3 Best Sights in Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island, Maine

Massed granite ledges meet crashing waves at Schoodic Peninsula's tip, off the loop road at the end of Arey Cove Road. Dark basalt rock slices through pink granite, to dramatic effect. Look east for a close view of Little Moose Island; a bit farther away to the west is a sidelong view of Mount Desert Island; and to the south, an inspiring open ocean view. There are bathrooms and a good-size parking area. 

The seasonal ranger-staffed Nature Center is the first major stop along the Park Loop Road. There are exhibits about the park's conservation efforts, as well as a park information center. The area is known as the “Heart of Acadia,” which memorializes George Dorr, Acadia National Park’s first superintendent, and includes walking trails, Sieur de Monts Spring, Wild Gardens of Acadia, and Abbe Museum (its main location is in downtown Bar Harbor), which honors the area’s Native American heritage. 

Looming 110 feet above the crashing surf of the North Atlantic, Otter Cliff is the terminus of the popular Ocean Path walking trail, which starts 2 miles north at the Sand Beach parking lot. Don’t fret if you’re not up for the walk: you can still enjoy the view from the overlook just beyond the cliff, where you can often watch rock climbers on the cliff face. Nearby on the shore are thousands of round boulders of various sizes that have been smoothed into shape by many thousands of years of wave action.