Going To Acadia National Park In Sept. Any Location Suggestions?

I lived in Seal Cove for seven years. Its not a big island, six days is fine. So far you listed on the spots everyone else will be at. Head over to the Quiet Side to get away from the crowds who gather in Bar Harbor.

Cape Road will take you down to Seal Cove (part of Tremont) where there is a picnic area (boats in the harbor, opportunity to have a campfire down by the water, launch a kayak, see the sunset over the water).

Grab a lobster at Thurstons in Bernard across the harbor from Bass Harbor. The perfect spot to capture lobster boats in the harbor. Take a short hike on the Ship's Harbor Trail.

Explore Southwest Harbor. Boats in the harbor, little downtown that was used to film Stephen King's "Storm of the Century"

Drive along Sargent's Drive along Somes Sound and Northeast Harbor to see how the blue bloods and newly minted super rich live. Visit the Thuya Garden. See if you can sign up for a tour of Abby Rockefeller garden.

Get out on the water with a ranger guided trip to Baker's Island and see MDI from the water as well as lighthouses.

Keep in mind that if it is foggy, you might drive right past some beautiful scenery and not even know it.



If you set up to capture a sunrise on Cadillac, watch out for the bus loads of Chinese tourists that unload in front of you the second you are ready to snap the shot. Happened to a friend of mine.

Thanks Edward for the insight! I really appreciate it, have a good day!

I was just there 2 months ago....

http://wikitravel.org/en/Mount_Desert_Island

Sand Beach is nice... only sandy beach on the island

There's a big blow hole thing there too, can't remember what it's called but if you hit the tide and the light right it can be pretty cool. Can be pretty crowded.

Its called Thunder Hole. Best in the winter when no one is around and there is a big storm brewing. I've seen a few tourists get soaked and nearly swept out to sea while posing for pictures around there in the summer time.

Sand Beach is fantastic for star gazing. There is a ranger led program one night of the week during the season.

Bring a bike to take advantage of the carriage road system.

BTW - softshell has sweeter meat and is easier to crack.

Awesome guys! I'll research those other locations you recommended!

A couple years ago there was a glut of softshell. As low as $2.99/lb live. Got 5 lobsters a night and a lobster pot to cook over the campfire. Best deal at any national park. People sell them all over the place.

Isle a Haut is part of Acadia too there is another lighthouse there but not as cool as the Bass Harbor lighthouse. It sort of out of the way and takes a boat ride to get there. The Portland lighthouse is cool if you are driving up via Portland.

If you want a great day trip, get an early start and head up north to Campobello Island. See where FDR played in the summer. http://www.fdr.net/getting-here.php

2.5 hours from Bar Harbor. Hardly any people up that way and some dramatic tides and rocky beaches plus a few light houses on the island and in the area. Fishing weirs, kids collecting "wrinkles" on the coast, great seafood chowder at the "Fisherman's Friend" little cafe - even Martha Steward recommends it.

There is a nice museum for the Wyeth family in Rockland. I also went to Owls Head lighthouse that day. So many places ing Acadia area are great for photos! The northern "leg" of the park is not nearly as touristy as Bar Harbor. The farther north I went in Maine the prettier it was. I wish I would have gone to Campobello Island, I will definitely make it up there next time I visit ME.

Don't forget Schoodic Point. Also, only about an hour drive from the Island, check out the towns of Blue Hill, Sedgwick, Brooksville, and Brooklin, Castine, Etc. The whole of Blue Hill Peninsula is beautiful and not nearly as crowded as MDI. Then there's that little gem called Deer Isle - Beautiful!

I always enjoyed day trip out to Isle au haut http://www.isleauhaut.com/schedulerates.html

Caterpillar Hill, in Sedgwick, on the way to Deer Isle is an excellent place to get some great sunset shots.

Sept is a great time to go. Still warm days, less families. Check with the tourism site to see the cruise ship schedule. Neat to see them parked in Frenchman bay although the bigger ships can flood the island with tour buses headed to the popular spots.

In general if you can get anywhere before 10 am (before the slow to rise tourists), you'll have no trouble with parking spots.

Awesome guys! Again thanks a bunch for the feedback! I'll certainly fill the those days up with plenty to explore, shoot, hike and kayak. Hopefully I will have good weather and clear skies when i'm there for the New Moon (Looking for some nice milky way shots) :)

A great kayak trip (used by the tours) is from the launch site at Pretty Marsh ending in Seal Cove. Going the opposite direction (a right out of the Pretty Marsh boat launch) you can find seals basking in a "secret" area, just keep your distance as there are laws about how close you can get.

For hiking I always liked the Jordan Cliffs trail from the Jordan Pond house and the Beehive next to Sand Beach. There is also a cool ladder trail near Echo Lake.

Sand Beach is very dark at night for sky shots.

very old vid of Seal Cove

Hi Michael,

I wrote about my favorite photography locations at Maine Acadia National Park on my photo blog:

Photo Guide to Acadia National Park, part 1.

Photography Guide to Acadia National Park, part 2.

The blog was later picked up by Apogee Photo Magazine, slightly edited and published:

Photo Location Guide for Maine Acadia National Park

Photo Locations in Maine Acadia National Park

Good light and happy photo making! My best, Juergen

PS: We may run into each other at the National Park in September :-)