After one epic day of hiking (coming soon!), we spent the next day “resting” our legs by biking the Carriage Roads in Acadia National Park. Twenty miles and three hours later, we happily sat outside next to a fire pit to enjoy a local brew in downtown Bar Harbor, with tingly legs and shining faces. We were refreshed and fulfilled. Does life get any better?
The Carriage Roads are a unique feature of Acadia National Park and truly a great way to see the park. We’ll share more of our Acadia favorites (coming soon, so be sure to subscribe), but there is a reason this is one of the most popular activities here. Driving the Park Loop Road can be discarded (crowds!), yet this is the way to get the idea of what Acadia truly is. While biking, you can appreciate how much space there is and how it changes so much in a 30,000 square acre area. It’s overwhelmingly beautiful.Â
The Carriage Roads are located on the Mount Desert island portion of Acadia National Park, which is the main and largest portion of the park and adjacent to the cute coastal town of Bar Harbor.
I highly recommend a day on wheels if you come to this area.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. created these paths for his own use, working on them from 1913 to 1940. He loved travelling by horse & carriage and wanted private places to jaunt and take in the Mount Desert landscape uninterrupted by cars. And when you have enough money (Rockefeller was worth $24 billion by today’s standards) you can do things like this. For what its worth, it wasn’t lost on Mr. Family Trip and I that billionaires back then built trails and mansions that are now gifted to foundations and parks for the public to enjoy. I hear today’s billionaires are trying to create communes for their dozens of surrogate children with different moms. So there’s that.
Rockefeller’s desires funded a project that is a bit of an engineering feat. Maine is wet (and a lot of times, cold). But Rockefeller was a landscape architect and used granite, ditches, and bridges to have his trails compliment the land and survive the seasons. It is a beautiful piece of park.
Today, there are 45 miles of Carriage Road inside Acadia National Park, and 12 more adjacent to it but not in the park itself.
You can bike the Carriage Roads like us, or you can horseback. You can even go around like Rockefeller in a horse drawn carriage. (You can also hike the Carriage Roads, but there are so many place in Acadia to hike…)Â
Biking on the Carriage Roads is a great way to experience this national park and, even more, is somewhat rare. There aren’t many national parks that have access to this kind of biking trail (we biked along the rim of the Grand Canyon and we’ve enjoyed the C&O Canal path here and here, but that’s not technically a national park). It is completely car-free and also maintained.
Get Unique Tips from the Trip Delivered
We send essays, thoughts, and tips on modern-day parenting to email subscribers.
A How-To on Biking the Carriage Roads in Acadia National Park:
Table of Contents
Where to Rent a Bike in Bar Harbor
There are many places to rent bikes (all in Bar Harbor) if you want to do this excursion. We rented from Acadia Bike Rentals for ease. For this shop, we were able to keep our car parked at our hotel’s lot. We didn’t find a shop that offered free parking (everything was on-street paid parking), so this was easiest for us. They were also very nice!
Most shops give you a discount for reserving online in advance – which is something you will want to do if you are there during high season anyhow – but we were there before high season started and were able to walk in and rent a bike to ride out. There are also half-day rates and full-day rates. Because we returned our bikes within four hours, we were refunded some money as the half-day rate.
eBike or self-propelled bike? That’s a big question when it comes to biking the Carriage Roads.
We bike frequently enough that we felt strong and capable enough to use traditional bikes. It was fun to feel connected to the elevation changes and the topography. Plus, eBikes were double the price. We didn’t regret our choice (well, much…there was one incline that went on far too long in my opinion), and we weren’t exactly lapped by eBike riders.
My suggestion is to trust your level of fitness and conditioning to make your decision. If you feel comfortable using gears on a bike and have a decent amount of fitness, you’ll be totally fine on a traditional bike.Â
Physically, we could have biked a bit more miles (but I wanted to relax in the Maine sun). As it was, we did 20 miles in about 3 hours.Â
How to Access the Carriage Roads
Whichever bike shop you rent from will give you a map and directions on how to access the Carriage Roads from Bar Harbor.
