What To Know About Acadia National Park Before You Visit
And While You're Here
Acadia National Park
Every year millions of people visit Acadia National Park
You can get to the park in multiple ways and through multiple entrance points. If you are tech savvy and have a smart phone or tablet, you can download the NPS App. It’s free! You can download it via the App Store and Google Play.
No app for you? Worried about the sometimes unstable cell service throughout the island? You can also check out one of the multiple books about the park and Mount Desert Island.
FOR PEOPLE WHO WAKE UP EARLY OR LIKE TO DO THINGS LATE
If you’re the sort of person who is out and about before 9 a.m., you’ve got it made. the park’s carriage roads, trails, regular roads, and summits all are less crowded in the early morning.
If you get a reservation to go up Cadillac for the sunrise, you’ll be one of the first in the United States to witness it on that day.
The most popular attractions also mellow out a bit in the late afternoon. Heading out to those popular spots after three will give you a bit more elbow room.
GETTING A PARK PASS AND RESERVATIONS
According to Acadia National Park:
First, you must get an entrance pass
All visitors must have one of these entrance passes:
Pass Price
Standard Pass $20.00–$35.00
Annual Pass $70.00
America the Beautiful Pass (includes Senior Passes) FREE–$80.00
Help me choose an entrance pass
FEES
All Acadia National Park visitors are required to have and display a park entrance pass. For more information about entrance fees and where to buy your park pass, visit its Fees & Passes page.
Reservations and Timed Entry
Cadillac Summit Road Vehicle Reservations May 22–October 27 $6.00
Entrance Fee (Standard Entrance Pass)
Private Vehicle Year-round $35.00
Motorcycle Year-round $30.00
Per Person Year-round $20.00
Other Entrance Passes
Annual Park Pass $70.00
Cadillac Summit Road Vehicle Reservations Reservation
Vehicle reservations are not required for any other areas of the park, or for visitors who enter the area by foot, bike, or taxi. Vehicle reservations provide a timed entry, but do not require a departure time until 9 pm, when the road closes to vehicles. Reservations do not permit re-entry. Reservations are per vehicle, not per person. Reservations do not assign a specific parking space. Parking is prohibited outside of designated spaces. Cadillac is not served by the Island Explorer bus system.
2024 Free Entrance Days
All National Park Service sites offer free admission to everyone on the following days (other fees may apply). Mark your calendar for these entrance fee-free dates:
Monday, January 15 — Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Saturday, April 20 — First Day of National Park Week
Wednesday, June 19 — Juneteenth
Sunday, August 4 — The Great American Outdoors Act
Saturday, September 28 — National Public Lands Day
Monday, November 11 — Veterans Day
A TINY BIT OF HISTORY
The park was initially established in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson. It had a mere 6,000 ares then. Now, it’s over 49,000. That’s about half of all of Mount Desert Island. It’s also on a few smaller local islands and the Schoodic Peninsula.
You can find out a lot more about the history of Acadia and its towns by going here. Or, you can also search our site for features and stories by looking up ‘history.’
WAYS TO GET AROUND
THE ISLAND EXPLORER
This fare-free bus takes you all around Mount Desert Island.
BIKING AND HIKING AND WALKING
Here’s the thing: Acadia National Park has trails and carriage roads and paths that allow you to meander through or hike or stop and think. These trails and roads are beautifully interconnected, and there are 125 miles of them. Some are much harder than others, but people of all activity levels can find places to explore.
THE CARRIAGE ROADS OR CARRIAGE TRAILS.
These roads are not for driving vehicles on. But, the 45 miles of crushed stone roads are good to go for bikes, runs, hikes, and when there’s snow, you can cross-country ski.
John D. Rockefeller Jr. wanted these roads to be built so that people could experience nature. And they were created between 1913 and 1940. There are 17 gorgeous bridges you’ll notice along the way. They tend to be about 16 feet wide and have high crowns for drainage.
Stone quarried on Mount Desert Island helped create these roads and they were meant to stay rustic looking and blend with the surrounding trees, blueberry barrens, ponds, and streams.
It’s a way to connect both to the natural world and to the time period that they were created.
DRIVING
There is a 27-mile Park Loop Road which goes along the cliffs of Mount Desert Island, through some of the forests and has various scenic turn-outs. This road will bring you to Thunder Hole and Sand Beach, which are two very popular spots.
OPERATING HOURS
For more information about Acadia National Park visitor centers and campgrounds, please visit its Operating Hours & Seasons page. There are seasonal closures for campgrounds, visitor centers, and the Park Loop Road. There also can be weather related closures for some locations.
All Park Hours
Acadia National Park is open year-round. Check its website for park facilities operating hours, such as Hulls Cove Visitor Center.
MAPS
To find maps of the park, check out Acadia’s website.
VISITORS’ CENTERS
Hulls Cove Visitor Center
Located close to Bar Harbor off Route 3, the Hulls Cove Visitor Center is Acadia’s main visitor contact station and transportation hub from May into October. It is a popular, and often crowded, first stop for many visitors. It is adjacent to an entrance for the park's iconic 27-mile Park Loop Road and it serves as a key stop for several routes on the fare-free Island Explorer bus system. From a large parking lot, visitors must climb 52 steps to the main entrance. There is a separate accessible entrance.
Sieur de Monts Nature Center
Sieur de Monts Nature Center has visitor services, hiking information, and interactive exhibits. It acts as a trailhead for many hiking trails starting in the Sieur de Monts area. Park rangers are present during the spring, summer, and fall months.
Thompson Island Information Center
Thompson Island Information Center is located off Route 3 on a small island between the mainland and Mount Desert Island. It is a small, seasonal facility usually staffed by a park ranger and local chamber of commerce representative. Park passes are available for purchase here.
Winter Months
During winter months, typically the end of October into early May, visitor information is hosted at the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, 2 Cottage St., the corner of Cottage and Main.
For news stories about the Park, just search Acadia National Park or ANP in our archive or the toolbar.