7 things to AVOID when visiting Acadia National Park

Visiting Acadia National Park? Avoid common mistakes tourists make with these essential tips!  

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James Ian, a National Park expert, shares the top seven mistakes to avoid when visiting Acadia National Park.  

From not making reservations for Cadillac Mountain to the consequences of underestimating the time needed to explore, this video offers valuable tips to ensure a smooth and enjoyable trip. James highlights common pitfalls such as arriving late, neglecting travel insurance, and lacking a detailed plan. Additionally, he provides information about utilizing shuttles and recommends alternative places to visit. The episode concludes with the most crucial mistake: not allowing enough time to enjoy the park's many attractions. 

00:00 Introduction: Avoiding Mistakes in Acadia National Park 

00:36 Meet Your Guide: James Ian 

02:08 Mistake #1: Not Reserving Entry to Cadillac Mountain 

04:04 Mistake #2: Visiting Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse Late 

06:05 Mistake #3: Skipping Travel Insurance 

06:54 Mistake #4: Starting Your Day Too Late 

08:19 Mistake #5: Driving Instead of Using the Shuttle 

09:24 Mistake #6: Not Having a Detailed and Flexible Plan 

12:55 Mistake #7: Not Allowing Enough Time 

15:02 Conclusion and Additional Resources 

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Transcript

0:00

How many times when planning a trip to a national park have you thought, I wonder what I should avoid doing in the park? Or how many times at the end of a trip have you thought, I really wish I'd known that beforehand. Well, that's exactly what we're looking at today. If you're planning your first trip to Acadia National Park, you probably have loads of questions about how to visit Acadia National Park in Maine. There are plenty of videos with tips for visiting Acadia National Park. The thing is that most of them focus on what you should do in the park. This video is different. Hi, I'm James Ian and I've written numerous guides and published several itineraries on Acadia National Park and today I'm sharing things not to do in the park. These are seven things to avoid when visiting Acadia National Park and how to avoid them. If you're watching this on YouTube, like and subscribe now. If you're watching or listening somewhere else, follow my podcast to get the episodes as they come out. By looking at seven mistakes that people commonly make, you'll learn exactly how to avoid them so that you won't make the same mistakes. At the end of the video, I'm going to share my number one mistake that I've seen people make. And it's not only the most common mistake, it's also the worst mistake that you can make. And I'll share exactly how to avoid it. Of all the Acadia National Park tips that you'll hear, this is the most important. So be sure to stay to the end. Let's get into it. Welcome to National Parks Collecting with James Ian. He's a National Park expert. He's here to help you have the best National Parks trips ever. Get tips, discover hidden gems, and learn all you need to know. This is your path to collecting National Parks experiences, memories, and maybe even a stamp or two. So, what are the seven biggest mistakes that I see people make when they plan their trip to Acadia National Park? Remember to stay to the end for my number one tip to avoid the biggest mistake that people make. What's the first mistake that people make when planning a trip to Acadia National Park? A common mistake that people make in Acadia is not making reservations for entry to Cadillac Mountain. Cadillac Mountain is not only the highest point in Acadia National Park, It's actually the highest point on the North Atlantic Seaboard. And from October 7th to March 6th, it's the first place in the United States that you can see the sunrise. But the sunrises here at any time of year from the summit are legendary Sunsets , which are actually best seen from Blue Hill Overlook just below the summit, are also spectacular. In fact, the views looking out over the surrounding mountains, the islands, and the oceans are beautiful any time of the day, and absolutely worth going. The road up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain is open from mid April to the end of November. However, from late May to late October, you need a timed entry reservation to access the road. it's a very popular destination, and these reservations can get booked up in seconds of being released, so it's essential to know when the time slots get released and be ready to snap them up the seconds that they are So basically, 30 percent of the tickets become available 90 days in advance of each date, and then the remaining 70 percent are released two days in advance. So, don't make the mistake of missing these dates and missing out on one of the highlights of a trip to Acadia National Park. However, if you do make this mistake or if you just aren't able to get tickets because they sell out so quickly, there is a solution. There's a shuttle - a Cadillac mountain shuttle. It's privately owned. It's not part of the national park. It is paid, but it will take you to the top of Cadillac mountain. What's another mistake that people make when planning a trip to Acadia national park? Something that I think can negatively impact your visit is visiting Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse in the late afternoon. Now, Bass