Bar Harbor, Maine for 4th of July

[tburnand]

My husband and I were thinking of being in Bar Harbor, Maine for fourth of July. Has anyone ever been there at that time and do you have a recommendation for RV places?

[Bluestar99]

I was there in August and the traffic and crowds were so huge, I could not wait to get out of there. A Holiday would be brutal. It is a nice town, I suggest going another time.

[dbj216]

Acadia is a beautiful national park. It is also very popular. Bar Harbor is a tourist town. As mentioned, way too crowded for me. Finding parking throughout the park was a challenge, and we were there in May.

Research the coast of Maine and find a town that is less crowded. The scenery, lobster and the like are likely the same.

David

[tburnand]

Thank you for your advice. We will definitely look elsewhere after we see Acadia NP

[tburnand]

Thank you for your advice.

[A W Warn]

We stayed at Camden Hills State Park, then day tripped to Bar Harbor and Acadia NP from there. Less crowded, but not by much.

One visit to "Bah Hahbah" satisfied my curiosity. Way to many people, not enough parking, tourist trap. Not my cup of tea.

We were there in September.

[kdinnar]

As others have said, it is very crowded there on the Fourth. I have a better place to visit....where I live.... Boothbay Harbor, Maine. It's on the Midcoast of Maine, about an hour+ north of Portland and 3 hours south of Bar Harbor. With the exception of Acadia National Park, we have all that Bar Harbor has, but with fewer crowds. We also have some nicer things than Bar Harbor: a much larger harbor (the largest pleasure boat harbor north of Boston), more boat cruises, many more working lobster and fishing boats, and even better fireworks (I used to go to Bar Harbor every year for about 15 years before moving to Boothbay Harbor.) We have a nice full service campground that provides shuttle service. There are tons of restaurants, lobster, and scenic beauty. We've lived here 10 years and still love the town. Oh, I forgot, we also have the Maine Botanical Gardens, one of the best, in the US. Come and visit before the other tourists find this place.

[m.hony]

I will go to Baa Haabah at another time.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by Bluestar99

I was there in August and the traffic and crowds were so huge, I could not wait to get out of there. A Holiday would be brutal. It is a nice town, I suggest going another time.

Same here.
In the words of Yogi Berra, "Nobody goes there, it's too crowded."
I love that area, but in the summer everyone from Boston goes there. It's a completely different feeling other times.
I also recommend Rockland, Camden, and on Acadia National park, West Quoddy light and Bass Harbor light.

Once you go NE of there, the coast changes dramatically. It's called the "Bold Coast". Towns are smaller, and you feel very remote.

[charlesk]

We were there in August. The town of Bar Harbor was crazy busy. There was a cruise ship in port that added to the crowds.

The second week we stayed at the new Scoodic Woods NP Campground. It is amazing. It is a trek to Bar Harbor.

[muffinsam]

We have been three years in a row. The campground is located at the quite sure I'd Acadia!!
book site 306 and I believe you can call in feb. Or March to reserve. Bass harbor is great. Southwest harbor is great. The common man for poppers etc. Thurston on the harbor for lobster sit at the bar. Bloody Mary with lobster claw meat and lobster salad!!!
On the way to Thurston stop at Cookies bakery shed on road. All home made very reasonable zucchini bread is awesome as well as pies and cookies!
take cruise out of bass harbor to frenchboro island. It's awesome and very reasonable. Play house in Somes next to southwest harbor.
Nice location lighthouse in walking distance.
nice hikes to ocean close. Seawall close take chairs and lunch its beautiful.
bar harbor is one day visit. Too commercial for us but visit for half a day. Carriage roads and Cadillac mountain a must see early morning before crowds.
Bring bikes and rent cayacks.
We LOVE it there and staying on the quiet side is great.
Hope this helps. Just do it.
David

[dentont]

While Bar Harbor has always been a tourist destination, it is the cruise ships that have ruined it. See my link. In spite of them, if you can avoid the town itself and visit Acadia, and get an early start in the morning, it's manageable. (note that I live in Manhattan so I may have a different idea of crowding lol). I bet if you could get a hold of cruise ship schedules and could find a hole in them, it might be doable. However I have never been there on the 4th of July.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/31/u...e-acadia.html?

[VT Wanderer]

We visited Acadia in 2016 and 2017 (other earlier years too in tents). Both years (16 & 17) we stayed at Narrows Too in Ellsworth ME, near the causeway entrance to Mount Desert Island (Acadia and surrounding towns). 2017 we were there from July 9 - 17. 2016 we were there in early June for a week. Yes, June is much less populated, but July, after July 4 weekend was still doable. The west side of the island is the quiet side - great for kayaking. If you are a hiker, go a couple hundred yards from trailheads, and you will have most trails pretty much to yourself. The carriage trails are awesome for biking (you can rent in town). Again... no crowds there. If you go into the heart of Bar Harbor you can find your crowds. We're not shoppers, so we stay out of town, and enjoy the nature and beauty of Acadia. It is breathtaking. You can avoid crowds if you want to. If July is the only time you can get there... do it!!!!!!

