We drove to Acadia National Park in Maine from Northern Virginia. It’s a long drive is all I will say! But the LL Bean flagship is a good rest stop. We rented a house in Bar Harbor, which was suitable for our family, instead of 5 in one hotel room. I know it’s nice not to cook on vacation, but I was happy to do half and half and not have to take my kids to restaurants three times a day.
Our house rental was from Saturday to Saturday. We left on a Friday, stayed overnight with friends in Boston, went to a Massachusetts beach with them Saturday morning, then got into Bar Harbor pretty late on Saturday night. We stopped at a lobster pound on the way in and the kids liked seeing the live lobsters and crabs.
Sunday
We relaxed and settled into the house. We went to the Visitor’s Center and got Jr Ranger packets for the kids (I think a lot of people arrive on Saturday and the visitor center was swamped. To illustrate – I saw someone in there I hadn’t seen since college graduation 14 years earlier). Then we checked out downtown Bar Harbor and went to the waterfront area with the rocky beach a bit. After a rest back at the house, we began our Acadia adventure.
We parked on the road near Sand Beach and walked Ocean Path to Thunderhole. You’re supposed to get to Thunderhole two hours before high tide, and we got there a little after high tide, but we still thought it was cool. We walked back to Sand Beach and hung out there for an hour.
Monday
We went to Jordan Pond and hiked one mile out and back there. We ate at Jordan Pond Restaurant for lunch. I had made advance reservations for the restaurant, which I was glad I had done. My first popover was awesome. Then I overdid it having two. Then, we drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain. After a rest, we ended up doing the Compass Harbor trail looking for a sandy beach we heard was around there, but only found a rocky beach. Per
Tuesday
We did the tide-pooling on the way to Bar Island and hiked to the top. You have 1.5 hours before and after low tide to go to/from Bar Island before the ocean covers the trail. After a rest, we did Diver Ed’s Dive in Theater, which is great for both parents and kids. Dinner was out in Bar Harbor and included Mount Desert Island Ice Cream. We went back to Mount Desert Island Ice Cream two more times after this – particularly enjoying the butterbeer ice cream.
Wednesday
We had breakfast at Jordan’s. It was my oldest child’s birthday this day, so we let him pick. We spent 4 hours at Sand Beach. That night, my husband took the older two on a three-hour fishing trip which they all liked and caught a lot of fish (mostly pollock). This is the only thing all week that the 2-year-old couldn’t do. We wore her on most hikes, though she walked some too.
Thursday
We enjoyed a one-hour horse-drawn carriage ride on the Carriage Roads. I booked this one week before we left and there was only one slot left for the whole week, which I took! Then we went to Echo Lake. After a rest, we did souvenir shopping in downtown Bar Harbor and walked along the Shore Path. That night we did Stars Over Sand Beach and saw the Milky Way! Really excellent Ranger program – maybe the best I’ve ever done! I thought the laser the rangers used to point out the stars was really cool.
Friday
We had breakfast at Two Cats. We went to the visitor center for the older two to turn in their packets and become Jr Rangers. It was beautiful weather all week, but this day was rainy. We tried to hike Ship Harbor in the rain but only did half of
In sum – I recommend Acadia!
What is your favorite national park to visit with kids?