Acadia National Park Tips | 5 Things to Know Before You Go! - Marketing RevolutionMarketing Revolution

If you are planning an upcoming trip to Acadia National Park, here are the five things you definitely want to know before you go. Hey friend, my name is Ash. I’m a former park ranger and the founder of Dirt in My Shoes, and today we’re talking all about Acadia. Acadia is a Super beautiful National Park in Maine, and I am so excited for you to visit, but before you go, here are some tips that you’ll definitely want to know to make your trip a success. Let’s jump in.

The first thing that you want to know before visiting Acadia is that Acadia National Park is small, but it is very complex, and I think this throws a lot of people as you’re planning your trip versus actually making it a reality. When you get to the park, it can feel a little bit overwhelming just because the park itself does not cover that much ground. But there are a lot of moving pieces, uh, to visiting this park. So, for example, you’ve got a lot of one-way, roads, tunnels, things like that that you winna think about, especially if you’re in an RV or a larger vehicle.

The thing that really surprised me on my first visit is that you’ll be driving a road and it won’t connect to another road, even if you look on the map and it looks like it might, uh, because there are tunnels and bridges and things like that, a lot of times these roads don’t connect.

The other thing you might notice on the Acadia map is there’s some roads that go through the interior of Acadia, but those are carriage roads and you’re not able to drive your vehicle on those. So those are strictly for horses or walking or bikes. Uh, and that just throws an added complexity to the Acadia National Park road system. There is a shuttle on Mount Desert Island, which is the island where you’ll find Acadia National Park. And that shuttle has 12 different lines, um, that will get you around the island.

So again, even the shuttle, although it’s a very convenient and it’s a good way to get around the area.

It is a little bit more complex. Just there’s a lot of moving parts and a lot of different routes you can take. I’ve also found this to be true of the trails in Acadia too. Um, sometimes you’ll get on a trail, and you’ll get to a kind of confusing intersection where it’s like there’s a bunch of different trails that intersect right here.

Sometimes the signage isn’t exactly clear. I never hike without a map in this park because I have gotten lost before. It is really easy to get lost, I think, even as an experienced hiker. There’s just a lot of intersecting trails and things like that as well. So, Acadia is small.

but it is complex. I have spent a lot of time in Acadia National Park and have figured out how to best navigate this park. If you need any help figuring out the complexity of this park, when to take the shuttle, which trails intersect, which trails to take, where to park, things like that, definitely click over to Distiny Shoes. com and check out the Acadia itinerary. I will walk you through all of that.

I’ve been to Acadia so many times.

I’ve spent a ton of time here. I’ve figured it out and there’s just a really good way to get through the park. So, if you need any help with that, check out the itinerary. I will help walk you through all of that.

But just know that this park is a little bit more complex than some of the small parks that it has a similar size to. So just be aware of that before you go. Number two, there are no in park hotel options in Acadia. So, this is pretty unique, especially for a park that is so close to major population centers. It’s not very remote.

Um, you do have towns kind of all-around and tucked into, um, Mount Desert Island and the surrounding area. But what’s interesting is there is no in park hotel for this park. And so if you’re wanting to stay in a hotel, you will need to choose one of the outlying communities, one of the nearby communities to stay in.

And that’s just fine because there’s a couple of really good ones. Um, my favorite… Places to stay for visiting Acadia are in Bar Harbor, um, which is kind of the main town that’s the main tourist destination in the area. So Bar Harbor is a great option. You’re just right outside of Acadia National Park from there.

Or I like, if you’re looking for a quieter, um, more relaxed ambience, then I like going over to the quieter side of the island, like, um, somewhere like Southwest Harbor. Um, that’s a really nice area for still getting into Acadia, but just not being in the thick of the crowds. Acadia does have camping options within the National Park. Uh, but with this park you will want to be careful to make sure that you’re booking your camping, um, in the main area where you’re wanting to explore.

So, some of these campgrounds are a little bit further removed and harder to get to the main sites in the park.

So, if you’re wanting to camp, I do recommend trying for Blackwoods first. That’s a really good central location for really exploring the main part of Acadia. So start there. And then if you can’t get anything there, you can branch out a little bit. But, um, in general, I really recommend people either stay in Blackwoods or somewhere around Bar Harbor.

Number three, Acadia National Park is crowded. So, it’s no surprise the national parks are getting busier and busier, uh, but Acadia is consistently in the top 10 busiest national parks in the nation.

In fact, last year it was number five with about four million visitors per year, which is honestly astounding for how small this park is, um, having four million visitors come through there every year. it does feel pretty crowded sometimes. So, you’ll want to keep that in mind as you’re planning your trip and as you’re planning your lodging.

Just make sure that you’re putting your trip together in a way that you can get into the park when it’s not as crowded or busy that you’re able to get in there and get parking because as the day goes on it does fill up and it gets really stressful.

Some things that you can control will really make a big difference in your experience while you’re at Acadia. Such as when you’re trying to go through the entrance stations or when you’re trying to find parking at the busiest spots. Um, areas like along the Park Loop Road or Cadillac Mountain. You do need reservations to get to the top of Cadillac Mountain as of right now.

