Milbridge is on the northeastern coast of Maine and about an hour away from Acadia National Park. We had the tiny campground of McClellen Park and its rocky shoreline to ourselves the night before we entered Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.
With its rocky beaches, granite mountains, and mix of deciduous and evergreen trees, Acadia is one of the most visited National Parks in the U.S. In the 1880s and gay nineties the affluent Rockefellers, Morgans, Vanderbilts, Carnegies, and Fords constructed luxury summer retreat “cottages” in the area. Rockefeller financed carriage roads and stone bridges between 1913 and 1940 to facilitate leisurely bicycle, horse and carriage rides. The Great Depression brought an end to this extravagance and later, donations of money and land were used to establish the park.
If you’ve got two days in the park, we have some suggestions on what to do.
Park Loop Road
Allot about 3 hours to drive this scenic 27-mile drive as you’ll want to stop at various lookouts.
Jordan Pond and the nearby River Trail
This is a popular stop with a busy restaurant and a pretty view. The restaurant is known for its tea with popovers and jam. Walking past the pond, you’ll reach some Carriage Roads, see a stone bridge, and can connect with the nearby River Trail for a hike. You can walk, bike, ride a horse or a rent a carriage along the 45-miles of networked Carriage Roads if you’d rather.
Beehive Trail
Plan accordingly to hike Beehive Trail. You want to hike when its cool, but not when the rocks may be wet and slippery. Despite its 784 ft elevation gain, ladders, and the-omg-I-guess-I-do-have-a-fear-of-heights wooden bridges, this difficult 3.5 mile loop trail is very popular. Why? A sense of accomplishment and stunning views from the top! Once you decide to do it though it doesn’t seem safe to stop and back down at any point along the Beehive climb. There are several spots where you are relying on hand holds and wedging your foot into a rock crevice that would be difficult to see on the way down. Additionally, walking along the one-person-width ledges while swimming upstream of hikers climbing up the Beehive would be a nightmare.
Beehive parking 
Sand Beach
This long, curved beach sits between two walls of rocks covered in towering evergreens. On a clear day, the views are spectacular, making it a popular stop, despite its chilly water.
Cadillac Mountain
The narrow Cadillac Mountain access road is a busy drive. Standing at 1,530 feet tall, it is the not only the tallest mountain in the park, but also the tallest on the North Atlantic seaboard . Doug was still without his bike so he decided to ride my e-bike 3.5 miles up the mountain. Inadvertently he set a new Strava all-time biking record for this route. Sorry serious cyclists! Hope you aren’t killing yourselves trying to reach the summit faster than this e-bike record.
He also rode several of the Carriage Roads on his way back to the RV.
As we departed, we were hoping we might connect with a CEO who helped us both at different times and in different companies in our careers. It was late September and unfortunately, he had already returned to the Bay Area. His home is beautiful and he’s got great views. Who knows…maybe in the future we’ll be able to connect with him at this location.
Acadia National Park is known for its fall colors, which we were a bit too early in the season to enjoy. Also, without both bikes, it was a bummer not to ride the Carriage Roads together. We did, however, enjoy the hiking and Doug liked the little bit of biking he did, so we would both recommend more of these activities in the park. Like most national parks, it doesn’t take too much effort to leave the crowds of easy-to-reach locales like Sand Beach and Jorden Pond behind and really enjoy the beauty of this eastern seaboard park.
