Acadia National Park - Discovering Schoodic Woods

I just recently realized that we’ll need to quit traveling for about two years if I ever want to catch up on blog posts.  Alan and I spent 10 days in Maine toward the end of May, and then two weeks at home trying to catch up before heading out to Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut for another 12 days.  Now we’re back home and playing catch up.  Again.  I’m not complaining!  We’re blessed to be able to enjoy this lifestyle in retirement.  But I always struggle with the decision on what to post first – the remainder of past trips that I’m trying to document (our West Coast National Parks journey, in this case) or our most recent travels while they’re still fresh in my memory.  Because my memory seems to take a vacation of its own at times, I decided that it’s probably best to strike while the iron is hot and our experiences are fresh in my mind, so I’ve put the West Coast trip on pause for now.

I absolutely love Acadia National Park in Maine!  While I’ll never commit to a “favorite National Park,” Acadia is always in the Top Three.  The park has so much to offer – that magnificent Maine coastline, miles of well-marked carriage roads for walking and biking, sparkling lakes for paddling, hiking trails that range from easy-peasy to holy sh*t, and, of course, popovers at The Jordan Pond House.  The only feature of the Park that doesn’t thrill me is Blackwoods Campground.  Blackwoods is a lovely campground, but space for bigger rigs like our 32’ trailer is limited to only 29 sites.  The section where we do fit feels a bit too tightly packed for my taste.  To make matters worse, at the time of our first two visits (2011 and 2014), campers reserving a site in the “big rig” section weren’t able to select a specific campsite; your site was assigned at the time of your arrival.  It was definitely not my favorite type of camping experience.  I always considered putting up with the process and the close quarters as the cost of doing business if we wanted to wake up in the park each day – which we did.  But now, we have a much better option.

The National Park Service opened the Schoodic Woods Campground in 2015, just one year after our last visit to Acadia.  (It figures.)  The campground is on the Schoodic Peninsula which is part of Acadia National Park, but approximately one hour away (drive time) from the main section of the park on Mt. Desert Island.  It has 89 well-spaced campsites, 78 of which have electric, and 31 of which have both water and electric.  (The only sites that don’t have any services are the group sites and the hike-in sites.)  There are no sites with full hookups, but a dump station is available.  The one thing that’s kind of odd, though, is that there are no showers at Schoodic Woods.  If you want a shower, and you’re not self-contained, you’ll have to go into the small town of Winter Harbor a couple of miles down the road.  There, you’ll find showers available at two of the town’s lodging options.  Like I said, odd.

Nice restrooms, but no showers

Schoodic Woods opened for the 2023 season on May 24^th, the Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend.  It has a two month booking window – unusual for a federal property – and I snagged our (first choice) site in Loop B with both water and electric.  It was an 80’ pull-through with lots of room and so many trees between our site and the next that we couldn’t tell we had a neighbor unless we peered really hard through all of the foliage. 

B-14 - BINGO!

In 2014, on our second visit to Acadia, we had visited the Schoodic Peninsula on a day trip, and had driven the six mile loop road on the peninsula.  This quieter, less frequently visited section of the park held a lot of appeal – we found a sweet little picnic area (perfect for watching the sunset), hiking trails and plenty of access to the rocky shoreline.  With the addition of the Schoodic Woods Campground, the peninsula became an exceptional retreat from the hustle and bustle of Bar Harbor and Acadia proper.  In our opinion, it was well worth the hour’s drive from the main section of the park, and we LOVED it.  This time around, we stayed for an entire week beginning the Wednesday before Memorial Day.  We did bring our portable waste tank on the trip, in case we needed to make a run to the dump station during our stay.  As it turned out, we were out and about so much that our large holding tanks got us through the week, and we emptied them on the morning we left.  Alan's Lifetime Senior Interagency Pass through the National Park Service provides us with a discount on camping fees in most federally operated campgrounds.  Here at Schoodic Woods, we paid a whopping $25.00 per night for a spacious campsite with water, electric and solitude.

A long, lovely and private site!

Schoodic Woods has to be the most tranquil campground we’ve ever visited.  If we didn’t know it was a holiday weekend, we would have thought we were on a mid-week stay toward the end of fall.  Just.  So.  Peaceful.  Due to that holiday weekend, however, we did give careful consideration to our schedule.  After a full day's travel on Wednesday, we slept in on Thursday and devised a plan over morning coffee.  In order to avoid the crowds (to the best of our ability, anyway), we decided to spend a quiet day on the Schoodic Peninsula, visit the main section of the park on Mt. Desert Island early the next morning (Friday) and then again on Tuesday after the weekend crowds had moved on.  Saturday and Sunday would be spent exploring the new-to-us territory farther east along the coast of Maine - “Down East,” as they say.  Monday would, again, be devoted to enjoying the Schoodic Peninsula.

Winter Harbor Light on Mark Island, as seen from the Schoodic Peninsula

With a plan firmly in place, we set out on our peninsula adventure.  The first section of the Park Loop Road beyond the campground is two-way, allowing visitors easy in and out access to the Frazer Point Picnic Area.  Water views are what it’s all about in this section of Acadia National Park, and the picnic area didn’t disappoint.  Technically, this is the only “official” picnic spot on the peninsula, but there are a number of pullouts and parking areas that provide easy access to the shoreline.  Although you might be spreading your picnic lunch on a large rock instead of a table, there are lovely spots all along the loop road that would make for a perfect “lunch with a view.”

Frazer Point Picnic Area

Beyond Frazer Point, the Park Loop Road becomes one way.  Although bicyclists are welcome, I would hesitate to bike this loop.  The speed limit is low, but the road is curvy and I’d be surprised if the abundant water views weren’t distracting to drivers.  Without wide shoulders and a designated bike lane, biking here can be dangerous.  Honestly, though, I believe that to be true in many of our National Parks.  My humble opinion, only, of course.  Hiking trails on the peninsula are not as plentiful as in the main section of Acadia.  But there is hiking to be had, and rock scrambling along the shore provides another opportunity to stretch your legs.

The Park Loop Road becomes two-way again when you exit the park into a residential section of the peninsula, and we circled back “through town” to return to our campground.  During our exploration of Schoodic Peninsula, Alan and I identified several favorite pull-offs that allowed up close and personal access to some amazing views.  We returned to what we considered the best of the best on Monday morning with our camp chairs in the back of the truck and morning coffee in our cup holders.

An enchanting spot for morning coffee!

I truly appreciate public parks and recreation areas like Acadia that allow visitors to easily access the delightful places within.  We’ve been to some beautiful public lands that offer plenty of overlooks with wonderful vistas, but I want to be an active participant, not just an observer.  I want to drag my camp chair to a quiet place and savor the changing tides along with my morning coffee.  I want to wander the shoreline, noticing exquisite rocks and watching for ospreys and eagles overhead.  I want to find out how cold the water is and smell the salty, fishy air that lingers over a working harbor.  I want to wander along quiet paths that open up to incredible views.  And I don’t want to ever take those pleasures for granted.

Taking the time to plan a holiday weekend schedule actually worked quite well, much to our delight.  We were up at o’dark-thirty on Friday morning, at our favorite breakfast spot in Bar Harbor while half the town was still asleep and in the main section of the park on Mt. Desert Island before 9:00 a.m.  We’ll go exploring in the next post!