Acadia: Cadillac at sunrise, the Beehive rungs, popovers at Jordan Pond

Bar Harbor, Seal Harbor, Bernard

1. 4:05 am1

   Drive up Cadillac Summit Road in the darkBar Harbor

   A vehicle reservation is required 20 May to 25 October, $6, sold only in advance on Recreation.gov — you cannot buy one at the gate. About 30% of slots release 90 days ahead and the other 70% at 10:00 Eastern exactly two days before; set an alarm for that, because sunrise slots are limited to one per vehicle per seven days and they are gone in minutes. The sunrise ticket gives you a two-hour entry window. You also need the $35 park pass on the windshield — the $6 reservation is not an entrance fee. Cost here is both.

   15 min by train or taxi · 9.3 km
2. 4:45 am2

   Sunrise from the Cadillac summitBar Harbor

   Late June sunrise is about 04:50 and mid-August closer to 05:45 — check the date, the two are an hour apart. Walk five minutes down the Summit Loop path away from the parking lot for the eastward view over the Porcupine Islands without a hundred phones in it. Cadillac is the first place in the US to see sunrise only from about 7 October to 6 March; in summer that title belongs to Mars Hill. It is 15°F colder and much windier up here than in town.

   8 min by train or taxi · 4.1 km
3. 6:45 am3

   Breakfast at 2 Cats in Bar HarborBar Harbor

   Opens at 07:00 and the line is out the door by 08:15 — coming down off the summit puts you first. Get the wild blueberry pancakes.

   10 min by train or taxi · 6.1 km
4. 8:15 am4

   The Beehive loop from Sand BeachBar Harbor

   Iron rungs and ladders bolted to a cliff for about 500 vertical feet — not exposed for long, but there is no way to turn around once you are on it, and it is one-way up. Go early: after 10:00 you queue on the rungs behind people who did not expect them. Down the back side to The Bowl and out to Gorham Mountain if you want another hour. Skip it entirely in rain; the granite is glassy.

   15 min by train or taxi · 9.4 km
5. 11:15 am5

   Jordan Pond path and popovers on the lawnSeal Harbor

   Walk the flat north end of the Jordan Pond path first for the Bubbles reflection, then eat. Popovers with strawberry jam on the lawn since the 1890s; the tables are mostly walk-up and the crush is 11:30 to 16:00, so land at 11:15 or after 15:00. The free Island Explorer Route 5 stops here every 30 minutes from 23 June to 31 August, which is the civilised way to avoid the parking lot.

   15 min by train or taxi · 9.4 km
6. 1:30 pm6

   Ocean Path to Thunder Hole on a falling tideBar Harbor

   Thunder Hole only thunders on a rising tide with swell behind it — an hour or two before high tide, ideally after a storm offshore. On a flat calm day it is a wet hole in the rock and you should keep walking to Otter Cliff instead.

   19 min by train or taxi · 19 km
7. 5:30 pm7

   Lobster in the rough at Thurston'sBernard

   Forty minutes from Bar Harbor on the quiet side and worth every one of them — pick your lobster, eat it on a deck over the working harbour. Bass Harbor Head Light is ten minutes further if you want sunset after; the viewing platform is small, so go straight there from dinner.