How to Have a Wonderful Family Vacation at Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park is open throughout the year so your family can enjoy a vacation there anytime you wish. Many of its facilities, however, are closed during winter -although Maine’s Acadia National Park always offers a variety of activities in lieu of what their visitors are missing.
 
Admission Fees for Acadia National Park

Admission will be charged for visitors between the months of May and October. If you intend to camp within the park, you will have to pay additional charges. Camping fees vary according to choice of camping site and which month you’ll be visiting the park. No camping fees are, however, charged in between December and March.

Prices for Programs and Activities Offered at Acadia National Park

Besides being known for having an exquisite landscape, Acadia National Park is also known for offering great programs that families can enjoy participating in together. Riding the Roads, Knowing the Night, and Beyond the Beach are examples of such programs and well worth their admission charges. Boat cruises are something that you and your family should take at Acadia National Park although prices tend to change according to availability and demand. The rest of the programs and activities offered by the park are free of charge.

Things to Do and Places to Go at Acadia National Park

Here are just a few things that your family can enjoy during your visit:

Park Loop Road – This is the most famous of all roads in the park, and it has good reason to be. Whether you’re traveling part or all of its twenty miles, you’re sure to stop once in a while just to appreciate the charming beauty of its surroundings. At Park Loop Road, you’ll find wondrous backdrops of forests, mountains, and even the ocean for taking pictures.

Nature Center – If you have planned this trip to educate your family about the ecology as well then a visit at the Nature Center of Acadia National Park is a must. There, you’ll be able to watch and listen to simple, fun, and detailed explanations about the animal wildlife and flora and fauna found in the park. There will also be lessons regarding how the park is able to maintain its resources.

Cadillac Mountain – If Denali National Park has Mount McKinley, Acadia National Park has Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak in the area and an equally majestic sight as well. Once on top, you can enjoy spectacular views of Frenchman Bay and Porcupine Islands.

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse – Although the area in which it’s located serves as the private residence of the local Coast Guard unit commander, the lighthouse even from a short distance is still a sight to behold. It is also the lone lighthouse in Mount Desert Island, the heart of Acadia National Park.

Islesford Historical Museum – Located on Little Cranberry Island, this museum is the place to visit if you wish to know more of its wonderful town. Islesford Historical Museum has a wonderful collection of ship models as well as photographs, toys, and dolls that afford visitors a glimpse of what life had been in the old days of Cranberry Isles.

Asticou Garden – Mere words can not describe the powerful and stunning imagery offered by the dizzying array of flowers and plants in this area. There are benches that you and your family can rest on after an exhausting hike. A $3 donation – which can be tax-deductible - per visitor is requested upon entry to the site.

Bubble Pond – Easily accessible using Park Loop Road, Bubble Pond is an idyllic pond that seemed to be cradled in the arms of gigantic mountains. It may be small, but Bubble Pond has a considerable depth of thirty-nine feet!

Carriage Roads – These roads, featuring a number of lovely stone bridges, are accessible by foot, but people riding bikes, horses, and carriages – all of which may be rented from the park’s facilities – can also use them as well. During the winter, sections of Carriage Roads are used for certain winter sports.

Echo Lake Beach – If it’s a day of recreational swimming that your family’s craving then look no more beyond this place. Keep in mind however that this is a body of freshwater we’re talking about so don’t be surprised when you see some people fishing as well.

As you can see, there is a lot to do in Acadia National Park, and your whole family can have a great vacation here!