[spclkaz]

As a transplanted Mainer myself, I would agree with KDINNAR and AW WARN's above suggestions as well... Bar Harbor was a beautiful sleepy, small coastal town back in the day before all the Cruise ships arrived and spoiled the character of the place. Still... Arcadia National Park is well worth a day long visit, especially if you are hikers. Hopefully you have a Senior National Park All Access pass as the admission prices are about to go WAAAY up... However, if you must go to Bar Harbor... go in middle October when the leaves are at peak and the crowds are somewhat diminished after school is back in session. If you want to splurge for a night or two, park the Airstream somewhere and stay at the Bar Harbor Inn (but only in the OLD building and hopefully on the second floor.

[Kevinshortnh]

Originally Posted by Bluestar99

I was there in August and the traffic and crowds were so huge, I could not wait to get out of there. A Holiday would be brutal. It is a nice town, I suggest going another time.

Bar Harbor's busy season starts just after July 4. We have been there earlier (June) and the black flies were terrible. The town has a great little July 4 parade. Everything is just getting rolling at that time, so I'm guessing it would be a great time to visit! We have been there many times over the past 30+ years.

[jimstream]

I recommend Bar Harbor and especially Acadia National Park any time of the year, except maybe winter.
I worked for this past summer (June thru September) driving an "Island Explorer" bus for the national park. The secret of getting around the island ,Mount Desert Island, the National Park and the towns is to take the bus.
The island Explorer busses are FREE to everyone. They trasnsport people from all the area hotels and campgrounds to the National park and to all the villages on the island as well as to all the sites and venues in the park. They run on a very regular posted schedule hitting most stops every 15 minutes, or at the most every half hour. They run from 7am to 11pm. You can flag them down on the road anywhere and they will stop for you. Each bus is equipted to accommodate handicapped individuals in wheel chars and can carry up to 6 bicycles.
After spending the whole summer there I can tell you that anywhere in Maine is wonderful. Every town is picturesque, every forest primeval, every coast line rapturous, and because they are they all draw crowds. Remember "crowds" are relative. A thousand tourists roaming a small village like Bar Harbor may seem crowded but a mile away on the bus the coast line is empty. There are many places where you can find solitude. I often took a beach chair on the bus to an empty point on the rocky shore with a small cooler and a book and could spend the day relaxed, even in July. And the temperature rarely got out of the 80s!
The locals are friendly, the restaurants excellent, local theaters wonderful, fishing and sailing the best, and camp ground are not squeezing campers together like tenements. I recommend The Narrows campground.

[Mary Graf]

I grew up in Maine, and the coast is a wonderful place to explore. Because summer is so short, it gets very crowded from 4th of July until Labor Day Weekend. But September is delightful, with warm days and cool nights and all the kids back in school. The spectacular foliage explodes in early October and is a sight to behold. Once Columbus Day Weekend is over, the leaves fall pretty quickly, and quiet season resumes through winter into spring. Not to be missed is Schoodic Peninsula, an hour’s drive up the coast, with a new campground in this section of Acadia National Park. Check in advance, as the camping season is quite short.

[majorairhead]

Oh I just had to reply to this one. The Navigator and I were just up to Bar Harbor/Acadia this past summer.

We stayed at Hadley's Point campground.....it was NOT a serene, quiet, quintessential dreamy Maine camping experience, but it WAS a decent location to get around to where we wanted to go.

I'd go to Bar Harbor anytime without concern, but if you're seeking Maine solitude then no, it's not the place you want to be. We were in Bar Harbor several times, really liked the place, even though lots of people, it was nice.

We bicycled the carriage paths, and toured Acadia rather extensively, it's a beautiful place. Thunder hole, Cadillac Mountain, well, we just did it all, drove all around. I think we spent a whole week there.

We also went to Schoodic point. It was July, but rather cool at Schoodic the day we were there, I think in the 50's F.

I have tons of pics but won't bore you too much.....

[Julie-Bob]

The Red Barn RV in Bangor. We stayed there over the fourth of 2015 great folks. Yes it will be crowded but everyone needs to see Bar Harbor once. If you want to get away from the crowds after Bar Harbor. Drive over to Lubec Maine stay at Sunset Rv Park the most easterner RV park in the USA eat blueberry pancakes at Franks dockside restaurant. Drive across the bridge to Campanella and see FDR’s. Summer home. Take passport your in Canada on the island watch the tilde rise and fall over 20’ from RV park. Make res. Drive over to Eastport and eat lobster rolls on dockside No better.

[tburnand]

Thank you for the suggestion. I will definitely look into Boothbay for the 4th. This is our first time in the NE and after Maine we are headed up to Nova Scotia and Quebec City and cruise around for a month.