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#1
08-23-2024, 06:13 PM
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Anybody been to Acadia National Park lately?
I'm going up there to Maine to meet some friends to do some paved road and carriage road riding and the organizer is claiming that we have to buy a park pass just to park at the Hull's Cove Visitor Center or go anywhere in the park.
My last experience up there two years ago was that the only place you definitely needed a $35 pass was to drive or bike the loop road past the fee station and Sand Beach, Precipice, Thunder Hole, Otter Cliffs, etc. There's also some questions about the new permits you have to get to drive up Cadillac Mountain. Does this also apply to bicycles? Anybody been up there lately who can bring us up to date (if that's needed)? BBD
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--- __0 __0 __0 ----_-\<,_ -\<, _(_)(_)/_(_)/ (_) A thing of beauty is a joy forever--Keats 
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#2
08-23-2024, 06:24 PM
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I was there last year, and rode most of the carriage and paved roads through the park. I was never asked to present a pass.
As for Cadillac mountain, I am pretty sure reservations are not required for hikers or cyclists: https://friendsofacadia.org/visiting...-reservations/
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#3
08-23-2024, 09:06 PM
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So I go to Acadia quite often as my partner is from there (gonna be there next week actually) and can confirm that you do not need a reservation (this is a separate thing from your park pass) to bike up Caddy. You only need a reservation for driving up.
With regards to park pass, officially you do need to display one on your car whenever you park on the park's property. When it comes to biking, you also technically need a park pass with you at all time. However, if you don't pass by the Sand Beach station, you should be "ok" without one. Even at Sand Beach, I see cyclists sneak by all the time by staying all the way to the right and the park rangers almost never stop them. The rangers at the bottom of Caddy usually just let cyclists go straight through since it is a hassle to stop and go again on that steep ramp. If you want to go up Caddy without passing by Sand Beach, I usually enter the park through Stanley Brook, which brings you right to Jordan Pond House and you can just go to Caddy from there. Last edited by snguyen268; 08-23-2024 at 09:16 PM.
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#4
08-24-2024, 07:33 AM
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I’m here now. I have never needed a pass to ride carriage trails and have gone in at hulls cove, eagle lake and Hadlock. They do say you need pass to park, but most people don’t have them. WRT to Cadillac, not sure but I’ve been told by two different folks up here that getting car pass is close to impossible.
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#5
08-24-2024, 08:23 AM
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It's always nice to know that you are actually supporting the National Parks.
Are you a senior citizen? My wife is, and she got a lifetime senior pass. https://store.usgs.gov/lifetime-senior-pass SPP
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#6
08-24-2024, 02:20 PM
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Those Senior passes are great, they used to be free.
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#7
08-24-2024, 03:57 PM
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Quote:
I forgot mine in VA in May and had to pay $15 to ride Skyline Drive. I was pissed!
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#8
08-24-2024, 04:44 PM
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My wife and I live about an hour's drive from Cape Canaveral National Seashore Park. We go there a lot to just relax on the beach, maybe have a picnic, and even to surf fish. Or to hike over to Mosquito Lagoon, or check out some old deserted towns on the inland waterway. Or climb up some old native American middens of old shellfish. It's never crowded. Have taken a bike before and got in some miles there. (OK for just exercise) From N end down to nude beach and back. And with our Senior Golden Age Pass, can go any time we want free. Without pass, it's now $20 to enter park. You can buy them as you enter the park. So get a pass if you are eligible (sorry about thread drift). And last time I was in Acadia Nat Park some years ago, didn't buy a pass.
Last edited by Ralph; 08-24-2024 at 05:15 PM.
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#11
08-25-2024, 09:32 AM
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Veterans are also eligible for a free lifetime pass to the National Parks. You can order the "free" pass online for $10 processing fee, or obtain at a park that provides passes onsite.
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#12
08-25-2024, 01:34 PM
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#13
08-26-2024, 06:23 AM
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Acadia
Just left there yesterday. Beautiful place but way too overcrowded for me. Almost impossible to find parking spot. Hundreds of people everywhere on every trail. Rode up Cadillac mountain, free. We camped, one small grocery store in Bar Harbor, that took us 1hr to get through for a few items. Same story down town, all restaurants full. Carriage roads were great, just ebikes here and there. Beautiful place but wouldn't go back. Traffic coming back was bad. 10hr drive turned into 13 hours. Glad to be home. If you plan on hiking, go early no parking by noon. Veterans enter park for free.
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#14
08-26-2024, 06:53 AM
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Having been to 43 of them, this is becoming the new norm for national parks unfortunately (the crowds, the lines, etc) if you visit during peak times. Their funding hasn't increased enough to keep up with additional demands (not that money would solve many of the problems, but it would certainly help with some, especially lack of enforcement on idiotic behavior). Acadia also has the disadvantage of being relatively small which makes matters even worse.
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#15
08-26-2024, 07:18 AM
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That's too bad that Acadia is suffering the same fate as some of the other big natn'l parks with overcrowding. I was there last in 2018 and felt like I had the place to myself.
The pandemic years really changed everything. Acadia is really the most accessible national park for east coasters too, that's a lot of people. Still a beautiful place. Probably best enjoyed in the off-season now.  
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