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Old 07-06-2015, 11:51 AM   #1
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Acadia National Park & Bar Harbor

We are planning to visit Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor next year...the time frame is one week. The distance from our home is apprx. 900 miles.
Any suggestions that we can best utilize our time?
How about RV parks?
Thanks in advance...
Tiffany
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Old 07-06-2015, 12:06 PM   #2
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Tiffany, what my wife and I do for all trips is leave the night before right after work or whatever. We set a desired drive time and miles and pull into a rest stop, some folks use WalMarts etc. to spend the night. In our view its like adding another half day to our trip. With your trip in mind I would drive 250-300 miles the night before and then break up the remaining 600-650 into two days, stopping after 300-400 miles at a nice campground no later than 4 PM. Have a nice camp dinner and perhaps a nice glass of wine or two and a camp fire. Early turn in. The next day breakfast sandwiches and coffee and hit the road. Now your distance is relatively short and you get to spend more time in and around Bar Harbor, adding almost another day there.
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Old 07-07-2015, 06:22 AM   #3
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Good idea - we did just as you described on our way out west this past June. We found many camp grounds didn't permit camp fire by the site though...
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Old 07-07-2015, 06:28 AM   #4
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I was told by a camper who lives in Maine the biting flies are bad in June. They recommended a late summer/early fall trip instead. We're going in September.
Let's see what other folks who've been there think....
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Old 07-07-2015, 06:36 AM   #5
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Please post pictures when you can:-) We plan to do this next July or August...we are in Ohio and knowing the temperature probably will be a bit hotter sometime in July especially when we barely surface from the long winter.
BTW, how did you get the picture inserted in your profile?
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Old 07-07-2015, 11:29 AM   #6
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We are looking at Acadia, no plans yet but would appreciate everyone's ideas!
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Old 07-07-2015, 11:31 AM   #7
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Definitely bring your bicycles. Arcadia is great bike riding. Bar Harbour is not too bad for biking, but busy. Great times to be had. We loved the area. Oh, the lobster rolls!!!
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Old 07-07-2015, 12:00 PM   #8
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Tiffany, what my wife and I do for all trips is leave the night before right after work or whatever. We set a desired drive time and miles and pull into a rest stop, some folks use WalMarts etc. to spend the night. In our view its like adding another half day to our trip. With your trip in mind I would drive 250-300 miles the night before and then break up the remaining 600-650 into two days, stopping after 300-400 miles at a nice campground no later than 4 PM. Have a nice camp dinner and perhaps a nice glass of wine or two and a camp fire. Early turn in. The next day breakfast sandwiches and coffee and hit the road. Now your distance is relatively short and you get to spend more time in and around Bar Harbor, adding almost another day there.
Ditto here we are going to east coast then up coast to Maine I know how far I'm going to drive Have reserved CG's till we leave New York City. Done the same thing going to West coast worked out great.
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Old 07-07-2015, 12:02 PM   #9
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We are leaving on 7/15 for a 2 week trip through Sturbridge, Bar Harbor, St. John, Halifax and Digby. We will be in Bar Harbor area for 4 days and are staying at Oceanside KOA. Will post after our return!
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Old 07-07-2015, 12:15 PM   #10
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Also planning a trip to Bar Harbor next year in July or August always nice to plan your trips in advance and read what other people's suggestions and advice are.
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Old 07-07-2015, 12:46 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by KyDan View Post
I was told by a camper who lives in Maine the biting flies are bad in June. They recommended a late summer/early fall trip instead. We're going in September.
Let's see what other folks who've been there think....
Depends on which biting flies are out at the time-no see ums,black flies,mosquitoes and of course deer flies. Spent the first week of June outside of Bar Harbor and didnt seem to be a problem. Ive been going to Acadia for years at various times and unless your in the deep woods just taking the proper insect repellant along will do you. Walked and rode the carriage trails and had agrand old time. Do a search for Acadia at the top of the page I have done a few posts about one of my favorite spots in New England
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Old 07-07-2015, 02:43 PM   #12
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Encore

