Acadia national park

Just made a reservation for Blackwoods Campground in Acadia NP for October 13-15th.  We will be in our 2350 and are not towing.  Any suggestions or thoughts about greeting around would be appreciated.  Should we rent a car or will we be able to get around in the PC and see the area.  Anyone ever stayed in this campground? Let us know what to expect...Hope we picked a good time.  Probably too crowded because of fall colors, but what about the temps?  We are from SC so it stays very warm here through October. Opinions and suggestions welcome!

BuffaloRose

We have reservations at Blackwoods in July. We have never stayed there--we have always stayed at private campgrounds. I figure that it is like most National Park Campgrounds meaning no electricity, water but they do have a dump. $10 a night with the Senior Pass is a bargain. Actually, we may leave Blackwoods and go to Bar Harbor Campground if there is room. Bar Harbor Campground is no reservations but it does have amenities We have been to Acadia a few times but always in the summer when the shuttle buses, sponsored by L. L Bean, are running. I believe that they haved stopped for the season when you will be there. That being said, if you want to cruise around the area, I would sugges that you might want to rent a car.

Cadillac Mountain is beautiful as the sun rises; check out Jordan Pond and the restaurant there. Bar Harbor can be very busy (at least in the summer) but it may not be so busy when you are there. Also, check out the west side--Tremont, Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, Somesville. In summer, it is the quiet side. There is a good seafood restaurant in Tremont--can't remember the name but Tremont is so small it might be the only one. All I remember that it is a yellow building.

Judi

Thanks Judi.   Do you recall if the roads through the park are conducive to our small PC?  We may take your advice and rent a car for a day. 

Enjoy your trip. It will be here before you know it.  Be sure to past pics and info for all of us!

BuffaloRose

There are some tunnels that you might not be able to get through. George says that he saw a C at the top of Cadillac Mountain but I don't remember that. We had a B (Airstream Interstate Sprinter) which we drove to the top.

I would check their website so see. We will be towing our Honda Fit so we will be good.

There a great book called "Photograhers Guide to Acadia National Park" which Santa gave to George in his stocking. I (Santa) got it from Amazon for 1 cent and 3.99 shipping. It was used but you would never know it.

Where else are you going??

Visiting Acadia in October is a great time.  You will miss the crowds, but as that is Columbus day weekend you might experience some significant traffic jams on the way up.  Our weather at that time is totally unpredictable, so come prepared for just about anything, so much to do even foul weather can't spoil it.
What route are you taking through Maine?  If you take the normal Route 1 trip there will be lots to see on the way, some require a little detour but will be worth it.
Freeport is probably the first stop for many if you want to shop and visit LL Bean.  Rockland is the next stop you might want to make with lots of art galleries and a great museum, Camden is just up the road with lots of nice shops, parking can be an issue, however,  Camden Hills State Park is there and a good place to spend the night.  Further up route 1 is Searsport with a another great museum.  Side trips after Searsport would involve going down the various peninsulas to Blue Hill, Castine, Brooklyn, all relatively short trips off the main drag.   I think as previously said the national park bus, Island Explore, stops running on Columbus day which is too bad as it is a great way of getting around.
My rant doesn't even include Acadia.  if I we can provide any other information- please ask.
 Bob and Michele

We haven't set our route yet, just made our Acadia reservation to ensure a spot.  I will check out the book Judi, maybe there is a kindle edition!  We generally use Microsoft Streets and Trips software to route our trips via my laptop. Then start figuring out what to see and where to stay along the way or near our destination point. I am sure there is much to see and do.  We rarely travel longer than a month since we have a kitty and sweet dog that we leave behind and miss too much.  We may need to plan at least two days or so beyond the three at Acadia.  Maybe a night at Camden Hills State Park, thanks for that Bob & Michelle.  Please chime in if  there are any "not to be missed" sights more than a day or two beyond Acadia. Right now, that is our "destination point" after which we will begin ambling back toward SC.  I want to drive through Shenandoah NPs up or back.  Hubby wants it to be part of a DC trip.  Soooo much to see and do and so little time  Glad we are retired!

