On our 3rd day in Acadia National Park, we give you some tips for dealing with large crowds in national parks that you’ll find during peak season and take you on the stunning Gorham Mountain Trail hike.
After a rainy day on Saturday where we didn’t see many people in the national park, the sunny weather we had on Sunday brought the large crowds we are used to seeing in national parks roaring back. The major sites in Acadia National Park were absolutely packed with people! Thankfully, Rachel and I planned ahead by getting parking reservations for the Sand Beach area of the park so we were guaranteed a spot. Unfortunately, we still had to wait in line to get into the park, but the wait was well worth it.
Vehicle reservations were required to enter two of Acadia National Park’s major sites during peak fall season this year: Cadillac Mountain and Sand Beach. Visitors had to go online to Recreation.gov to reserve a time of entry and you had a 30 minute window to make that reservation time. It was easy to book a reservation online, but it was hard to know what I was reserving since I wasn’t familiar with either the Sand Beach or Cadillac Mountain areas. If you plan to visit Acadia National Park during peak fall season, I highly recommend booking your tickets a few weeks in advance to guarantee yourself a spot.
Once we got through the line, though, we were able to enjoy an amazing hike on the Gorham Mountain trail. This trail was far enough away from Sand Beach, which was super crowded, that we didn’t pass by too many people while hiking. It was a pretty easy trail and we were treated to amazing views once we got to the top.
The hikes we did on Day 3:
- Gorham Mountain
The Map Pinners 