of our trip!
There are approximately 45 miles of carriage roads to explore, and the scenery was even more beautiful than I expected. The roads wind through wooded areas, past lakes, and over beautiful historic stone bridges. We covered a lot of ground in just a few hours.
We rode from about 3–6 p.m. and practically had the roads to ourselves. It was awesome!
We rented from Island Bike Rentals, and they delivered the bikes right to the carriage roads. We actually got a little lost toward the end of our ride, and with daylight fading, we called them for help. They guided us back to our car and picked up the bikes there. Great service!
If you're planning a trip to Acadia, I would absolutely recommend biking the carriage roads. It's a completely different way to experience the park, away from the traffic and busier trails, and a nice change of pace from hiking.