We always take 81 to 84 on our way up to New England. We have no intention of going around Washington or through NJ/NY. Plus, being the frugal New Englander that I am, I would rather cross the Hudson at Beacon/Fishkill. Tolls are cheaper than either the TappanZee or George Washington Bridges and it keeps us off 95 (No tolls). We also make Promised Land State Park in PA. That will be our last stop 'til we hit MA and the sister's driveway for a few weeks.

Another nice place to stay in the Wild Duck campground in Scarborough ME. It's an Adult Campground; no kids. Very quiet. We are spending a week there prior to Blackwoods.

Then off to Orr's Island for the month of August. After that NH and Vermont. Planning to be back in FL mid to end Sept.

Any questions, PM us,

Judi

We went to Arcadia NP two years ago and had a great time.  We did have a tow vehicle with us but we also saw folks get arouond without one.  The bridge clearances are as follows:

Bridge clearances:

•Stanley Brook Entrance: 10 feet 4 inches (3.1 m)
•Sieur de Monts: 12 feet 2 inches (3.7 m)
•Fabbri Picnic Area: 11 feet 6 inches (3.5 m)
•Blackwoods Campground: 11 feet 8 inches (3.5 m)
•Wildwood Stables: 13 feet (3.9 m)

If you go to http://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/upload/ACADmap2005.pdf  you can use this map for planning purposes and it does show you all the low bridges so you can plan your route ahead of time. They also have these maps at the Hull Cove visitor center.   The Stanley Brook entrance would be out and all the bridges in the park are marked.

We did see a couple of PCs in Bar Harbor driving around.  A great town.  Enjoy!!!

Sue

Check out Oli's Trolley in Bar Harbor. They run from May through October.
We were very happy with the tours.

I would suggest renting a car.  Besides the underpasses being to low to go under, there are places you will want to go without the rig.  I got stuck at one underpass and had to unhook and turn around in the middle of the road.  Stupid on my part.

Blackwoods is a nice campground.  Typical National Forest.

Jim and Bev Triplett

I'd go with the Triplett's suggestion. Too many tight places to use the Cruiser unless you use the L.L. Bean or Oli's Trolley transport. Even then you'll not get to all the neat places.
Also, do the Bar Harbor Whale Watch and Puffin cruises.

Good luck, safe travels and God bless.

We are thrilled at the great suggestions and are so appreciative of the warm support of the folks on this forum.  So glad we bought our PC. It has given us the opportunity to make new friends!  Thank you for all the information.  We will definitely have a rental.  May even rethink towing since we have that ability.  With the 2350, we are nearly 10 feet shorter.  Glad we asked for advice early in our planning stages.  Gives us time to research and consider a lot of good information.

If you have time try and visit Jonesport Maine.

We roll into Acadia tomorrow for two weeks of boondocking in the National Park campgrounds (one week in each). There are flush toilets but no showers at camp (pay showers outside the park). We plan to "bathe" at least once or twice a week at Echo Lake if the water is warm enough (swim then wash up in a bucket back at camp). We've backpacked so bucket washing is nothing new. The campgrounds do have a dish washing station so that will help us some on the grey water and we have a solar shower water bag that we plan to use for outdoor washing up at the site. We'll have 4 people for 4 1/2 days and 3 people the rest of the time. Since we are driving from one campground to the next between the weeks, we hope to recharge batteries that way and avoid using the generator and disrupting the solitude of the forest if we can. This is our biggest boondocking test so far. John and I can easily do ten days or more with just the two of us but we'll have two untrained visitors so we have to work with them. We've already scheduled off work since all we've read says NO cell signal at either campground. I also checked the Verizon map and it shows dead zones on that side of the island so our cell phone booster won't help this time. It will be nice to be unplugged. We have our Subaru with us so driving around won't be an issue.

We plan to hit the Whale and Puffin tours, drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain, do the Tidal Pool Ranger program and probably tons more. Will report back after we rejoin the electronic world.

 Can't wait to hear your recap.  Take good notes for us. We will only boondocking three nights when we get there in October! Be safe and have a blast!