Campgrounds in Acadia National Park

[MD-Escape]

Hello,

We are in the process of booking campsite(s) for an upcoming trip. It’ll be our longest trip yet since getting our 5.0 last October. One of our main destinations will be Acadia but we are a little confused by the campsite specifications.

For example:
At Schoodic Woods all sites are “max 20ft” and nothing larger. So far I’ve never hesitated booking sites listed as 20’ for our 5.0 trailer and had no problems fitting. Is this going to be a problem at Schoodic? I know every site is unique but what is the general consensus? Some sites even specifically list “Fifth Wheel max 20 ft” (example site A20). What does that even mean and how is it different than a site w/o a fifth wheel designation? (How many fifth wheels under 20 ft are even in existence?). The photo for A20 seems plenty large/long for my 5.0 and F150.

Blackwood campground has trailer sites for “max 20ft” and pull-throughs “max 30ft” but nothing in between. Must we get a giant pull-through (which we generally don’t like) or will a 20’ site be okay?

Blackwood is harder to reserve than Schoodic. Supposedly length restrictions are “strictly” enforced. How strict? It would be a bummer being 11 hours from home and not allowed to camp.

Helpful links:
https://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/camping.htm
https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campsites/98505 (example A20)

Thanks for any pointers.

[fudge_brownie]

I had limited experience with Acadia Blackwood. I obtained two nights off the walk-in list. The site was on a hillside. The upper level, large enough for a trailer had a drop off to the picnic area. It was not possible to level at that location. The lower portion of the site had the picnic table and another entrance. It was possible to wedge a 21 into the area after moving the picnic table into the woods. I spent two hours figuring out a solution. My car was parked upside.

My conclusion would be that their numbers have limited value due to terrain. An image might help.

Enjoy your stay.

[stpax]

We were in Acadia in the fall and spent a few nights in hadley campground...it is when you come on the island before the town. very close to the park and has a shuttle to town, it was clean and nice

[MrLynn]

We stayed at Schoodic Woods for a few nights last September. I think most of the sites are plenty long enough for a 5.0 and tow vehicle. Our site pitched down hill, but we could still level it out (first photo). Others were more level, including one with a 5.0 (second photo). Sorry, didn't get the site number.

[BobCS]

We visited Acadia in July 2019. We had never been there before, so we split our time among the three main campgrounds (Seawall, Blackwoods, Schoodic Woods). Blackwoods and Seawall are in the main part of the park (Mount Desert Island) and much closer to the primary attractions and trails, but they are also older and more crowded. Lots of pull through sites that are very close to each other. Schoodic is much quieter, farther from the action, and has electric. The Schoodic Peninsula is a lovely bike ride and the point is great for climbing on the rocks. When we went back in 2022 we stayed only at Schoodic and spent a longer day driving around the island as a day trip.

I would not worry at all about that length limit. They try to discourage the bigger RVs but we saw many bigger than any Escape.

[MrLynn]

PS From Schoodik you can take a ferry from Winter Harbor across to Bar Harbor. It's a fun ride, and Bar Harbor is eminently walkable.

[MD-Escape]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Now have confidence that most any site will fit our 5.0. We can't wait to get there.

While checking out all the Schoodic sites and clicking through the site photos we stumbled across site A22:

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campsites/98475

The 3rd picture actually captured an Escape 5.0 camping! What are the odds?! So cool.