Visit to Acadia National Park

Here is a summary of our time in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island in Maine. This picture was taken while we were on top of Cadillac Mountain. The town and boats you can see down on the coast is Bar Harbor.

We found wild Maine blueberry bushes growing on top of Cadillac Mountain. Krista, Daniel, and I ate quite a few and managed to save some to take back for in ice cream. 

Cadillac Mountain was our first stop in Acadia National Park. The mountain is mostly bald rock and greenery growing within the rocks just like this picture shows. You can walk far and wide around the mountain seeing views in all directions 360 degrees. 

One attraction in Acadia is called Thunder Hole and we made this our second stop for a lookout. This is an area where during the right time of tide and the water will rush into a natural formed inlet in the rocks and it will sound like distant thunder rolling. Sometimes the water can splash as high as 40 feet up onto the rocks. We unfortunately were not there at the right time of day to hear the thunder sounds. We sat on top of the rocks and enjoyed listening to the waves crashing on the rocks and looking out at the incredible view of the ocean and land around.

We are sitting atop a rock here that was about 30 feet above the ocean waves and right above the natural inlet known as Thunder Hole. It was refreshing to sit and feel the winds and hear the ocean waves crashing.

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse was our third stop in the park. Bar Harbor is not the only town on Mount Desert Island surrounding Acadia National Park. Another town is Bass Harbor and is on the far southwest side of the island. It took us about 30 minutes to drive along the coast to this side of the island. We were all looking forward to seeing a lighthouse. And then we arrived. Everyone was expecting a much taller lighthouse, but this was only 2 stories. It was still incredible views looking out at the ocean. Next time, we'll have to plan to go check out some other lighthouses close by on the Maine coast.

Soaking up the sun on the rocks. We had to walk down some steep set of stairs to get down to these rocks and look back at the lighthouse. A coast guard family currently lives in the lighthouse.

Our view from the lighthouse. Sailboats out for the day

I was thrilled to make it to Sand Beach. It was a day of clear skies and beautiful temperatures in the 70s so I was ready for sitting on a beach listening to the waves and relaxing. This was our final stop in Acadia. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, sand beaches are usually hidden gems on the coast of Maine. There are not sand beaches stretching for miles and miles. This beach in Acadia was named Sand Beach. The beach was within a cove. You could walk from one end of the beach to the other in less than 10 minutes. This was one end of the beach looking right. 

Then you look left and here is the other end of the beach. The Atlantic Ocean this far north is cold anywhere you go. Krista and I walked in to our ankles and that was enough for us. We were amazed to see some people diving right into the waters. That would be a shock to your body! You could see the shock on their faces when they came up after diving in. 

Although the water wasn't warm for swimming, the beach was perfect for some resting, reading, and relaxing. 

What a relaxing way to end our day before heading to Bar Harbor for a dinner in town.