Is there anything better than breathing in the salty ocean air, listening to the birds sing, and smelling the woodsy aroma of a forest? Imagine yourself camping in Acadia National Park — all of those things can be yours!
Camping in Acadia is a magical experience that will enhance your vacation on beautiful Mount Desert Island.
This park has three frontcountry campgrounds (meaning you can drive your car to them and you don’t need a special permit). If you are interested in backcountry camping, the closest thing you’ll find is this remote campground in Duck Harbor. Otherwise, backcountry camping is not permitted.
This guide is all about the frontcountry camping possibilities within the national park. It is designed to help you decide which campground is perfect for your needs!
What You Need to Know About Camping in Acadia
- Each standard campsite only accommodates six people and two small tents. If you have a larger group, you will need to book two campsites or look for a campground that offers double or group campsites.
- There is a 14-day stay limit during the summer months, and Senior/Access Pass holders can get 50% off of the camping fee (this does NOT include the Annual America the Beautiful Pass).
- There are no designated first-come, first-served sites available within the park during the summer months.
- In some instances, only one vehicle is permitted per site, but overflow parking is usually available (RV’s, 5th Wheels, and trailers count as a vehicle).
- All camping equipment must fit on the campsite pad…it’s your responsibility to book a site large enough to accommodate your camping equipment. To protect the park, do not walk or set up camping equipment on the vegetation!
- Because of the devastating non-native pests that wood contains, bringing your own firewood for campfires is highly discouraged. Wood can be purchased near the campgrounds.
- Reservations can be made in advance on Recreation.gov.
Getting to the Campgrounds in Acadia
Blackwoods and Seawall are located on Mount Desert Island and are nearest to Bar Harbor and the most popular sights in the park. Schoodic Woods is located approximately 1.5 hours from Bar Harbor on the Schoodic Peninsula. Take a look at the park map before making your reservations!
How to Get a Campsite in Acadia
All campgrounds in Acadia require advanced reservations, and you can make them 2 months in advance here.
If you’re visiting during the summer and don’t already have a site reserved, you’ll likely be out-of-luck for camping in the park. Thankfully, there is a large number of private campgrounds near the park.
To choose your ideal campground, take a look at the in-park options here:
Blackwoods Campground
The Blackwoods Campground is the most central place to camp in the park. It is located just minutes from the Park Loop Road, Jordan Pond, Cadillac Mountain, and Bar Harbor, making this spot the ideal place to kick-off your Acadia adventure!
This campground offers a variety of campsites, including group sites, tent-only sites, and RV-only sites. You’ll find two loops, A and B. A-Loop offers a mix of tent and RV sites. B-Loop is primarily for tents but can accommodate some RVs that are less than 20 feet. Showers are not located in the campground but can be found in the nearby community of Otter Creek.
Open Season: May – October
Max RV Length: 35 feet and strictly enforced.
Hookups: No.
Generators: Allowed in A-Loop during the hours of 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. No generators permitted in B-Loop.
Dump Station: Yes.
Reservations Required: During the summer months, YES! Click here to check availability.
Fee: $30 per night.
Number of Sites: 306.
Pets Allowed: Yes, but please review Acadia’s Pet Policy
Restrooms: Flush toilets with running water.
Accessibility: 16 sites are wheelchair accessible.
Seawall Campground
Located on the west side of Mount Desert Island, the Seawall Campground is further removed from the busy Bar Harbor crowds, lodges, and restaurants. It offers a more peaceful stay near some beautiful hikes and the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.
This campsites in this campground are wooded and only a 10-minute walk to the ocean! You’ll find a variety of campsites, including group sites, tent-only sites, walk-in sites, and RV-only sites. There are five loops, A, B, C, D, and G. A-Loop offers a mix of tent and RV sites. B-Loop is primarily for tents because of tight turns and low overhead clearance. C-Loop has a lot of options for RVs, D-Loop consists of walk/hike-in sites only, and G-Loop is for group camping only.