From downtown, bike down West Street out of town. On the right will be a green sign that indicates the bike route to Acadia, putting you on a mixed use trail. From there, follow the green signs into Acadia until you turn right onto Duck Brook Bridge.
This is about 1.7 miles from downtown Bar Harbor and does have some uphill grade (downhill coming home!). This entry route does have some turns, so be sure to watch for the signs. Also, it will take you on some busy roads but for a very short distance. Use common sense and ride safe.
The majority (I would say “all” but can’t confirm) of bike shops will not let you transport bikes via car. Additionally, we didn’t find any bike shops that would bring your bike into the park for you (e.g. meet at Jordan Pond House). Biking out of Bar Harbor is the way the Carriage Trail is done.
Â
Map of the Carriage Roads
The network of Carriage Roads is quite extensive. All the roads we were on once inside the park were small-sized gravel with hardpacked earth underneath (quite lovely).
Every intersection is marked with a number (which corresponds to the map), and is clearly labelled with the direction to various points of interest. It was pretty easy to navigate the Carriage Roads, although there are a lot of intersections and options.
There were some good hills but we used our gears and we bike a good bit (usually rails to trails!) so while some moments were challenging, the ride as a whole felt manageable to us.
Where to Bike on the Carriage Roads
We got on the Carriage Roads at Intersection 5 and went south on the loop.
From there, you have a lot of options and choices to make at the various marked intersections.
We took Eagle Lake Loop down to the intersection with Jordan Pond Loop and opted to continue on that Loop down to Jordan Pond House. (Markers 5 to 4 to 6 to the Tri Lakes loop, the red trail.)
After a brief break at Jordan Pond House, we navigated back to the Jordan Pond Loop and turned north to head towards home. When we arrived at the intersection with Eagle Lake, we opted to continue to circle Eagle Lake rather than go back the way we came. This took us to Intersection 4, where we decided to bear right to Intersection 5 (rather than continuing around Witch Pond towards marker 2 and adding more mileage) and coming back to the way we rode in.Â
Our route was 20 miles from the start at the bike shop to the end at the bike shop.
You can see in the Strava capture below that it was a lollipop.
You can also see our elevation profile.
Technically, bikes are allowed on the Cadillac Mountain road but there is a ranger booth checking for park entrance fees in high season plus, just don’t do it. It is incredibly steep and there is no bike lane on the road up. Just drive Cadillac Mountain (be sure to get reservations in advance if you go during high season) and bike elsewhere
You can bike on Park Loop Road but, again, no bike lane and it is busy with traffic.
I highly recommend just sticking with the Carriage Roads for the best experience.
There are many more miles of trails to discover, but some are marked as more strenuous. We stuck to some of the “easier” trails and managed enough mileage for me for the day!
What to Know to Bike the Carriage Roads
- You won’t need a bike lock unless you intend to keep the bike overnight.
- Technically, there is a fee to enter Acadia National Park, but the Carriage Roads entrance from Bar Harbor is unmanned, so there isn’t a place to pay. We had our Annual National Parks Pass with us just in case.
- The weather changes quickly in this part of the country! Wear layers.
- Follow the rules of the road: bike on the right and let people pass.
- Wear a helmet We didn’t see anyone on the trails without one, but please protect your head.
- This is Maine – bugs (think gnats) can be aggravating and full on in hot summer months. You may want bug spray handy.
As I sat there with my Bar Harbor cider after our ride, I sent up cheers to Mr Rockefeller. The man may have spent an insane amount of money to build what he did, but that day I was grateful for his passion, foresight, and his gift back to the park. Biking the Carriage Roads in Acadia National Park built a core memory of happiness and freedom.
Helpful Links
- Acadia National Park website.
- This blog post is another helpful round-up of tips and loops for those biking the Carriage Roads.
Like it?
Save it
