bicycling-acadia Archives - Acadia National Park on My Mind

Ask Acadia on My Mind!

Another in a series of “Ask Acadia on My Mind!” Q&As

If you have a question about Acadia National Park on your mind, whether you’re a first-time visitor or long-time fan, leave a comment below, or contact us through the About us page. We may not be able to answer every question, or respond right away, but we’ll do our best. See our page linking in one place all the Q&As.

1) Appreciate your time to help us out. We will be first timers to Acadia. We’re going the end of July for 4 days and have made tent reservations at Blackwoods Campground. It will be just my wife and I. We’ve bought our 2 man tent ahead of time. We are 50 and in pretty good health for hiking/biking. We usually camp in a pop up but are tenting to save on travel and cost and for the convenience of not trailering. A few questions:
– Does it get cold for tent camping in July?
– We like to bike – is biking a good option to get around and see the sites?
– Is swimming an option nearby to Blackwoods?
– Can you recommend a good place to have lobster?
– Given we’re only there 4 nights, what would be the top 3 destinations we should hike or ride to?
Thanks so much for your help. – Steve and Janet

2) Hi, we were just wondering if it is possible to stay on a non-electric RV site in a tent only? Thanks! – Anna

3) We (family of 5) are thinking about visiting Acadia next week before the Island Explorer shuttle is running, but we are traveling in an RV. How difficult is it to maneuver through the park in an RV, or is there a place to park it and ride bikes in order to see the park? Can you bike to Bar Harbor easily? – Jaymi

Dear Steve and Janet, Anna, and Jaymi,

Of your 3 camping in Acadia National Park questions, we have to say Anna’s is the most unusual. Why would you want to tent out on a non-electric RV site? The only reason we could think of: Is it because all the tent-only sites for the dates you’re looking for are booked?

Blackwoods features 214 tent sites and 61 RV sites. (NPS photo)

In any event, Anna, we called Blackwoods Campground, where there are 61 non-electric RV sites, to ask that very question. As long as you set up the tent on the RV pad, you can, indeed, stay on a non-electric RV site, according to the park ranger. Policies may vary by campground, so you might want to check the campground you’re planning on staying at.

The Blackwoods direct line is (207) 288-3274; Seawall, (207) 244-3600; and Schoodic Woods, (207) 288-1300, according to the official campground reservation Web site, www.recreation,gov.

But as you may know, you cannot make tenting or RV reservations by calling the park campgrounds directly. For that, you must go to www.recreation.gov, or call the National Recreation Reservation Service at (877) 444-6777. You can also find out more details about camping in Acadia National Park through the park’s Web site. Continue reading →

Bubble Rock in Acadia National Park helped prove the Ice Age

Ask Acadia on My Mind!

Another in a series of “Ask Acadia on My Mind!” Q&As

Hi, we are making our first trip to Acadia June 26 – July 8. We will camp at Blackwoods. Is it possible to bike from the campground to the carriage roads? Concern is with vehicle traffic and if there is sufficient road shoulder. Thanks. – Jay Miller, Brighton, Mich.

Dear Jay,

Great timing for your first trip to Acadia. Not only is it the Centennial year – your final day is the actual 100th anniversary. Plus, you’re arriving soon after the fare-free Island Explorer bus starts running for the season, on June 23, giving you more options to get around the park car-free.

Island Explorer bus in Acadia National Park

While the Island Explorer bus is fare-free, be sure to get an Acadia National Park visitor pass to help support that and other park services. The Bicycle Express goes from Bar Harbor Village Green to Eagle Lake section of carriage roads. (NPS photo)

You have a couple of options for bicycling Acadia carriage roads from Blackwoods Campground. You can bike along the Park Loop Road for 3 miles to the carriage roads, or take the bikes on the Island Explorer not only to the carriage roads, but also even to the Schoodic section of the park, where new bike trails opened last year.

From the campground, there’s a short 0.1 mile dirt path that you can walk your bikes down to the 1-way Park Loop Road. Bike along the right-hand lane of the 2-lane road, following the traffic. Go under the ME 3 overpass, and at the next overpass, you’ll reach the junction with the carriage road system near Day Mountain. Walk your bike up the dirt path to the carriage road at intersection 17.

This 3-mile section of the Park Loop Road between Blackwoods and the carriage road system would be a less busy part of the 1-way road than the section over by Sand Beach and Thunder Hole, where cars often park along the right-hand lane, making it difficult to bicycle. And biking the Park Loop Road, where the posted speed limit is no more than 35 miles per hour, is certainly safer than trying to bike along the shoulder of ME 3.

This section of the Park Loop Road also offers access to Little Hunters Beach, reached by a hidden set of stairs on the left side of the road, about 1 mile from Blackwoods. Park your bikes and explore. There is also a new wayside exhibit here describing the area. Continue reading →