Harbor Head Light Station, as it's officially called, is the most photographed lighthouse in the country. It's a small lighthouse that sits atop a rocky cliff at the southern end of Mount Desert Island. It's beautiful, it's cute, and it's most famous for being photographed at sunset. However, the lighthouse is beautiful any time of the day, and in fact sunrises here are equally beautiful. While capturing the perfect sunset shot might seem like a great idea, unless you're a very serious photographer, it's actually not. The thing is that the parking lot at the lighthouse is very, very small - there's just a handful of parking spaces, and once it's full, park rangers actually block access and only allow a vehicle to enter when another one leaves. It's usually like that from mid morning to mid afternoon. And that moves slowly. You might have to wait. But from mid afternoon, everyone who's parked at the lighthouse is there waiting for the sunset. So there's no one going out. There's no one going in. So if you're not there by around 3. 30 in the afternoon, you basically have no chance of getting a parking space there. And then to photograph the sunset, you need to clamber out. To get the view, you need to clamber out onto wet, slippery rocks, set up a tripod, vie for space with everybody else who's there, and then wait for several hours until the sun sets. So, if you're a serious photographer, this might be worth it. If you're not, It's actually not a whole lot of fun. It's much better, I think, to spend your time enjoying the rest of the park and then visiting the lighthouse either for the sunrise or just sometime throughout the day instead. What's something else that people should avoid doing when they visit Acadia National Park? I see people do this all the time, but when you go to Acadia, it's a huge mistake not to get travel insurance. I know this isn't exciting, it's not sexy, it's not fun, but good travel insurance that covers things like medical expenses, lost or stolen property, trip cancellation, emergency repatriation, etc. is really important. Of course, not all insurance coverage is equal. You do need to check the policy very carefully to see what is and isn't included, particularly if you're going to be doing some hikes, for example, or some other adventure activities, make sure that's covered in your insurance policy. There are plenty of insurance options out there. I really like Travelex. If you're interested, there'll be a link in the description below. What's something else that people should avoid doing when they visit Acadia National Park? Something that I see people do and it almost never goes well is getting a late start to the day or days. I know it's very tempting to sleep in on your vacation, wake up late, have a long leisurely breakfast, and then head out mid morning. However, Acadia National Park is not the best place to do that, especially in summer, because it's crowded and getting up later will make a huge negative impact on your day. It's much better to get up really early, grab a quick bite to eat, and then head into the park as early as possible. If you're driving, you'll be able to nab one of the very limited parking spaces that are available. If you're hiking, you'll have the trails and viewpoints mostly to yourself, which is really nice. If you're hoping to photograph something, you'll have a lot fewer people in your shots. And then by mid afternoon, you can be done for the day. You can relax back at your accommodation. You can enjoy an early dinner in Bar Harbor. You can wander around Bar Harbor. You can relax down by the coastline. When it comes to National Parks, Acadia is definitely one of them, being the early bird, definitely gets the worm. Before we look at other mistakes to avoid in Acadia National Park, if you're watching this on my@NationalParksCollecting YouTube channel and you haven't already, please like and subscribe below. What's a mistake that can really impact your trip to Acadia National Park? One thing that you should absolutely not do I'd especially if you don't get an early start is driving instead of using the shuttle. It's possible to drive through most of Acadia National Park. In fact, you do need your own vehicle to get up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. However, there is very limited parking at almost all of the attractions and trailheads. And did I mention that it's not only the fifth smallest U. S. national park, but it's also the fifth most popular. There are multiple routes all around Mount Desert Island, the nearby mainland, and even Schoodic Peninsula, which is connected with the ferry from Bar Harbor. You can even rent bicycles in Bar Harbor and have them carried into the park on racks on front of the shuttle buses. So, instead of driving and struggling to find parking, unless you're getting a very, very early start and staying in the one place most of the day check out the Island Explorer routes and schedules. What's another mistake people often make when they visit Acadia National Park? There's a lot to do in Acadia, so a very common mistake I see people make is not having a detailed and flexible plan. Now, I have one more mistake to reveal after this one, so be sure to stay to the end to hear that because it's the most important. But before I do, let me explain what I mean by having a plan. With Acadia being so popular and so many things to do, having a plan is essential. It's not one of those parts where you can