Maine Questions

purplesuebug · 07-09-2007, 08:55 AM

Has anyone camped around Moosehead Lake in Maine? The hiking sounds excellent there. We are heading up for a week in September (after Labor Day of course). We haven't decided on which part of the state we are going. Sue wants to go to Acadia, probably either Patten Pond or Smuggler's Den. Chase & I want to see a Moose at Moosehead lake!!!!???? The weather is supposed to be in the 40's at night and 60's in the day. This should be PERFECT camping weather! Any insight for Maine will be greatly appreciated. We went blind on the internet yesterday, so first hand info would be great..........Thanks a million...M&S

(EDIT) Oh man.............should I have placed this in with the Maine campground folder???? Sorry

**PTHutch** · 07-09-2007, 11:00 AM

Marshall,

You put the post in the right spot. We’re trying to reserve the geographical forums for campground reviews only.

Sorry I don't have any information on Maine, would like to get there myself one of these years.

Hutch

**Tweety** · 07-09-2007, 11:23 AM

We're headed to Maine thursday, so if anyone has any good tips concerning Acadia and Bar Harbor I'd love to hear them.

Steve Collins · 07-09-2007, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quetse

We're headed to Maine thursday, so if anyone has any good tips concerning Acadia and Bar Harbor I'd love to hear them.

We did Maine in 2000 - loved it.

Bar Harbor is a whole day all by itself. Bring sensible walking shoes, your appetite, and money....

There are many, many shops and restaurants to enjoy.

Acadia - if you hike or bike, plan a whole day there. Take the driving tour just to get acquainted with the place, and then get out on foot or bike and tour to your heart's content.

We camped in a wonderful campground called Whispering Pines in Ellsworth on Route 1 - the trip to Bar Harbor was about 45 minutes from there. If the place hasn't changed, it was truly a jewel of a campground to base camp from.

State Parks in Maine are fabulous. It was quite startling to pull into the campsite to find it level, spacious, and RAKED! There was even a small starter stack of firewood by the fireplace. The bathrooms were quite clean and well cared for.

On your way up or back, plan a day in Freeport. You don't want to miss LL Bean and all the other great shops.

I love Route 1; it's not fast, but it is scenic and friendly. Lots of great Maine style restaurants - lobster rolls, steamers, and lobster bisque. Don't forget the clam chowder.

Go out to Deer Island and visit Stonington. Go see the Portland Head Lighthouse.

Guess you can tell we liked Maine, eh?

Honda03842 · 07-09-2007, 03:02 PM

If you come or go by route 1 in Wiscassett, ME, just before you cross the bridge heading north on the left side of the road is Reds, a small stand, always with a line. THis is the home of the best lobster roll ever.

Norm

**Sunline Fan** · 07-09-2007, 04:14 PM

We did Bar Harbor/Acadia in '99. Really nice area. We stayed at Mt. Desert Narrows Campground in Bar Harbor from July 28-30, 1999. Here's some notes from my Mom's journal about the Bar Harbor area, but she'll be able to give you a lot more details at the M&G.

- Lee's Family Trailers in Portland- very nice people. We lost our awning in Lake George and replaced it here along the way. Dropped it off in the morning, went to lunch, came back and the new awning was installed and ready to go.

- Sea Dog restaurant in Portland- overlooks harbor/marina. (no notes on restaurant itself, but I don't remember leaving disappointed)

- Portland was about 3.5 hours from Bar Harbor.

- Average site width at Mt. Desert Narrows is about 25'- very close together. Our site, Site 156, was one of the larger ones and next to a hill.

- Things we did on the first full day: Bar Harbor shopping, loop road at Acadia, Sand Beach Thunder Hole, Otter Cliffs, Jordan Pond (Acadia), Bubble Pond, and drove up Cadillac Mountain (highest peak on the Atlantic Coast).

- Second day: left early on shuttle w/ bikes for Acadia. Started riding at Bubble pond and continued around Eagle Lake, Jordan Pond, and ended at the Jordan Pond house for lunch. We rode 8-10 miles, which was a lot more than we expected. I personally remember having to take our Dahon fold-up bikes on the bus via the wheelchair lift because the wheelbase was too long for the bike racks on the bus! Anyway, they weren't the type of bikes good for that long of a trip.