And so, that’s an added piece of just trying to control the crowds in Acadia. Um, Jordan Pond gets really busy. There’s some areas of Acadia that just get really, really busy. So if you can time your trip, well, if you can add in some off the beaten path stops, so you’re just not in the thick of things all the time, that will help a lot. If you can get out there at other times of day when people are less likely to be trying to find parking and hiking and things like that, that will make a huge difference in your experience in Acadia as well.

If you want to know exactly what I would do for your time in Acadia, um, if you’re staying between one and four days, definitely go check out the Acadia itinerary on Dirt In My Shoes.

Uh, again, I will help you navigate through the timing of this so that the park doesn’t feel as crowded to you. Um, so that you’re not just surrounded by crowds during your whole vacation. Number four, Acadia National Park is a seasonal national park. And what I mean by that is that it typically doesn’t really stay open year-round.

Um, there are some things that you can do year round, but for the general public, people that just want to come and see the best of Acadia, uh, maybe you’re only going to take one trip here, or you just want to make sure that you get to all the best stuff, uh, then you’ll want to plan your trip more for the summer months.

Uh, peak season in Acadia is typically from June through September. And if you visit during that time, then most everything should be open for you. You should be able to get in there and really fully explore the park. So, as a first-time visitor, I highly recommend trying to visit between June and September if you can.

Um, if you want to go during the shoulder seasons, if you like to go before it gets too busy, um, or before the main season starts, that’s okay. There are just a couple things you’ll want to be aware of. Um, first of all, Acadia has what’s known as a mud season and that’s in the spring. That’s, um, kind of April, May, um, sometimes in March when the snow starts to melt and everything just gets really muddy.

Um, so it’s hard to hike.

It’s not that enjoyable, honestly. Um, the carriage roads are typically closed at that time. Um, and so if you’re wanting to go in the spring, just be aware that that is known as mud season for a good reason. Um, if you want to go after September, if you’re hoping to maybe catch some fall colors or really enjoy the park, um, when it gets a little bit quieter, then October is fine. But typically, things start closing down and will be almost fully closed down.

By the middle of October. So, I’m talking about campgrounds, visitor centers, things like that. Um, the roads a lot of times will stay open a little bit longer, but any amenities in the park, uh, typically are closed down by mid-October. So, you’ll just want to keep that in mind, uh, as you’re planning when you want to be in Acadia National Park. If you’re still on the fence about when you want to visit the park, go to Distiny Shoes.

com. I have a full article about the best time to visit Acadia. It’s broken down by month and so you can see exactly what to expect month by month, what’s going to be open, what’s going to be closed, what you can get to and activities that you can do. So that will definitely help if you’re wanting a little bit more information to make the decision about when the best time to visit Acadia is for you. And the fifth thing that you want to know about Acadia National Park before you go is that all 42, 000 of the acres that make up Acadia National Park were privately donated.

Uh, why this is important is it just, it adds an extra layer to the history and the appreciation of this national park. Acadia is the first national park that was created off of all donated lands, private lands. that people pooled together to create a national park. So basically, what happened in this area was it was a very popular tourist destination and a lot of people were coming, and it was getting really busy. And the people that lived on the island wanted to preserve the land for future generations.

And so, they got together 5, 000 acres of land that they gave to the federal government and a national monument was created. A few years later, uh, they had some more land to give and they formed, uh, into a national park. And so, as time has gone on, uh, some more land has been added, but, um, now Acadia is 42, 000 acres and it’s all from privately donated land. So that’s pretty cool.

As you’re in the area, you’ll see, you know, a lot of the roads, especially the carriage roads and things like that, were privately donated.

It was from people’s money that they just gave to go into the construction of this park and into really setting aside the land for what it is. Today when we’re here. And so it just adds an extra layer. Again, it’s just, it makes it more interesting as you’re exploring the park and as you’re really seeing, um, you’ll see some really cool structures. Um, you’ll notice that Acadia is.

It’s kind of pieced together a little bit. You can tell, um, because there’s towns in between some of the sections of the park.

Um, you’ve got like the Scudic Peninsula that is all the way over across the bay. Um, and you’ve got Isle of Ho, which is, um, again, another area that’s just not connected to the main park area. Um, and that’s because these areas were publicly donated to the federal government.

for protection within the national park. So, uh, it’s pretty cool as you’re exploring around. It just makes it interesting and fun.

And so, I wanted to make sure you knew that because that is an important part of Acadia’s history. Okay, so there are your tips for visiting Acadia National Park.

Five things that you definitely want to know before you go so that your trip can be enhanced and just exactly the way that you want it to be. That you can really get in there and explore. Explore and appreciate what you’re seeing in beautiful Acadia National Park. If you need any additional help planning your trip, click on over to the Dirt in My Shoes YouTube channel. You can subscribe there, and I’ve got more Acadia videos coming.

Or you can go to Distiny Shoes. com where I have a bunch of articles that will help you plan out your trip so that you can make your dream trip a reality.

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