We have been in ME when the black flies were out. Not good. However we are going to Narrows Two campground. It's a free promotion we received from Lazy Days dealer in FL where we bought our Cedar Creek 38CK and we LOVE IT. Encore/thousand trails is giving us 14 days of free camping to try their membership. So I will let you know when we get back. We are going Sept 9-14 Narrows Two is in Trenton near Bar Harbor. Anyone had memberships to Thousand Trails?
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Old 07-07-2015, 02:53 PM   #13
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We are in TN - and have a 6-7 week trip planned to Bar Harbor for September. We are doing "one nighters" until we get to RI and are there 2 nights. We are avoiding Yonkers (due to the heavy traffic, a 40' MH with a tow) and have changed up our route a bit by staying in Florida, NY and then on to Portland, ME for 3 nights and then to Trenton, ME (the Narrows Too Campground)for the next week (just down the road from the Trenton Lobster Pound -YUM). Return trip takes us down through NH and across to Lake Placiid for a week, then down to the Poconoas for another week. Next stop is Lancaster, PA for a week before moseying back to TN. Because of the time of year and the Fall colors, we have confirmed reservations both ways. You might check Acadia's website & confirm they can handle your rig. And, I believe (& of course could be wrong) but I don't think they take reservations, and am not sure if they have hookups. Just a suggestion......
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Old 07-07-2015, 02:56 PM   #14
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The ONLY lobster rolls to eat are at Red's Eats in Wiscasset Maine- It's on RT 1 on the way to Bar Harbor.
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Old 07-07-2015, 03:22 PM   #15
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Acadia NP and the surrounding area is one of our very favorite places in the USA. We are originally from upstate NY and have vacationed in Maine nearly every year for 30 years. We've been blessed to be able to travel around our beautiful country, but Acadia NP is still one of our favorites. In fact, we are now full timers and spending 5 months at Forest Ridge Campground in Ellsworth, because they have very nice and reasonable seasonal sites about 1/2 hour or so from Mt. Desert Island and a few minutes more to the park entrance. The campground has large pull through sites with full hookups, 50 amp, cable TV, and good wifi. The owners are super people. The biting black flies are done for this year and the mosquitoes aren't bad. There are a number of pretty nice campgrounds on the island. We stayed at Hadley's Point Campground for many years. It's a very nice campground with wonderful owners and staff, but they don't have the seasonal site we were looking for this year.

We used to tow a trailer from near Rochester, NY to Hadley's Point ( around 630 miles) in one long day using the NY thruway, Mass. Turnpike, 490, and I95. It took about 11 hours with stops. Now we would take 2 days for that trip in our MH.

Bar Harbor is a nice tourist trap and a pretty scenic harbor. Don't miss walking the shore path. It provides fantastic views of the harbor, islands, and cruise ships when they're in.

Taking your time along the park loop road is a must, checking out Sand Beach, the Ocean Path, Thunder Hole if waves are rolling at about half tide, Otter Cliffs, Otter Point, Jordan Pond and the must see drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain to name a few highlights. As someone else mentioned, walking or biking the carriage roads should definitely be on the list. The carriage roads at Jordan Pond and Eagle Lake are some of our favorites, but they are all beautiful and no motorized vehicles are allowed, just pedestrians, bikes, and horses. There are nearly 50 miles of carriage roads. There are whale watching and lighthouse boat tours, lobsters and lobster rolls, and several quaint towns around the island to explore.

A stop at the visitor center will help set you up. There are so many other area attractions, you'll never run out of wonderful things to experience.

I hope you have a wonderful time. Be careful and drive slow in the area. Traffic can be pretty heavy this time of year. And campgrounds fill quickly, particularly on the weekend.
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Old 07-07-2015, 03:34 PM   #16
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Santa Bob and I went there this year. We are from Georgia. Loved it. We stayed at the KOA Oceanside RV park. We had a great spot, on the water and the views were wonderful. We got there early June and didn't have any problems with flies. We heard the same thing... Call and reserve ahead as the spots will go quickly during your time. We met some great folks, and went into the part with them. The KOA has lobster dinners each evening for those who want them. Don't try to drive an RV in the park...there are too many tunnels. The views are wonderful. Got to see Thunder falls. I think that's the name. Beautiful.

In addition, there is a great little restaurant in Bar Harbour that has the best Wild blueberry pancakes I've ever eaten. Jordan's. You will want to take some of the pancake mix and syrup home. Have a great time.

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Old 07-07-2015, 03:35 PM   #17
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By the way, KyDan is correct. The black flies can be pretty nasty in May and June, particularly bad in the northern mountain areas.

We've been here about every time of year, but late September and early October is generally a wonderful time of year if you don't have to worry about kids in school. It's much less crowded and the fall colors can be stunning.
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Old 07-07-2015, 06:10 PM   #18
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Beautiful place to stay, plenty of things to see and do and it's all good. An older resident at Kentucky lake years ago told us to use dish soap to stop biting flies. Just rub in on the exposed skin like lotion. Any brand with conditioners will smell good, stop the biting and showers off.
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Old 07-07-2015, 06:33 PM   #19
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Thanks warmly and sincerely for all your input. I think we have started prepping for this trip last week and from all the posts, we are sure that we have chosen a right place to go. We plan to spend one week there and vacation another week at Biltmore estate in North Carolina then to smoky's in Tennessee the month before. We take family vacations seriously due to both our crazy work schedules. Every summer and fall we use this time to seriously reconnect with our kids...and we know we have done a good job when we are told we get on their nerves
From hotel style travel to time share ownership to RVing, we wish we had done this much earlier. We have met many folks who are generous in sharing and helping out at camp grounds but mostly, we are always together outdoors.
Can't say enough good things about camping for sure
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Old 07-07-2015, 06:47 PM   #20
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We are leaving on 7/15 for a 2 week trip through Sturbridge, Bar Harbor, St. John, Halifax and Digby. We will be in Bar Harbor area for 4 days and are staying at Oceanside KOA. Will post after our return!

There was a guy at Oceanside that would fix you a lobster, corn on the cob, slaw & drink and bring it to your campsite. Was $20 per plate a couple year ago when we were there. Seemed like a good deal. We enjoyed it.

Russell.
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