Climbing in Acadia National Park

Gabe, Paul and I at the entrance to Acadia National Park, Maine

Gabe, my brother Paul and I just got back from a trip to Acadia National Park in Maine. We were really fortunate with weather because it only rained when we were driving. When camping, climbing or hiking the weather was perfect. I am not sure I would want to drive out to Maine again. It was a long time to drive and the frequent toll booths really slow your pace (not to mention over $90 in tolls out and back).

We took a side trip to Lake Placid and the Adirondacks and camped a night there. When we arrived at Acadia, I was amazed at the number of people there. According to the NPCA, Acadia has over 2 million visitors per year and is ranked 9 among the most visited national parks. The density of traffic was probably worse than any other national park we have been in. It is probably because Bar Harbor is smaller town with narrow streets. Parking was nearly impossible to find.

With all that said, camping at the Blackwoods campground in the park was fantastic. We enjoyed our time there. However, the best part was the climbing. We climbed at Otter Cliffs and The Precipice (Son of "O") and some other single pitch routes over two days. We also did some hiking to take some photos from the top of some of the mountains. Beautiful views of the ocean and the pink granite offered some great photo opportunities. It was some of the best climbing we have ever experienced. I would go back to climb at Acadia again, but would probably lean toward flying into Boston and driving up from there.

Gabe and I on a climb at Acadia National Park . Directly behind us is the Atlantic Ocean.