This park is amazing – it is a must return!

As one of the few east coast parks, much of this park is made up of land purchased and then donated by the Rockefellers & other wealthy families of that time.

We were very fortunate to get a campsite right on the water of the bay on the north side of the island.

We started at the visitors center then got a bite to eat in Bar Harbor, before heading to Sand Beach – one of the very few natural sand beaches in the northeast.

After being covered in sand, we finished our drive around the main Park Loop road, then drove up to see the views from Cadillac mountain – the highest point on the east coast & the first place sunlight hits the US.

After going into town for fresh seafood, we went back to camp & the kids got to explore the “inter-coastal habitat” as the tide moved out.

The next day was very rainy so we started at the Wildlife Museum at the College of the Atlantic where they had a touch tank 🦀

Got our Jr Ranger badges & had some lunch.

The best highlight of this visit was the sunrise over the ocean. The popular thing to do is to head to the top of Cadillac mountain to catch the first light. Oh man! The crowds were crazy! And this wasn’t our time to see it from here – the mountain was up in the clouds. This was the view from the top –

So we decided to head for Thunderhole which is one of the eastern most points on the island – oh wow! I highly recommend you skip the crowds & just come to this point –