Biking & Hiking Acadia
 

We will be in Bar Harbor in a week and wanted to bike and hike in Acadia. Poissibly sea kayak. Any recs for rental shops?

What are the besat hiking and biking options, trails etc?

Thanks.

We are also going to Bar Harbor soon and would like the same info. Will have 3 children with us (9, 11 and 15) - so looking for hiking and biking trails that they could manage. Also interested in sea kayaking - is this appropriate for kids? Thanks for any help you can give!

When you get there, buy a map for a couple of dollars of Mount Desert Island & Acadia National Park, Complete Hiking Trail & Carriage Road. It outlines all the biking & hiking trails, all the lakes & ponds, and all the park roads.

Make sure you hike up to Bubble Rock -- great views. Take a picnic lunch to Cadillac Mountain.

There are all kinds of kayak places -- too many to recommend a place.

Acadia is a great place!! ((b))

We've done hiking, biking, and sea kayaking in Acadia a number of times. The best source of information that I've found is:

An Outdoor Family Guide to Acadia National Park (Outdoor Family Guides)
by Lisa Gollin Evans

It has good trail descriptions, and good sugestions for various day-trips. We're heading back (for the 5th time!) in about a month, and will bring this book again.

cio:
You didn't mention if this is for adults and/or kids. If only adults, or older kids, we really enjoy the Beehive for great views and a sense of achievement. It's only 1 1/2 miles, 542' high, but you use iron rungs to help yourself up and over rocks. The main reason I don't suggest it for kids, is that we went with a 5' tall woman, and she had trouble reaching between some of the rungs.

BBEAR and cio:
For something different, that I think the kids would particularly like, take one of the trips out to some of the islands. Besides the ranger led trips, we've taken a boat to Little Cranberry Island, and just walked around on our own. Especially enjoyed eating our lunch on the wide, flat rocks along the water.

For biking, take the boat to Swan Island (we left from SW Harbour and rented bikes there) After biking for a while, we took a short walk to an overlook above an old quarry for outstanding views and snack stop. Then heading the other direction, dropped our bikes again for a short walk to a wonderful fine sand beach with millions of baby sand dollars. Sorry I don't know the exact name of these places, but you'll see it on a map of the island.

we rented last month at Acadia Bike in downtown Bar Harbor. They were very organized and made rental a snap. They also do kayak tours.

Take plenty of water on the bike ride as there is nowhere to refill y our bottle.

I'd also recommend 'A Walk in the Park' as a hiking guide. Although there are more dramatic trails, we've always enjoyed the hike around Jordan Pond, ending with popovers at Jordan Pond House. One great tip we've put to good use over the years on the more popular, circular hikes is to hike the trail backwards. That way, you're not traveling with a crowd.

We're there in August. I can't wait.

dbenya,

How recently have you done the walk around Jordan Pond? We enjoyed it a number of years ago (good choice for a rainy/misty day when trails with views would have been pointless), but when we tried it again last Sept, we found that they had put a boardwalk in the entire west(?) side of the lake. Good for the environment, but no fun for walking.

We'll be there in August, too!

Hi, elberko
We were last there in August 02 (last summer we went out West). I'm so sorry to hear that part of the trail has been 'improved' since then. It was always the most fun. We once raced the sunset on that side, passing the toddler back and forth as it got darker, colder, darker . . . We decided it would be best to start earlier the next year ;-)

We just returned from our trip to Bar Harbor - unfortunately this area has had many days of fog this month and we also had some rainy days. Wouldn't have been so bad except that we were camping and spent most of our time very soggy!

On a more positive note, we did have a good time. Some highlights include sea kayaking (rented from Coastal Kayak since they offered a family trip and accepted children under age 10), dinner and a movie at Reel Pizza and a Sat night all you can eat BBQ at Atlantic Brewing Co.
We also enjoyed mini golf at Pirates Cove.

As far as Acadia goes here's what we did:
-9 yr old and DH went to a Ranger talk on Beech Mtn so he could earn his Jr Ranger Badge. It was geared toward kids (called discovering the forest) and they really enjoyed the hike and learning about the plants, animals, etc.
-Hiked to Bubble Rock - rated "moderate" and was a fun hike with great views at the top!
-Drove to top of Cadillac Mtn for another Ranger talk. Was very foggy, so we couldn't see much.
-Started Beehive and Ocean Walks but had to stop due to rain.
- Hiked Wonderland trail (near Seawall campground) - easy walk through forest to rocky shoreline with lots of great tide pools!
- Had planned to rent bikes but had to cancel due to rain.

Also enjoyed eating lobstah at the little roadside stands where you choose your lobster and they boil them in seawater outside. Kids loved it!

I would recommend stopping at the Visitor Ctr first - sign up for any interesting ranger programs and the rangers will help you plan hikes, etc.
Also, only need a 1-day advance reservation for kayaks and bike rentals, but it is best to reserve ahead. Traffic wasn't bad - we drove everywhere but many people took advantage of the Island Explorer - a free shuttle bus.

I would love to go back to take the carriage ride in the park, poke around in the shops (the boys only tolerate 15 min. maximum) and go on a seal or lighthouse boat tour, or explore some of the outlying islands.