Two and a half days in Acadia National Park: What was I thinking? This amazing national park needs at least a week — minimum — to be explored. But our schedule and budget didn't allow for more time so we did our best to experience as much as of Acadia as we could during our short mid-August visit.
As soon as we drove on to Mount Desert Island, we made a beeline for
Cadillac Mountain. Everyone was anxious to exit the car after a 4-hour ride that involved several "are we there yet" comments between disc changes of the children's audio book we listened to (Bruce Coville's "Moongobble and Me" was actually pretty entertaining for my husband and I too). It was a beautifully clear afternoon and friends had told me to drop whatever we were doing to drive to the summit if it was clear; they'd missed the view at the top of the mountain due to clouds and poor visibility during their visit. Our first few hours on the island turned out to be the only clear skies we'd see, so I was glad I took their advice.
What immediately captured my 7-year-old's interest at the summit of Cadillac was all the
out-of-state license plates. She has a book with pictures of each state's license plate so she was thrilled to see so many actual plates here.
"Look at all the different license plates mommy! South Carolina ... and there are a lot from New York. Ooooh there's one from Utah! That one is pretty with the arch."
I think we saw one or two Maine plates after looking at more than 100 cars. Mid-August in Acadia is not a quiet time to visit the park and I wasn't prepared for the huge crowds the park hosts during the summer months.
Once I got over my initial shock, what grabbed my attention about the mountain, and Acadia in general, was how pink it was. An informational kiosk explained the hue: Erosion and melting glaciers exposed molten magma that had erupted thousands of years ago. That is what formed the island and created all the
pink granite.
After we took the
typical tourist photos at the top of Cadillac, and the kids had counted every island they could see, we sat down to figure out how to see as much of the park as we could during our short visit. We settled on a mountain hike one day and an ocean hike the second day. After looking at the map we were given at Acadia's Information Center when we paid our park fee, we realized that it wasn't a trail map (although a couple of trails were marked on it) and purchased a more complete trail map at the park store to plan our hikes more carefully.
Day One: Eagle Lake and The Bubbles
Several friends recommended lots of hikes and sites to see in Acadia. One friend with young children recommended hiking "The Bubbles." She said it was a short, easy hike for kids and offered some great views.
We were interested in The Bubbles hike but the summit was only 1/4 mile from its trail head on Park Loop Road. The kids are more advanced hikers now and we wanted a longer and more challenging hike. We decided to start at the Bubble Pond trail head
near Eagle Lake because this trail wrapped around part of Eagle Lake then joined another trail to lead to South Bubble summit. It was about four miles round trip.
he kids loved the name of the mountains, coined for their rounded shape, and my 7-year-old's imagination worked overtime making up stories about the mountain "popping like a bubble" when we reached the top.
The
trail around Eagle Lake was quiet, peaceful and
simply beautiful, even with the drizzle and clouds. Although visitors can't swim in the lake (it's a public water supply), the kids enjoyed
examining the bottom of the crystal-clear waters from the rocks on the shore.
Once the trail moved away from Eagle Lake, the steady incline to the top of the mountain was
challenging for the kids. But with a few extra water breaks, the kids did fine with the elevation gain.
When the Carry Trail merged with The Bubbles trail head, we might as well have been at the mall. There were people everywhere. It was clear that there were a lot of visitors looking for a short hike with a nice view from that trail head. We didn't anticipate that many people on the trail and hoped we could find a spot to enjoy the lunch we had planned for the summit. We luckily spotted a small path off the trail near the top with an open spot for our picnic blanket. We kept the kids away from the steep drop-off and enjoyed the wonderful view of
Pemetic Mountain.
The kids had a complaint about our chosen rest stop: They didn't want to sit on the bedrock. "I don't like sitting on rock. I like dirt better. It doesn't hurt my butt so much!" But a little rest,
lunch and a piece of candy seemed to remedy the discomfort of the hard surface.
After taking some photos —
Bunny and Flat Stanley were with us of course — and finishing up our lunch, we hiked to the far edge of the South Bubble. The skies had cleared enough for us to take in the sites of
Jordan Pond. The kids enjoyed following the cars driving through the winding Park Loop Road below
with their binoculars as well as the few birds they spotted in the air, some of which we flying below us, which the kids declared "cool."
Day Two: An Ocean View
In an attempt to avoid the big crowds, we started the Ocean Drive hike early, around 7:30 a.m. There was plenty of parking at Sand Beach and we didn't see that many hikers on our way to The Cliffs (about 1 1/2 miles). My 9-year-old's legs were sore from our trek to The South Bubble the day before so she was relieved to hike a
fairly level, graded trail.
The
rock formations and
ocean views were like nothing we had ever seen before, with the rock's jagged edges and pink overtones. We took several small paths off the trail to get closer to the ocean shore on the way to The Cliffs.
There were also a lot of
unusual looking trees along the trail that the kids enjoyed examining as well as the
working lobster boats near the shore. My 7-year-old especially enjoyed watching the people on their boats checking their traps.
The highlight of the Ocean Drive Trail was
Thunder Hole, a crevice where the surging ocean crashes against the rocks and makes a booming noise. The best time to see and hear Thunder Hole is at mid-tide when the sea is rising. We managed to time our visit well, but the seas were fairly calm. Even so, the waves crashing were still an awesome site and the booming noise was pretty loud.
My husband and I heard a lot of "Wow! Did you see that one?" from the kids when we stood on the steps in front of the cave. I must admit I asked the same question a few times too. Adults are not immune to the surprises at Acadia.
We stayed at Thunder Hole for about 30 minutes before we could pry the kids away to continue our hike. The comments about Thunder Hole continued on the trail, the kids expressing disbelief at "how loud the water is here." The kids always find an interesting way of explaining their thoughts about the places they visit.
When we reached The Cliffs, the fog had rolled in and was pretty thick so visibility was limited. We turned around to head back to our car at Sand Beach. On our way back however, we were persuaded by the kids to make another stop at Thunder Hole. They just couldn't get enough of this natural wonder.
By that time, Thunder Hole was getting crowded along with the trail in general, even with the drizzle and cloudy skies. I felt a little like being a celebrity after saying hello about 100 times in the mile and half back to the trail head.
Though our trip to Acadia National Park was short, we were able to see some beautiful places and whet our appetite for another, longer trip in the future; there are at least 10 trails and many more sites I want to check out next time. I do know we won't be coming in August the next time. When we go hiking we like to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature, not people. Visitors to the park start to thin out in September so I think a hiking adventure in the fall may be just the plan for us next year. And I'm sure Thunder Hole will be our first stop on our return trip to Acadia.
Kid's Review
On The Bubbles Trail 7-year-old: "I liked pretending we were on a real bubble and that it would pop when we got to the top of the mountain. But we wouldn't get hurt when it popped because we would float down like a bubble."
9-year-old: "We had a nice snack at Bubble Mountain and we watched the birds and we saw a second mountain (North Bubble) with people on it. I also liked looking at the birds flying under us."
On the Ocean Drive Trail
7-year-old: "I liked the lobster boats because I got to see the lobster traps coming out of the sea. But I really liked Thunder Hole because we got to see the water crashing into the little cave."
9-year-old: "It was great seeing the lobster boat. But Thunder Hole was much cooler because Thunder Hole had huge waves and one time it made a huge noise. The water was really loud there."
Trip: Hiking at Acadia National Park
Nearest Town: Bar Harbor
Region: Acadia
Bathrooms: Yes at trailheads
Parking: Yes with payment of park entrance fee, $20/7 day pass
National Park Service's Website: www.nps.gov/acad
Originally published in the Maine Sunday Telegram, September 2005 
