Exploring Acadia National Park: COVID-19

Acadia National Park had been on my bucket list for a while. Having been working from home for six months straight due to COVID-19, I kept putting off taking vacation because I thought we'd be back in the office at some point. Since that clearly wasn't happening and our trip to Costa Rica was cancelled due to the pandemic, Sam and I decided to take a drive to the northern most New England state, Maine.

Maine currently (as of 9/29/20) has a list of states that are allowed to enter without restrictions, but naturally Delaware was not one of those states. This meant we needed to either quarantine for two weeks upon arrival, or get negative COVID-19 tests within 72 hours of arrival. Sam and I were able to do the latter and skip the quarantine bit, which would've posed a great issue for a one-week vacation. I had heard that out of state license plates were getting pulled over to verify their negative test or plans to quarantine, but we neither got stopped nor saw anyone else getting stopped.

If you're more interested in the lobster rolls around Bar Harbor then I've created a separate post just on my food recommendations!

Our itinerary kicked off by driving to stay at my friend Christie's in Boston for two nights. Being five hours from Delaware, it was an excellent midpoint for the almost ten hour drive to Acadia. From Boston to Acadia we added a few stops, namely Freehold for the flagship LL Bean store and Camden for a hike up Mount Battie, to break up the driving.

We would spend a full five days exploring Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. I've already written a post on the food in and around Bar Harbor, so this post is dedicated to the activities. Keep in mind we went the week after Labor Day, which meant fewer people and no cruise ships (a perk of COVID-19 as I've heard it can get extremely crowded with ships in port).

Acadia National Park Hiking

The Precipice (Elevation Gain: 1,060 feet)

This was definitely our favorite hike of the park. It involved rock scrambles, ladders and sharp drops at points. We parked in the Precipice Trail lot and I think we got the last open spot. Parking, at times, was tricky while in the park. The trick to this hike is not going down the way you go up. We initially wanted to go up Precipice and then down Champlain North Ridge Trail, but ended up going down the Beachcroft Path. This made for a rather lengthy walk back to the car. But at least the views were outstanding along the way.

Beehive Trail (Elevation Gain: 500 feet)
Our second favorite hike was basically a mini version of The Precipice. It had fun ladders and various climbing. This was also our very first hike in the park and gave us our first glimpse into what to expect as far as views. We parked at Sand Beach, which filled up fast after we arrived at 9am. This one gets packed because it's the gateway for several hikes, many of which are family friendly. Just like The Precipice, you don't want to go down the way you went up. So we took the Beehive Trail up and down to the Bowl Trail which led back to the beginning of the Beehive Trail.

Great Head Trail (Elevation Gain: 300 feet)

A hike with excellent views! This one is right off of Sand Beach - you cross the beach to get to the trailhead and it's partially wooded and also right along the water. I would highly recommend this one for a moderately strenuous hike after Beehive. It's all right from the same parking lot...as long as you get a spot.

Cadillac North Ridge Trail (Elevation Gain: 1,020 feet)
Here is one where we missed the boat on parking. There were no spots left when we attempted to park at the base of this trail, which meant we needed to alter our plans. We decided to simply drive up Cadillac Mountain, where we found ample parking, and hike down and then back up. The views were outstanding, but we definitely felt worse going down than going back up. Ideally, you would start at the bottom and then catch a shuttle from the top back down to your car. Unfortunately the shuttles weren't running, and I also don't even know if that's an option. Regardless, this was an enjoyable hike and more traditional than a Precipice or Beehive.

South Bubble Rock Trail (Elevation Gain: 500 feet)
We waited for a bit to grab a parking spot, and then hit the South Bubble Rock Trail. We ended up at Bubble Rock, a precariously positioned "rock" that is highly-photographed for obvious reasons. Most people end up taking the Jordan Pond Loop trail down, but we did this one after one of the aforementioned hikes and were quite tired. Instead we scooted over to the next trail listed.

North Bubble Trail (Elevation Gain: 375 feet)
This one had lovely views of Jordan Pond, and was really quite quick in the grand scheme of things. Nothing of too much note on this one, but we did enjoy it.

Beachcroft Path Trail (Elevation Gain: 950 feet)
This is the easy alternative to hiking up The Precipice. You might remember this is the trail we accidently went down after we did that hike. Well then I accidentally thought it was a new hike and it took about three "Are you sure we haven't done this one?" questions from Sam before I gave in and admitted we had. It was still fun! And this time we found the Champlain North Ridge Trail to go back down (be careful to see which trail you're starting on at the top of the mountain).

Ocean Path (Elevation Gain: Basically 0)
This is a highly-trafficked family-friendly trail that goes from Sand Beach to some famous stops like Thunder Hole. We weren't too enamored with this one, but Thunder Hole was cool to see. Easier to simply park there because there are certainly more exciting hikes to do instead.

Acadia and Bar Harbor Activities

Biking the Carriage Roads

This was something I'd highly recommend. We rented our bikes from Acadia Bike Rentals for about $30 for the day. Luckily I had a bike rack in my car because it saved us from having to ride them up into Acadia National Park. Rather, We hitched them to the trunk and drove to the Hulls Cove Visitor Center. From there the Carriage Roads (no cars allowed) began and we enjoyed a lengthy ride around Eagle Lake and Jordan Pond. It was mostly rolling hills, although some bits more steep than others. Overall it was a very pleasant ride and I'd certainly go back to explore different carriage routes.

Touring with Lulu's Lobster Boat

I'll start off by saying I think we went on a day with rougher seas than normal. If it weren't for that and getting the middle seats, I'd say this was a fun thing to do. It was $35 per person and it was about two hours of seeing seals, learning about lobsters, and catching lobsters and crabs to later be sent right back into the ocean. This was more of a one and done tour and I wouldn't need to ever do it again, but it's something to do right in Bar Harbor.

Watching the sunset at (or near) Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

We attempted this and got turned away because, you guessed it, parking! There was no where to park on the road near the lighthouse other than the parking lot, which we didn't even get as far as due to a patroller blocking the way. Instead, we began to drive back toward Bar Harbor, took a left at the Post Office, and sat near the ferry to enjoy the sunset with some beers.

Stopping at Jordan Pond House

This is on every single to-do list for Acadia National Park. So that meant the line was lengthy, but the views were excellent. We each ate a signature popover right on the grass. I'd recommend it only for the sake of doing it, because the $4 popover seemed pricy for what it was. But hey, I'm cheap.

That was a lot for five days, and there was still a ton more to explore. I think we hit the highlights based on all of my research and chatting with friends prior to our trip. I'm open to recommendations for next time, because I'm sure there will be one!