just arrive and wing it if you want to get the most out of your trip. Now, of course, you need to be flexible. Things happen and some of the most amazing experiences can be those that happen outside your plans. However, although I love to be open to all that travel opens me up to, I've learned over the years the importance of knowing exactly what a place has to offer, the best times to be there, how long it will take me to get there, how long is a good amount to spend there, etc. Right? Not having a plan and then adjusting it for things that happen on your trip is a huge mistake but all these details can be hard to find in one place and planning a trip to a place like Acadia can be overwhelming but it will make your trip so much better. The number one thing that people ask me about is how to put together an actual itinerary. They worry that they'll miss out on something really cool, they'll worry that they'll be somewhere when everyone else is in exactly the same place and they'll spend most of their time trying to find a park. with the crowds on the trails. Some of them are traveling with their whole family and they stress about how to keep everybody happy. If you'd like some help with your planning, I've actually created some super detailed itineraries for Acadia National Park. There are one day, two day, three day, and four day itineraries. Just click on the link in the notes below and it will take you to a page that explains all of this in more detail. We can take a quick look now. Based on my research and my own experiences in Acadia, these include the best things to see for the amount of time that you have, plus detailed directions, descriptions, things to know, et cetera. They have a park overview, plus for each day, there's a really detailed breakdown of what to do and see. I've also included different options, you can see here, there's one, two, three, four, different options for the same time, in the same part of the park, and then they come together after a certain time and then have more choices later. Some of these options might be for more strenuous hikes. Some of them are for non hiking options. At the same time, in the same part of the park, and then people can come together later in the day to do something that's suitable for everybody, and then there's more options later. This obviously can vary depending on the day, but this is the basic idea. And then there's very detailed hike descriptions, there's trail maps, there's tips and suggestions, there's driving directions, parking tips, driving maps meal suggestions, etc.. The link for these is just in the show notes below. You can click through and it takes you to this page. There's a lot more FAQs, more information and more details here. These itineraries really help take away the overwhelm. They give you all of the information that you need in one spot, so that you don't need to worry about missing out on any of the highlights of the park, or stress about how to put everything together into a schedule that makes the most sense. So just follow the links in the show notes below the video and it will take you to this page. Now, as promised, What's the number one mistake that people make when visiting Acadia and how can you avoid it? The number one mistake that I see people make when visiting Acadia All the time is not allowing enough time. They underestimate Acadia. Acadia National Park is actually the fifth smallest national park in the United States. However, that doesn't mean that there's not a lot to do. In fact, there's so much to do that not allowing enough time is just a huge mistake. For one thing, the National Park isn't limited to just one area. It's spread out over much of Mount Desert Island. But many people skip the Schoodic Peninsula, which is just across the bay and it's equally beautiful. There are several really great hikes and stunning coastline around the peninsula that I highly recommend. On Mount Desert Island alone, there's just so much to do. There's hiking trails for every ability level, from a short stroll to the shores of Jordan Pond, to hikes that are classified as non technical climbs, if that's your thing. There are miles of historic carriage roads throughout the park to explore on foot, on bicycle, or by horse carriage. If you like to be on the water, you can swim, you can kayak, take a sailboat cruise, or a naturalist boat tour, or even go rafting nearby. If you prefer more leisurely adventures, it's easy to while away an afternoon eating popovers on the lawn at Jordan Pond House. You can eat freshly caught lobster at a shack right on the water's edge, you can cool off with blueberry ice cream in Bar Harbor the list just goes on and on. So while you can see the highlights of Acadia in one day if that's all the time that you have available, it's definitely a mistake to not spend as much time here as you can. How much time is enough? Well, it does obviously depend on your interests but I always recommend at least four days to see the highlights. If you have even more time, you can hike more trails, do more activities, and just have more time to relax. If you want help planning your trip, Check the links in the description below. There's a bunch of planning and booking resources that you can use to plan and book your trip. And keep watching my videos to get even more help so that you can have the best National Parks vacation ever. And if you want to get notified about the next episode, subscribe and click below.