The Maine Event Part 2 – Tips to Maximize a Long Weekend in Mid-Coast Maine

Welcome to Part 2 of the Maine Event – a second long weekend (or end of a week if you followed Part 1’s adventures) in Mid-coast Maine. If you only have a week, these two blogposts will give you the “can’t miss” highlights of a perfect coastal vacation. The earlier blogpost (Part 1) covered Portland to Booth Bay Harbor. Part 2 covers Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. For an entire week of adventures, add Part 1 and Part 2 together!

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse on a foggy afternoon

Tip 1 – Head to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. All good first long weekends come to an end. The next morning we left Booth Bay Harbor on a mission to arrive at Acadia National Park.

This is a 3 hour scenic drive. We made the most of it with stops for blueberries, wandering through antiques and collectibles stores, and coastline photo opportunities.

Our first Acadia National Park destination was Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse and it should be your first stop too.

Built in 1876, it’s the most iconic and most photographed lighthouse in Maine.

Bass Harbor is at the very southernmost end of the park. If you stop on your way to Bar Harbor you won’t have to double back on driving.

Heads up, there is a tiny parking lot with perhaps 20 total spaces so be prepared to wait for a parking spot.

We found that the line tends to move quickly during the middle of the day. We waited about 30 minutes at around 3 pm. I suspect it’s impossible to find parking closer to sunset. FYI there’s no parking allowed on the road.

The people of Maine do love their lighthouses, and this was a great one to visit on a foggy day. There are two short paths down to the water on either side of the lighthouse. Both offer stunning views and are worth the short trek.

Tip 2 – Anticipate foggy days and foggy photo opportunities.

Bar Harbor greeted us daily with foggy mornings.

The fog usually burned off by mid-day to reveal clear blue skies and miles of breathtaking coastline views.

Here’s one of my favorite foggy photos from the trip. You can barely see the sailboats on the water.

Check out @travelistaliz on Instagram for more great foggy views.

Tip 3 – Reserve a spot to take in a sunrise over Cadillac Mountain.

This is a hot ticket during the summer of 2021. Go to recreation.gov and look for Sunrise at Cadillac Mountain.

It’s $6 per car (plus a National Parks Pass) and around 100 cars are granted access for the sunrise time slot (3:30 - 7:30 am).

Have a recreation.gov account set up, be signed in and ready to go by exactly 7:00 am as all the tickets will be claimed in less than 30 seconds.

It’s worth the headache to vie for tickets and deal with the lost sleep from getting up at 3 am to see this sunrise.

By the way, this is the first place in the US from which to view the sun rise.

We were lucky enough to see July’s full moon setting in the west an hour before viewing a spectacularly colorful sunrise in the east.

There’s a short half mile loop trail at the summit that’s perfect for a stroll after the sun rises and before you head back to the parking lot to navigate your exit. This is truly a perfect start to a day in Acadia National Park.

Tip 4 – After sunrise, take an early walk around Jordan Pond. Parking seems to be a challenge at Acadia National Park, especially the later in the day it gets.

From Cadillac Mountain, head down to Jordan Pond. The parking lot was deserted when we arrived (and completely full when we left) which gave us a stress-free start to our 3.5 miles hike around the pond.

There’s plenty of lush green trees and mosses, a crooked wooden path over the marshier part of the shore, a quaint wooden bridge, and countless photo opportunities around this crystal-clear lake.

Tip 5 – Take the Bubbles Divide offshoot from Jordan Pond.

We walked clockwise around the pond. If you go this direction, at the beginning of the hike in the distance you will see two mounds - North and South Bubble Mountain.

As you reach the halfway point on your hike, the first trail sign shortly after the wooden bridge is for the Bubbles Divide trail.

If you are up for a scramble over rocks masquerading as a well-marked path, head up to check out the views from the Bubbles a few hundred feet above the lake.

We saw families, young adults, and seniors clambering over the rocks, so have no fear if you are in reasonable shape. Just know it’s a rock climb, not a trail most of the way.

At the top of the Bubblies Divide trail, follow the well-marked signs for South Bubble Mountain, the teetering Bubble Rock, and North Bubble Mountain.

