Exploring Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park
Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park is definitely a must see if you have a vehicle …or a pair of good hiking legs. We ended up opting driving up to the top…TWICE. The first time was during the day with some amazing views from afar despite a little cloud cover.
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Link to map all trails at Acadia (NPS.gov) –> Acadia National Park Trail Maps <–
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If you want to see the the trip up/down the side of the mountain, make sure you check out the video at the top of this blog post. However, Deanna went crazy on the photos at the top of the mountain (as she should) and time to start throwing them your way!
TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
When we first made it up to the top of the mountain we didn’t really talk a whole lot. We just soaked it all in…and I of course filmed the adventure.
It was a tad windy both times we went to the top of the mountain, but being by the ocean and high up in elevation, I suppose it makes sense. 🙂 I would happily stand out there and get wind burn all day long though if I could! (We sorta did our 2nd trip).
SO MANY ISLANDS!
As Deanna said in the video, “there are so many islands, I wonder how many there are?”, well after doing some research (aka googling as writing this post) there are over a dozen. Not very specific? Guess you will have to go out there and count! 🙂
Really though, they are absolutely beautiful with the surrounding ocean view and views of other surrounding mountains. It is one of my favorite views at Acadia.
Some of the surrounding islands you can actually take a ferry to, such as the Cranberry Islands (not sure if they actually contain cranberries), Isle au Haut, and Swan’s Island.
FLOWERS AND GREENERY
Even as far north as Maine, towards the end of May there were plenty of beautiful flowers all around Acadia National Park, even at the top of Cadillac Mountain! The rocky terrain can be a bit much for some folks, but there are some designated trails you can take if you prefer a slightly easier stroll around the top of this mountain.
We did a combination of walking the designated paths and making a few of our own. Just keep in mind, they do rope off sections of the mountain for bird nesting as well as letting nature do its thing restoring vegetation.
Next up…one of my favorite experiences while we camped near Acadia…SUNSET at Cadillac Mountain.
VIDEO #2 at Cadillac Mountain (Watch the Sunset)
COOLEST SUNSET EVER
And there you have a it folks, probably one of the coolest sunsets I have seen thus far in my lifetime. Heck, even Blaze was staring off towards the sun.
Luckily no one was blinded during this event, although I may have been seeing a few spots afterwards. 🙂 If you do head up for the sunset, just remember this is a fairly popular event so parking on the west side lot will indeed be full.
HOWEVER, if you are like us and showed up a bit late, there was a good amount of parking at the top and you can just walk on down to some better views anyways. 🙂 There is a trail on the west side that we saw quite a few people hiking down to find their own private view of the gorgeous sunset.
DEANNA’S EPIC PHOTOS
As the sun shifted below the tree line, most of the folks started to head off the mountain. Little did they know, some of the most beautiful shots of the sunset are when the sun is completely hidden by the earth.
The deep oranges and reds shining through the trees is an incredibly amazing sight to see.
MOON IS RISING
Deanna, Blaze, and I decided to stick around for even longer and check out the stars/moon as well. Apparently if you hang around on the other side of the mountain (and the timing is right) you can actually see the moon rising up from the ocean.
If I had known about that I think we may have actually opted for that over the sunset haha. It is hard to capture this clear bright night on camera, but believe me…this was worth every hour, minute, second we waited.
One of the above photos is looking over Bar Harbor below. We didn’t stick around too long while we were up there though because it was ridiculously windy. Like it was hard to stand up let alone trying to take a time-lapse or long exposure shot (even with tripods). We enjoyed every moment of it though and hope to do it again some day in the future!
CHECK OUT OTHER ACADIA NATIONAL PARK ADVENTURES
Great Head Trail, Sand Beach, and Bar Island
NOTE FROM THE WRITER
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Adventure On!
