Acadia camping: Blackwoods, Seawall or Schoodic Woods?

Acadia packs granite summits, a rocky Atlantic shoreline, ponds and 45 miles of car-free carriage roads onto Mount Desert Island in Maine, with a quieter outpost on the mainland Schoodic Peninsula. The park runs three main campgrounds, and each one puts you beside a different part of it. Blackwoods suits a first visit built around Cadillac Mountain and the Park Loop Road, Seawall suits the calmer western "quiet side" of the island, and Schoodic Woods is the only one with electric and water hookups, but it sits about an hour and a quarter from Bar Harbor (NPS campgrounds; Schoodic Woods).

Blackwoods: Cadillac and the Park Loop Road#

Blackwoods lies on Route 3 about 5 miles (8 km) south of Bar Harbor, under spruce woods on the east side of the island (Blackwoods). This is the side most people picture when they think of Acadia, and staying here keeps the big sights a short drive or bus ride away.

The 27-mile (43 km) Park Loop Road links Sieur de Monts, Sand Beach, Otter Point, Jordan Pond and Cadillac Mountain. Along the coast, the 2.2-mile Ocean Path runs from Sand Beach past Thunder Hole, a narrow inlet that booms best one to two hours before high tide, to the 110-foot pink granite of Otter Cliffs and Otter Point. Island Explorer buses stop along it, so you can walk one way.

Cadillac Mountain rises to 1,530 ft (466 m), the highest point on the US eastern seaboard, and from 7 October to 6 March it is the first place in the country to see the sunrise. Campers at Blackwoods can climb it on foot: the Cadillac South Ridge Trail starts on Route 3 just past the campground and runs 7.1 miles round trip over open granite, with steep pitches, one iron rung and a short spur to the Eagle's Crag overlook. Allow two to four hours.

Inland, Jordan Pond is the gateway to the carriage roads, the broken-stone lanes and 17 stone bridges that John D. Rockefeller Jr. funded between 1913 and 1940. They are shared by walkers, cyclists and horse-drawn carriages, which makes a bike day an easy win from this base.

Seawall: the quiet side of the island#

Seawall sits on Route 102A about 4 miles (6 km) south of Southwest Harbor, close to the open ocean on the western side of Mount Desert Island (Seawall). The villages here are smaller, the traffic lighter and the walks gentler.

Two flat trails a few minutes down the road show the coast at its most relaxed. Wonderland and Ship Harbor lead through spruce and mixed woods to rocky shoreline; Ship Harbor is a 1.5-mile figure-eight loop, and both are good for tide pools and birdwatching. Bass Harbor Head Light, on the island's southwest corner, is the classic lighthouse-on-the-rocks view; its parking lot is small, so arrive outside the sunset rush.

Seawall has drive-up sites and cheaper walk-in tent sites. The walk-in pitches are 10 to 300 feet (about 3 to 91 m) from the parking area, and each site description gives the exact distance, which is worth checking if you are carrying heavy gear.

Schoodic Woods: the mainland peninsula#

Schoodic Woods is 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Winter Harbor on the Schoodic Peninsula, the only part of Acadia on the mainland (Schoodic Woods). It is the newest and most varied of the three, with hike-in tent sites, drive-up sites and RV pitches with electricity only or electricity and water.

The peninsula feels wilder and far less busy than the island. A 6-mile (10 km) one-way Schoodic Loop Road runs to Schoodic Point, a windswept granite headland looking back at the mountains of Mount Desert Island, and 8.3 miles (13.4 km) of bike paths wind through the woods. Vehicles longer than 21 feet are banned from the loop road, so RV campers leave the rig at the campground and cycle, walk or use the seasonal bus.

The trade-off is distance. If most of your list is Cadillac, Jordan Pond and Bar Harbor, Schoodic means a long drive each day. It works best as a separate leg of the trip, or for travellers who need hookups.

The three campgrounds compared#

Season dates are from the NPS operating hours page; the NPS FAQ confirms the dump stations and the lack of hookups at Blackwoods and Seawall. Next season's dates appear on the same page.

How to combine them#

For a long weekend, stay at Blackwoods and spend one day on the Park Loop Road and Cadillac, another on the carriage roads around Jordan Pond. With four or five nights, split the stay: two or three nights at Blackwoods, then move to Seawall for the lighthouse, Ship Harbor and a slower pace. Add Schoodic as a final one- or two-night leg if you want quiet shoreline and cycling, rather than as a day trip from the island.

Late May and early June are quieter but cooler, July and August are warm and busy, and September into early October brings crisp air and autumn colour before the campgrounds close.

Booking and getting around#

All three campgrounds are booked through Recreation.gov. Ninety percent of sites are released six months ahead on the first of each month at 10 am Eastern time, so sites for July open on 1 January; the remaining 10 percent are released at 10 am, 14 days before arrival (Blackwoods booking details).

A few separate costs and bookings sit on top of the campsite:

• Park entry: a private-vehicle pass is $35 for seven days. Since 2026, non-US residents aged 16 and over also pay a $100 nonresident fee unless they hold an annual or America the Beautiful pass (entrance fees).
• Cadillac Summit Road: in 2026 a $6 vehicle reservation is required from 20 May to 25 October. Thirty percent are released 90 days ahead and 70 percent two days ahead, at 10 am Eastern. Vehicles over 21 feet, RVs and trailers are not allowed on the summit road (vehicle reservations).
• Island Explorer: the fare-free, propane-powered buses stop at the campgrounds and trailheads in summer and early autumn. In 2026 they run daily through 13 October, with a reduced timetable from 18 August. They do not go to Cadillac's summit, and their bike racks take up to six standard bikes but no e-bikes (Island Explorer).

Seasons, fees and booking rules were checked on 8 October 2026; check the NPS pages again before you book, as dates are set year by year.