The views are expansive and worth it. Trek the short distance (.2 miles) to North Bubble Mountain after the South Bubble hike. From here you will find a forest path and the easiest route back to Jordan Pond.

This adventure to the Bubbles adds 1.5 miles to the hike around Jordan Pond. If you plan to hike the Bubbles, this is the way to do it.

The Bubbles parking lot is tiny and it’s nearly impossible to find a parking spot any time of the day. It’s much less stressful to park at Jordan Pond and explore the Bubbles from there.

Tip 6 – Along Jordan Pond Path, look for colorful mushrooms!

I’m not a mushroom expert by any stretch, but there were at least half a dozen different types of mushrooms and other fungus along this shaded damp path.

They were an unexpected find and fun to photograph. With some research, I was able to identify the Red Belted Polypore and the highly poisonous Amanita Muscarias (shown in the Instagram feed @travelistaliz).

I couldn’t figure out what the “potato chip” mushroom shown here is scientifically named, so if any of you know, please enlighten me in the comments below..

Tip 7 – Post-hike, refuel with Popovers at Jordan Pond House.

This is a huge restaurant with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating.

When we arrived at 11am, there was a 45 minute wait. It seems hiring enough staff to serve everyone continues to be a problem for local businesses everywhere.

The popovers are Acadia Park’s signature item and worth the wait.

Nellie started baking these famous popovers in 1893! Afternoon tea with popovers on the lawn has become a summer tradition so be sure to join in the fun.

Two fresh-from-the-oven popovers served with butter and strawberry jam alongside prosecco, tea, or any other beverage makes a delicious and memorable snack. Very light, airy, and flaky like a croissant.

My first popover - another first for the travel logbook and saying “yes” to new experiences in 2021. We enjoyed salads for lunch after our popover snack.

I highly recommend Jordan Pond House for popovers and lunch. It’s one of the highest rated restaurants in the entire National Park system!

Tip 8 – Visit Thunder Hole and stroll the Ocean Path from Sand Beach to Otter Point.

Plan to visit Thunder Hole in the morning timed halfway between low tide and high tide for the best experience.

It’s a unique rock formation that makes a thunderous crashing noise as the ocean waves rush in and out at this spot.

Once the tide rises beyond a certain point, the hole in the rock is covered with water, and you’ll miss the effect. The kids will love this.

Mornings are better for this activity because of, what else, the park’s parking challenges. The lots fill up with families and late sleepers by 10 am.

Thunder Hole is about halfway between Sand Beach and Otter Point. Ocean Path is a flat, family and senior friendly paved path that covers 4 miles or terrain round trip. Go as far as you like and turn around when you’ve had enough.

We left Thunder Hole, walked to Sand Beach, reversed direction and headed to Otter Point at the other end of the path before returning to our car.

There are so many great coastline views on this top-rated hike/walk with plenty of offshoots to walk on the rocks and gaze out over the ocean on a clear day.

This experience worth a couple of hours of your time in Acadia National Park.

Tip 9 – Trek to Bar Island and investigate the tide-pools.

This is another super-easy and super-unique two-mile roundtrip walk that departs from the town of Bar Harbor.

For an hour and a half before and after low tide, a flat gravel sandbar that’s wider than a four lane road is available for exploration.

The sandbar is filled with small tide-pools containing shells and marine life. We saw starfish, sand dollars, crabs, colorful shells, and sea glass.

You could spend hours discovering the tide-pool magic here and never make it to Bar Island! On the Island, there’s a short path to its highest point that offers beautiful views of Bar Harbor and Frenchman’s Bay.

There is over 120 miles of trails to explore in Acadia National Park.

We’ve covered the top-rated classics, those easily do-able by most visitors – Ocean Path, Cadillac Mountain Summit Loop, Jordan Pond Path, Bubble Mountain, Bar Island, and Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.

Click on this link for more info on strenuous hikes that are also available in the National Park.

Summary: There’s so much to see and do in Maine. We covered just a small part of the terrain in a week, if you add the two blog posts together, or a long weekend, if you just follow the route of one of the blogposts. I hope this gives you some inspiration and ideas to jumpstart planning your vacation to this pristine state. For more photos of Maine and other adventures, check out my Instagram gallery @travelistaliz.