- I have a note here that the bus system stinks. Granted this was '99, but my Mom wrote that we waited a lot for the bus, so if they want people to use it, they better improve. You may want to check with neighbors about the bus system before using it.

- Took carriage ride from riding stables in Acadia- that was very nice.

- Another restaurant here was listed: Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound. It's noted that it was very good and extremely busy. At the time, whole precooked lobsters with corn on the cob was about $25.

- Laundry there was really expensive. At the time, Washing was $2.50/load and the dryers were $1.25/30 mins. Written after the prices is "EXPENSIVE!!".

If you'd like, I could scan in some pics here, but the photo album is at home and I won't be there until late tomorrow.

Jon

purplesuebug · 07-09-2007, 10:34 PM

Well, it looks as if I lost the Moose adventure........Sue fights dirty!!!! We will also be going to Acadia, staying at Ocean Wood Campground on Birch Harbor. More secluded over there. I STILL want to see a moose, maybe I'll stop by the "Mangy Moose" in Freeport!!!! Hee-Hee.....M&S

**Sunline Fan** · 07-10-2007, 10:43 PM

Here's a pic of our site at Mt. Desert Narrows:

Jon

**Tweety** · 07-11-2007, 05:11 AM

Thank you all so much for all the information. I'm loading up QUEtSE today. Can't wait to get somewhere COOLER !!!

**PTHutch** · 07-11-2007, 05:19 AM

Pam - Have a fun and safe trip.

tinybluetj · 07-11-2007, 08:30 AM

Drive safe! Have fun!

rwhyne · 11-15-2008, 08:12 PM

I see that the last post on this sight was quite some time ago - July 2007. Other than last summer, my wife and I have stayed in Maine two weeks every July for the past 14 years. We've used our TT 3 of those years. We've stayed at Moosehead Lake (our favorite spot in Maine) as well as a couple of places along the coast. If anyone needs info on travel to Maine I'd be glad to share our experiences.

DF5.4 · 11-16-2008, 07:17 AM

We've gone to Acadia National Park Maine the last 2 years. We were there for 1 week in 2007 and 2 weeks in 2008. We stayed at the Woodlands section of the KOA on Mt Desert Island. You pass the sea side part as you get on the island. The woodlands section is about a 1.5 miles up Rt 102.

A couple of the things we liked about the area:

Friends of Acadia shuttle buses. (http://www.exploreacadia.com/) They go to most places on the island. They even have a route that goes to the grocery store in Trenton. They are free and the dog is allowed to ride. If you hike you can take the shuttle to one trailhead and hike to another part of the island and be picked up by another bus. After you figure out the schedules it works out really nice. All the buses have bike rakes on them. They can carry 8 bikes on a bus. You can take the shuttle bus to Bar Harbor and then use the Bicycle express. It goes between Bar Harbor and Eagle Lake. It's a shuttle van and trailer that carries about 9 or 10 bikes and riders. Eagle Lake is a good spot to start carriage trail rides. Just make sure you watch when the last bus runs. For example, the loop road bus makes it's last run between 4 and 5 PM. In the summer this seems really early and we almost got caught on the loop road without a ride. The buses out of Bar Harbor run until after 11:00. If you are not on a really tight schedule it's a great way to get around. You don't have to worry about traffic or parking. It also saves gas in the TV when you're there.

The place is very pet friendly. Most of the stores in Bar Harbor and a lot of the restaurants are set up so you can bring your dog in. There is a shop called Bark Harbor that has a list of the restaurants that are pet friendly. We were hiked up the South Bubble and around Jordan Pond. Someone recommended going to the Jordan Pond House for popovers and tea. It was Renee and I, Our 2 kids (11 and 7 at the time), and our Old English Sheepdog (Bentley). They walked us through the restaurant to sit on the patio. They brought us glasses of water then they brought a bowl for Bentley. By the way, I highly recommend popovers and tea at the Jordan Pond House.