Evergreen Yurts:
With a lot of hard work, a family's dream becomes reality
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Swan Agency Real Estate.
BAR HARBOR—It’s the fall of 2024, and Kaitlin Hodgkins has a baby on her hip, juggling a baby shoe, a blanket, a cell phone that’s going into her pocket, and so many other things as she surveys Evergreen Yurts, her family’s new yurt campground in Bar Harbor.
She laughs, adjusts the baby, thinks, and then decides a stroller for a bit might be the best option. Or maybe a baby sling that she straps on. That lets her be more mobile. Maybe both, actually?
“It’s so fun,” she says of the campground, her family, her life. “It’s a lot. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
What qualifies as ‘a lot’ for Kaitlin Hodgkins would qualify as a monstrously large, huge and big deal for most of us. But Kaitlin is the sort of person who is both brilliant and easygoing with a quick laugh and self-deprecating humor that underlines a keen intellect. She makes it all look—if not necessarily easy for most of us—definitely doable and fun for her. She’s passionate about the people she loves and the things she does. That passion shows as she explains her choices for the Evergreen Yurt’s office, for her staff, for the trail system, and the land that it all rests on.
“Josh said that when he had the land surveyed, they were able to find documentation that this property has been in his family since 1901,” Kaitlin says.
They speculate that it's been in Josh Hodgkins’ family longer, there is just not any documentation for it that goes back further.
But it’s more than land, it’s more than a campground. It’s a legacy for a family that has known a deep loss and great love.
Josh’s father, Raymond Hodgkins, a fisherman, was overdue on June 18, 1990. His life raft was found unopened and adrift as was a hatch cover, but Raymond wasn’t recovered.
“Because Raymond was lost at sea, this property is his legacy to Josh. I know (in my heart) that he would be so proud of him,” Kaitlin says.
Now, their children scamper, play, and explore on that land that Raymond left. On that land, they’ve also built Evergreen Yurts, a homage, but also a way of life that includes welcoming other families, couples, and solo travelers to their series of cozy and beautiful yurts.
Dark-eyed juncos hop skirt in and out of the evergreen branches, calling to each other. Robins scamper on the ground-cover areas near a Pacific yurt. In the creek, a heron surveys the water. A frog rests by tree roots.
“Josh has been incredible with all his help,” Kaitlin says of constructing the campground at the edge of Acadia National Park. “Between the two of us, he has truly done all of the heavy lifting during the building phase of our project.”
The couple found out that Kaitlin was pregnant in the summer of 2023. It limited some of the building and heavy lifting Kaitlin could do. It did not, however, stop them.
“Josh also took the initiative with planning on when to expect certain jobs to start and be completed in addition to managing the details needed to reach our goal on opening this summer,” she says. “I particularly appreciated all his support with my design and vision for the business. He knew it would be great, and that support is unbelievable. We're family owned and operated and have worked very hard together to achieve so much.”
What they’ve achieved is a retreat in nature, away from the hustle and bustle of downtown proper and the sometimes crowded Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park. The 24’ yurts tuck into the woods by Northeast Creek. Each has a bathroom, kitchen, futon couch, queen-sized bed. There’s a heat pump that heats and cools in each as well.
Quirky? Yes. Right out in the woods at 30 Creekside Road? Yes? Beautiful inside? Absolutely. There’s something magical about Evergreen Yurts, but that isn’t necessarily because the locally owned and family run campground is comprised of yurts instead of buildings or tent platforms or one big hotel.
The magic is more about the people who run it, people who have cared for the trails that whisper around the site that’s adjacent both to the creek and the park, people who come from people who have loved this land for over a century, caring for it, dreaming about it.
“I would say that I (personally) love creating things. It feels incredibly special and so honored to be able to have the support to start a new business and grow our new adventure. It is immensely gratifying that we are creating a space and a place to love and share our land that has been mostly wilderness for so long. Having Josh's support on starting a new business has been essential since he has had the experience of it as well as building before we met. I have approached this experience as an opportunity to learn, it's been a lot of growth and I'm so thankful to have the help and resources,” Kaitlin says.
While yurt campgrounds are newer businesses in Hancock County, yurts themselves have been around for well over 3,000 years. The circular structures, like the ones from Pacific Yurts, provide sturdy shelters.
“It has been surreal seeing everything come together and that our plans have taken life. For a long time, the land has not been used and little by little we have made it more accessible in the best possible way. We hope that travelers have the most memorable stay at Evergreen Yurts with their loved ones in Bar Harbor. The time spent together in a yurt is unique and will forever be cherished as a good time in a comfortable space with their loved ones,” Kaitlin says.
The campground went before the Bar Harbor Planning Board back in 2022 with its proposal for multiple one-bedroom yurts and an upgrade for the existing drive to become a one-way looping road through the site.
Yurts are derived from Mongolian housing. The Pacific Yurts at Evergreen have a circular lattice framework. Wooden rafters create a dome. The frame is then wrapped. It creates an open and airy living space that’s easy to cool and warm.
Yurts also lend themselves to glamping, which is simply camping with some amenities. The design of yurts also creates structures which aren’t quite as permanent as hotels and cabins, making them feel closer to nature.
“I take pride in the ownership/management of Evergreen Yurts. I am responsible for all the things needed to run the business while Josh is mostly focused on property management and tending to the needs of C-Ray Lobster,” Kaitlin says.
C-Ray Lobster is their restaurant, which is located approximately 3 miles from the Thompson Island Bridge. It opens in May and features local seafood and blueberry pies.
“It's been a whirlwind and I'm so happy to share that it's been a success! I'm so proud of all the great reviews we have received so far and know that we will have an even better summer ahead in 2025,” Kaitlin says.
Also, this year? Two of the yurts will be dog friendly instead of just one.
The campground will open for the season in May 2025.
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