Acadia National Park & Bar Harbor Self-Guided Driving & Walking Tour

Hulls Cove Visitor Center

We enter Maine's famous Acadia National Park at the Hull's Cove Visitor Center. As we begin to explore this beautiful natural preserve, we'll learn about the rich forests and why the foliage here is so vibrant in the fall.
Note: This 22+mile-long tour covers the essentials of Acadia and Bar Harbor bundle in 2-3 hours

Park Loop Road

Our self-guided driving tour enters the famous Park Loop Road of Acadia. We'll follow this loop all around the park, ending at the summit of Cadillac mountain.

The Jackson Laboratory

We'll then pass the beautiful Beaver Pond, where we'll catch a glimpse of some beavers and their dams if we're lucky. We'll also see Jackson Labs on the other side, and we'll learn about its impact on Bar Harbor.

Precipice Trail

As our tour continues, we'll pass the Precipice Trail. This is a great hike for those in the mood for a little physical detour. It's also home to the endangered peregrine falcon! These birds tend to build their nests on high rocky ledges, where non-flying animals can’t reach the eggs. The steep face of this mountain is perfect for that!

Egg Rock Overlook

This spot looks out over Bar Harbor’s Frenchman Bay. You might be able to spot a little island in the bay. This is the home of Egg Rock Lighthouse.

Ocean Path

Here we've got a second option for a detour: Ocean Path Trail. If the steep inclines of Pecipice Trail weren't your style, the gentle, winding path here is a great alternative.

Sand Beach

Next up: Sandy Beach! At just 290 yards long, the beach is small, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in fascinating natural history. You might notice a slight greenish tint to the sand. That’s because of the sea urchins!

Old Soaker

5 min

As we continue driving through Acadia, we'll pass Old Soaker. The waves crash against the vertical face of the rock, shooting water up into the air.

Thunder Hole

5 min

We'll also see Thunder Hole, a natural rock inlet where waves crash with a thunderous boom.

Monument Cove

5 min

Monument Cove is another example of the seemingly miraculous force of nature. Water and time have worn away at the granite over the centuries, leaving behind a twenty-foot tall pillar of rock that looks like a man-made sculpture.

Gorham Mountain Trailhead

5 min

As our tour continues through Acadia's Park Loop Road, Gorham Mountain rises to the right. The steep trail up this mountain features a false summit, where it appears to plateau before continuing up further. But both the false and real summit offers a wonderful view of the surrounding landscape!

Otter Cliff

5 min

Next up as we drive as the stunning Otter Cliff and Otter Cove. At the top of Otter Cliff, it’s a steep 110-foot drop down to the chilly Atlantic.

Bubbles Divide Trail

5 min

If this rock seems like it doesn’t belong here, that’s because it doesn’t. The same glacier that coasted over Jordan Pond also dragged this massive rock across the land and deposited it here.

Jordan Pond

5 min

Our self-guided tour brings us to Jordan Pond next. We'd highly recommend pausing here to appreciate the views and the restaurant. Jordan Pond was carved out of the earth twenty thousand years ago by a massive glacier.

Bubble Pond

5 min

Bubble Pond is another glacial remnant, hollowed out of the ground tens of thousands of years ago by a massive ice sheet descending on the island from the Arctic.

Eagle Lake Acadia National Park

5 min

Our drive brings us past Eagle Lake, which serves as the water source for Bar Harbor. It’s also a food source for local birds.

Cadillac Mountain Summit Trail

5 min

Finally, we begin the drive up to the summit of Acadia's crown jewel: Cadillac Mountain. The views from the top are unmatched!

Holy Redeemer Catholic Church

5 min

Next up are two churches. They’ll both leave an impression — but in totally different ways!

St. Saviour's Episcopal Church

5 min

You can’t miss the church because the most unique thing about it is its design. Or rather… lack of design! In fact, the building looks like it's made of several mismatched parts. Each one represents a different historical era.

Jesup Memorial Library

5 min

This little library's history goes all the way back to 1875. It all began with a casual conversation among some of Bar Harbor's wealthy summer residents. A public library would establish Bar Harbor as a REAL town. They pitched the idea to the town.

Abbe Museum

5 min

Pause here again, just past the School Street intersection. Look at the Abbe Museum on your right.

Village Green

5 min

Bar Harbor's Village Green has some star power behind it… the layout and landscaping were done by Beatrix Farrand, the woman who designed the White House's Rose Garden. Her design still remains intact to this day. You can't mess with perfection!

Frenchman Bay

5 min

You're walking along the coast of Frenchman Bay. Wait — why is it named for the French?
Simple! It's because of all the French expeditions that took place here in the 1500s. Long before the land could be settled by European colonists, it had to be charted, mapped and evaluated. France’s Samuel de Champlain did just that. While Spain’s conquistadors looked for gold in South America, the French focused on the fur trade in the North.

Balance Rock Inn

5 min

If this rock looks out of place here… that's because it is! Balance Rock is a glacial erratic. That means that a glacier pulled this boulder from a granite deposit up north and deposited it here.

Grant Park

5 min

Grant Park marks the site of a building that no longer stands. See the grassy area you're looking at right now? This was once a personal tennis court!

Bar Harbor Inn & Spa

5 min

Right next to Grant Park, on your left, you can't miss the sprawling seaside resort, Bar Harbor Inn.
In 1887, this building started out as the Mount Desert Reading Room: a place for the well-educated wealthy summer residents of Bar Harbor to meet and discuss literature. Back in the days before movie theaters and malls, this was one of the biggest social hubs in town!