Acadia All American Road
Length: 40.0 mi / 64.4 km
Time to Allow: Allow 3 hours to drive and see this byway.
Up in northeast Maine sits the Acadia All American Road Byway. This delightful 40-mile spring trip will take you roughly three hours to complete. Captivating vistas will surround you, from craggy shorelines and granite-capped mountains to crystal lakes and old-growth forests.
The park is an amazing destination, so it is easy to overlook how enjoyable the journey there can be. Even if you have a longer ride to visit – like coming all the way from Boston to Acadia – including this Byway as part of your road trip is worth a few extra miles of travel.
The byway follows Route 3 into Bar Harbor and then the park circle road. The byway accesses Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island. This island is perfect for exploring, with extensive carriage roads and hiking trails giving access to all areas of Acadia National Park.
The byway begins at the Ellsworth/Trenton town border with a small town filled with activities . Travel the 27-mile Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park. For this portion, bring your binoculars and make a point of stopping at one of the park’s many scenic features.
Along the way, you’ll come across some of Acadia’s many hiking routes and hikes. Next, continue to Bar Harbor, which is home to a plethora of historical sites, accommodations, restaurants, and excursions such as whale watching and Oli’s Trolley.
Bar Harbor, the major hamlet on Desert Island and the gateway to Acadia National Park, is about 12 miles southeast of Trenton. The logical decision for seeing the region is to base yourself here, as dining and housing alternatives suit every budget.
The town of Bar Harbor attracts a large number of visitors during the summer months, although it is far from a busy metropolis. Make sure to visit Ledgelawn walking distances to the homes of President Taft, Kennedy, and Pulitzer.
The Bar Harbor Motel, located a mile from town and near the park entrance, includes a pool and a shady lawn perfect for tossing a Frisbee after a day spent cooped up in the automobile. The town’s scores of eateries range from super-sophisticated to down-home informal, and lobster buoys bobbing offshore incite seafood cravings. Lobsters with hard shells are available all year.
Pull off at Otter Cliffs on your way back north to Bar Harbor. The pink-granite cliff rises 110 feet above the crashing waves, providing what are undoubtedly the best ocean vistas on the East Coast of America. Listen for the coastal clap near Thunder Hole as you continue north. As high-tide waves rush in, a tiny granite cavern captures air that is expelled with a sound similar to a tremendous bang of thunder. If you wish to stay dry, keep a safe distance from the seawater, which can shoot up to 40 feet. Or, head over to Sand Beach to get a closer look at the surf.
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Otter Creek sits south of Bar Harbor and offers a restaurant, a market, and a camping store with showers. Blackwoods Campground, one of the two official campgrounds within Acadia National Park, is a short walk from the center of town. In between the byway, find Cadillac Mountain offering the country’s first sunrise every morning, and it’s one of over 20 mountains on Mount Desert Island with impressive views.
Here are some additional sights to see in Acadia National Park:
More Maine Byways
You can check out additional Byways in Maine by clicking on the list of byways below, or by going to the Maine Byways home section. To find even more of scenic byways in the United States, visit our scenic byways map.