Showers are not located in the campground but can be found in nearby towns.
Open Season: Wednesday before Memorial Day – October 15.
Max RV Length: 35 feet and strictly enforced.
Hookups: No.
Generators: Allowed in C-Loop during the hours of 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. No generators permitted in loops A, B, D, and G.
Dump Station: Yes.
Reservations Required: Yes, click here to check availability.
Fee: $22 – $30.
Number of Sites: 200.
Pets Allowed: Yes, but please review Acadia’s Pet Policy.
Restrooms: Flush toilets with running water.
Accessibility: 12 sites are wheelchair accessible.
Schoodic Woods Campground
Located on the Schoodic Peninsula about 1.5 hours from Bar Harbor, this campground is the newest and nicest of the three. The sites are well-groomed, spacious, and just a quick drive to those beautiful Acadia views!
This area of the park isn’t close to the main points of interest like Cadillac Mountain and Jordan Pond, so if this is your first visit, you may want to try to stay at one of the other campgrounds to be closer to your day’s activities.
This campground has a variety of campsites, including group sites, tent sites, walk-in sites, and RV sites. There are two loops, A and B. A-Loop offers a mix of tent and RV sites, but is primarily for vehicles less than 25 feet long. B-Loop is perfect for RVs of almost any length. Showers are not located in the campground but can be found in nearby towns.
Open Season: Wednesday before Memorial Day – October 15.
Max RV Length: 60 feet
Hookups: Yes. All sites {except for walk-in and group sites} have at least 20 amp electricity, but many have up to 50 amps. Water hookups are available in some B-Loop sites.
Generators: No.
Dump Station: Yes.
Reservations Required: Yes, click here to check availability.
Fee: $22 – $40
Number of Sites: 94
Pets Allowed: Yes, but please review Acadia’s Pet Policy.
Restrooms: Flush toilets with running water.
Accessibility: 82 sites are wheelchair accessible.
Planning a trip to Acadia can be overwhelming.
How do you make a solid plan if you’ve never been to the park before? How do you keep everyone in your group excited and engaged?
You can spend hours on the internet searching for things to do, but you still won’t find the insider tips and first-hand knowledge that I’ve gained from working as a park ranger.
If you’re hoping to see the best sights without getting stuck in traffic, circling parking lots, or being surrounded by people, check out this Acadia Itinerary.
You will see all of the can’t-miss spots, plus get lodging and dining guides, driving directions, and insider tips!
Now that you’ve seen your camping options, are you ready to make sure you don’t miss any of the best sights in the park?
Click NEXT to see the 10 things you can’t miss on your first visit!
I’m going to seawall and booked a tent site (B loop), but have been reading that they are apparently not roof top tent friendly in some of the other sites. I’ve never heard of this before. Are they really going to make an issue of that? It is still a tent after all.
I don’t see why a rooftop tent would be a problem in a regular site as long as the overhead height requirements are met (you can’t be too tall because of the trees in some sites). Just don’t reserve a walk-in site…they typically don’t like rooftop tents in those since you wouldn’t technically be sleeping in your reserved site in that case.
Hey there – we were able to luckily get a site at Blackwoods for August (it’s a madhouse trying to get one right now, for any campground in the park). We didn’t realize until we had booked that the site we booked was an RV and there is no tent listed under equipment. Are we able to tent camp in an RV site? We do have an SUV that we can sleep in if we have to car camp, but were hoping for some flexibility.
I would call them…they are pretty strict about those sorts of things in this campground. If your site doesn’t have a tent pad, they probably won’t let you tent camp. Good job snatching up one of those sites though — that’s hard to do this year!
Hello!
Thanks for all of your great information. All of the campsites in the park are booked for mid-July. Do you have any suggestions for campgrounds outside of the park? Thanks again!
I like the Bar Harbor Campground, but it is first-come, first-served. You can also check the Campendium website to find more options!
