Acadia National Park is nothing short of magical with kids. We spent a few days in Maine in 2009 and came back with our kids this year. We were only in Acadia for one and half days and could have easily spent more time here. My brother and his family accompanied us to Acadia. Between the two families we had six kids ages 18 months to twelve years old. Due to the young age of some of the kids we decided not to do the Beehive Hike as originally planned. Instead we did the Bowl Trail. We just had a small amount of time because earlier in the day we did the Lobster Boat Tour in Portland, Maine.
The Bowl
The Bowl Trail is 1.2 miles and had lots of big rocks to climb over. It ended at a beautiful little pond called the Bowl. It’s close to the Beehive Trail. We saw a family coming down the Beehive Trail and they said their youngest was 6 and anyone younger would have a lot of challenges doing the hike. We didn’t want to risk any of the kids being so close to the edge of the mountains. After the Bowl, we took a peek at Sand Beach it was beautiful and crowded. We headed back to the car so we could get to Trenton to see Timber Tina’s Great Maine Lumberjack Show. It’s a must see in the summertime at Acadia.
Gorham Mountain Loop.
In the morning, our first hike of the day was the Gorham Mountain Loop. It’s 3.5 miles and the views at the top are breathtaking. Part of the trail goes on the Ocean Trail. We took a couple of stops on the way back. The rocky coastline is stunning and fun to meander around. We stopped at Thunder Hole but felt like Thor’s Well was more impressive. After the hike, we went to the visitor’s center so the kids could turn in their junior ranger books and we could use the restrooms.
The views were so good at the top of Gorham Mountain, that I was wondering if we should even visit Cadillac Mountain Summit. We had reservations to drive up Cadillac Summit Road at 1pm. Well, the views at the top of Cadillac Mountain exceed Gorham Mountain but I’m still glad we hiked Gorham Mountain. My brother and his family hiked up Cadillac Mountain the following day. So, they did it all. There were large crevices in the rocks at Cadillac Mountain and the kids had a lot of fun pretending they were taking cover and hiding.
Jordan Pond
After playing on Cadillac Mountain, we walked around Jordan Pond. It is a 3.3 mile loop. This is where the town gets it’s drinking water so no one or animal is allowed to swim in the pond. The outdoor seating at the restaurant has a magnificent view of the pond. There is a fun little wooden board walk for part of the trail, some dirt paths and some rockier terrain to go around. All of the variety make this hike interesting to walk on and the views of the mountains and pond are gorgeous. My kids thought it was quite the adventure.
Bar Harbor
If you don’t stop at a restaurant to eat you can cover a lot of ground. One of the reason’s we try to do snacks and sandwiches for food is so we can explore more. After Jordan Pond, we ran over to Bar Harbor to walk the sand bar. The Bar is walkable at low tide (which happened to be at 6pm that night). You walk from Bar Harbor to a little island that is actually part of Acadia National Park. This little island reminded me of Ruby Beach at Olympic National Park with the teepee and tide pools. We saw some orange sponges, purple crabs and there was a sand wall that had a rope attached to it my son enjoyed climbing. There was an army of cairns and I loved seeing them because that was the theme for our church’s youth this year.
After the Bar, my husband and a few of the kids walked the Compass Harbor Trail before it got pitch black. This is a short trail in Bar Harbor. If you are not doing the Sand Bar or the Ocean Trail this might be a nice little walk for you. Everyone quickly fell asleep after our busy day in Acadia. Matt’s hardcore though and drove to New Brunswick that night. Acadia National Park was awesome with kids.
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