23 Best Shopping in Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island, Maine

At this salon-inspired gallery, relax on antique furniture while gazing at framed paintings, mostly of island and coastal Maine scenes, that fill the dark walls. Opened in 1996 and representing approximately 30 artists of national renown who live, summer, or paint on Mount Desert Island, works range from $500–$10,000. The owner's background is in art history, and she warmly welcomes even those who are "just looking" and shares her art knowledge, especially the stories of painters who've been drawn to the island since the 1800s.

As advertised, there are both "rocks" and "art" for sale at this eclectic family-owned store. There are also taxidermied animals, fossils, home decor and plants, interesting jewelry, and bath products. There are also stores in Bangor and Ellsworth.

Cozy up in this small store, filled with the company's elegantly packaged all-natural teas. Ingredients are blended right in town in small batches. Pots and tea accessories, and of course a large selection of cups, are also sold.

One of the best sporting-goods stores in the state, Cadillac Mountain Sports has developed a following of locals and visitors alike. Here you'll find top-quality climbing, hiking, boating, paddling, and camping equipment, and in winter you can rent cross-country skis, ice skates, and snowshoes.

All over the world at Christmas, folks hang stockings knitted by the proprietor, who you're likely to find needles in hand at this homestead shop. There are large and small stockings and, yes, designs include a red lobster on a green background. Other craft items and used goods, including books, are also sold. From a long line of islanders, the owner displays old family photos and wood toys her great-grandfather made for sale to tourists. 

You can buy a vase or sailboat sculpture made of granite in the self-serve shop in one of the small buildings at this old granite quarry. If you blow the horn, as advised, owner Obadiah Bourne Buell may appear. His stone business, also here, makes practical and sculptural granite pieces for gardens and homes, "upcycling" the blocks of granite that are all about. Buell grew up and lives on this ethereal land, where rain long ago filled the old quarries, and has created a large year-round public garden (free, donations welcome) with granite sculptures large and small; granite benches, tables, fire pit, and pizza oven; and trails, flower beds, and charming signage (even when asking folks to stay back from the work area) and more. Ping pong anyone? Yes, the table is granite, and the paddles and balls are provided.

It’s worth the trip down the long dirt drive to Gull Rock Pottery. Sculpture dots serene grounds with a knockout view of Cadillac Mountain across Frenchman Bay. The shop sells the owner's dishware and lamps, with either hand-painted blue and white depictions of local wildlife, flowers, and water scenes, or a rust-color or celadon glaze. The etchings, prints, and jewelry are made by the potter's husband, who also created most of the sculpture. Open year-round, but it's by chance or appointment in the off-season.

Heron-patterned dinnerware is one of the specialties at Hog Bay Pottery, which also sells knitted items and handspun and natural-died yarns. A husband and wife run this year-round homestead shop: he's the potter, she's the knitter and spinner.

Works by more than 100 Maine artisans are sold here, including basketry, pottery, fiber work, embossed paper, wood bowls and objects, and jewelry.

With a selection of organic and natural foods, and soup, sandwiches, salads, baked goods, and coffee to go, John Edwards Market is a pleasant option whether you’re packing a picnic or stocking the kitchenette at your rental. Downstairs, a wine cellar and an art gallery showcase work by area artists. Wine tastings are on the first Friday of the month 5--7 pm.

This family-owned and operated store brings Southwest Indian jewelry to Maine. They sell sterling silver jewelry in Navajo, Zuni and Hopi designs, as well as a variety of handmade crafts. 

About 100 yards from the entrance to Acadia National Park's Schoodic District is the production facility and year-round store for this brand of paraben- and sulfate-free all-natural soaps. While the soaps are sold at retailers throughout New England, you can also buy Prospect Harbor's other products, like wild blueberry shea butter/ jojoba lotion, Vagabond men's bath items, and soy candles in the shiplap-walled shop. There are also apple jams and maple syrup made by other small Maine businesses, and in the fall, the owner's honey until it's sold out.