Hello Ash. We are planning to visit Acadia in August. We have a Nissan Quest minivan which is around 16 feet in length. Can we book a tent site? Recreation.gov does not let me book a tent site with the length of our car. Is there a way to get a tent site with our minivan?
Thank you
Yes, as long as you will be in a tent. Just put 15 feet when you make your reservation…you will be just fine!
Hello! We just booked an ADA campsite in B-Loop at the Blackwoods campground for mid-July. Per the reservation details, it says that the driveway length is 15ft (as is stated for all non-RV spaces in B-Loop). We plan on bringing a truck that is about 17-18ft.
Is this a problem? You’re notes above indicate that B-Loop can generally accomodate vehicles under 20ft, which we’re hoping is the case!
You should be ok if it’s just a standard truck — we have a truck that long and the wheels just have to be on the pavement. It’s ok if your truck bed extends into your campsite a little!
Hi! I’m planning on visiting Acadia in late October and noticed that all of the campgrounds close in the beginning of October. Does this mean you can’t camp in the park after they close? What are the lodging options after “peak season?” Thanks!
You won’t be able to camp in the park once those campgrounds close for the season. A lot of campgrounds in that area begin to close down around Columbus Day, but you may be able to find a privately run campground that is still open. I like the Campendium website for finding the camping options near the national parks. Hope that helps!
Hi Ash-
Thanks for the tips. I’m planning a trip in Mid July and I want to book a site at Blackwoods.
With the rolling release of booking dates, do you recommend going in each day and booking one day at a time to ensure I will be able to secure a site?
I’d hate to wait until the entire week of my trip to be available only to find it booked solid.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!! Thanks!
Typically when they release the first day of your trip, you can book the entire time you need. But this year is definitely going to be more of a challenge. I’d watch as it gets closer to your trip and see if most campsites are getting booked into the dates you need before they officially open up. Good luck!
Definitely log in daily. I found the sites booked up had to delay my trip. I had a few sites in mind and logged in a few days early to monitor. Ended up booking the 3rd or 4th option and extended my reservations a couple of days just to get it on the books.
We used your itineraries last year at Mammoth Cave, Great Smokey Mntn, and Shenandoah, and loved all your suggestions.
Can you clarify how the rolling 2 month release works for Schoodic campground. I would imagine June 26 would be open (since today is April 26), but it’s not. Do the open a new day every day or do they open a week at a time. Are they released at a specific time?
You should be able to hover over the date you want to reserve and it will tell you when it opens up for reservations!
Hi Ash,
I am interested in your itinerary for Acadia. I will be going the bringing of June. I am a full time wheelchair user, but quite active and like adventure. We will be bringing out kayaks, and I am wondering if I purchase your itinerary how much of it will be accessible for me to follow. I’m not sure how many beach paths and rocky hikes you may have included in the guide.
Looking forward to any suggestions/ tips/advice you may offer
Anjii
Hey Anjii,
Thanks for your comment! Please contact me and we can discuss things in more detail!
Hi Ash! I am loving your website and all of your information! My family and I are planning our 2021 summer trip–Acadia is one of our potential places. Do you have any insight or thoughts on visiting it in mid-July? Would the flies be horrible? I know fall would be gorgeous to visit, but my husband and I are educators so it’s out of the question for us to visit in the fall. We have a toddler so just trying to gather some info. Thank you so much!
Thanks Marie! The flies are usually a problem in late Spring-early Summer, so you should be ok. Enjoy Acadia!!
Hi Ash! We love your trip guides and cannot wait to use your guide to Acadia this summer. I am looking to book a trip for early June, but everything I read says to go in September. Is June still nice weather-wise? Are black flies really bad in June?
Hey Michele! June is right on the edge of the black fly season and the mud season, so it’s hard to know…some years are better than others! If you already have your plans set, I’d go and have a great time 🙂 If you haven’t booked yet, there’s nothing like fall in Acadia!