You should be able to find what you need for your kitchen at Rooster Brother. On the first floor of a towering Victorian building, specialty foods, fresh cheese, baked goods, wines (including a nice selection of sherry and port), and house-roasted coffee are on offer and samples are always available. Upstairs is a huge collection of cooking items and pretty much everything for your table.

Some 4,000 pieces of statement-making jewelry from artisans worldwide are displayed in this spacious store. Most pieces cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, but there are $10 items, and perhaps a $60,000 diamond necklace—you can always just look. Maine-made works include owner Sam Shaw’s unique 18kt gold bracelets, rings, and necklaces created with birch twigs. On nice summer days, glass wall panels open to a small “view garden” out back. Also come summer, the walls serve as an art gallery, with new shows and a Thursday evening opening every two weeks.

In a cute tiny red building with a welcoming porch at the end of Bernard Road across from Thurston's Lobster Pound, this shop stays open into the evening. Smart, tasteful offerings include home decor, original art, body and bath products, jewelry, and summer clothing. Many items have sea or nautical themes, such as seashell earrings and float rope door mats. 

Right downtown, this welcoming shop sells an array of items—everything from jewelry and wood cutting boards to American Girl doll clothing and photography and paintings. Whoever waits on you can show you their own wares, as some of the 75 or so artisans and artists whose works are represented own and run the shop.

Ann and Paul Breeden’s Spring Woods Gallery, nestled between their home and a large shade garden for visitors, is illuminated by a tall arched window. Local farm animals appear often in her colorful, playful oil paintings. His strikingly realistic acrylic paintings capture the intensity of the Maine Coast. Sculpture and paintings by their children are also sold at this welcoming gallery just off U.S. 1 in Sullivan. Folks are welcome to come just for the tranquil garden. 

In a late 1800s commercial building on Main Street, natural light washes into both floors of this large rectangular gallery. Offering an arresting mix of paintings in a host of mediums and styles by nationally acclaimed contemporary artists, a specialty—not found at many such top-tier galleries—is fine art or sculpted furniture. There is also sculpture.

Fine china, and lots of it, is front and center at this upscale small department store in downtown Northeast Harbor. Many patterns are formal, yet one big seller is a line of dishes embellished with a red lobster or a blue octopus. Among the other impeccably arrayed offerings: kitchen items, toys, home decor, and children’s clothing. A sister store with uber-nice women’s apparel is down the street.

Filling two stories and a lower level, this one-of-a-kind and even out-of-this-world shop is chock full of books (for adults and kids), toys (many educational), and other items (of the gift variety), all relating to science and nature. But there’s much more in this store, located in an old-fashioned commercial strip just up from Seal Harbor beach. Part museum, each room and space is fantastically painted and designed around a theme, like the moon, earth, or dinosaurs. Items for sale are grouped accordingly, as are exhibits, many of them interactive. Students from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor were involved in creating the store.

Hand-cast bronze doorbells and wind chimes are among the items sold at this longtime Prospect Harbor studio. You can also buy finely crafted quilts, wood-fired pottery, and fine cabinetry and furniture made by the owner's family, as well as cards, wild blueberry jam, jewelry, and such by other Maine artisans. Ask for a tour of the foundry---you might even catch a "pour," done several times a week. Open June to mid-October and otherwise by chance or appointment.

Wendilee Heath O’Brien's paintings in watercolor, oil, pastel, Asian ink, and kinpakku (Japanese traditional gold leaf) are sold at her studio gallery, where visitors often catch the artist at work and are welcome to listen in if she's teaching a class. Many works depict Down East landscapes, perhaps with people or children in the scene, but her repertoire includes abstract works, still lifes, and portraiture. A whimsical garden path leads to this year-round gallery behind the artist’s home on Winter Harbor’s Main Street. Notecards featuring her work (buy 10 and get one free!) and another artist's pottery are also sold.