My wife and I are going to Bar Harbor, Maine for a vacation in August. We have mountain bikes and road bikes? Which would be best there?
If the roads are nice for road biking and not too congested, I would probably prefer the road bikes because we are training for a fall IM. If we will be dealing with lots of traffic, we’ll take the mountain bikes.
road. There is great road riding up there. Definitely do the Park Loop and ride up Cadillac. It is pretty hilly, so bring your good legs!
The “Carridge Roads” (ie nice gravel roads with no cars) in Acadia National Park are perfect for mountain bikes. That’s where I rode when I was there several years ago. It looked to me like the paved roads around the island would be good for road biking but I didn’t try it. There is a 3 mile/1600’ climb up Cadilac Mountain that looked very cool and we passed several roadies on the drive up 
If you do take road bikes, its worth renting mountain bikes for a half day ride in the park. Riding in the park is one of the main activities and there are about a million bike rental places in town. You can do a very scenic 25+ mile ride with a lunch stop at a nice restaurant in the park.
As long as I’m thowing out tourist tips, look into taking a small boat trip around the harbor and up Sommes Sound.
Is the Park Loop in Acadia National Park? I’m there next week and want to know the same as the original poster.
Yes, in the Park. Unfortunately, you have to buy a pass to ride on the loop, just like if you were in a car, but it is worth it. 2 lanes, one way, nice surface and views of the ocean that are unbelievable (if there is no fog…).
Sounds awesome. Maybe we’ll try to get 2 loops a day in for a few days with some running and swimming.
You don’t want to miss the carriage roads, they are fantastic. It’s just hard packed dirt and for me a MTB is overkill. I just put on cheap cross or commuting tires, the largest that will fit in my frame and run lower pressure. Then I can ride the park loop, carriage roads, and around the island with no worries. You will have a great time, BH is one of my favorite destinations.
The paved park loop road (~18mi) can be quite congested so go early in the day. Same with Cadillac climbs. Drivers are ready for bikes but many folks just have to get that view or picture by standing in the roadway.
That said if I only could bring one, in the summer I’d bring the Mtn. bike. 50+ miles of carriage paths all through the park. No motorized vehicles. Lots of ups and downs. Much easier to enjoy the beauty here (yes I live here) on the trail system than on the busy park loop.
Really no legal single track stuff on the island, my only local bike complaint
you only have to pay for access to certain areas.
the Schoodic section to the east (30 min) is free. and there are a lot of nice roads in the MDI area. .
We just got back from a trip to Mount Desert Island. We brought our mtn bikes and they were great for the carriage trails. I saw a lot of people riding the roads, and the dot was paving a lot of them so it should be great for your trip. I would either bring both, or bring your road bikes for IM training but rent some bikes so you can get out on the carriage roads at least once.
Yes, in the Park. Unfortunately, you have to buy a pass to ride on the loop, just like if you were in a car, but it is worth it. 2 lanes, one way, nice surface and views of the ocean that are unbelievable (if there is no fog…).
Or you can just go early in the morning and the Park Rangers are not at the gates, you can go right through…
for the couple people on the thread who have said that they’re coming to visit, I live here, PM me if you want to get together for a ride or run.
edit - bring the road bike, you can do the loop road and ride all around the island (it’s fun to go through all the harbors), and run the carriage trails
Yes, in the Park. Unfortunately, you have to buy a pass to ride on the loop, just like if you were in a car, but it is worth it. 2 lanes, one way, nice surface and views of the ocean that are unbelievable (if there is no fog…).
Or you can just go early in the morning and the Park Rangers are not at the gates, you can go right through…
for the couple people on the thread who have said that they’re coming to visit, I live here, PM me if you want to get together for a ride or run.
Wish I had known that before. i just got back last night.
Beautiful weather last week.
Thanks everyone for the good advice. We decided on the road bikes and had a blast. Plus we got in some great mileage. Its hard to imagine a nicer place to ride your bike. Perfect pavement, little to no traffic (we road from around 8 a.m. to 11 each day), great views, with the smell of salt water and pine trees mixing. The blueberry pancakes and hot coffee after a chilly long ride did not suck. Plus they provided energy for a p.m. run / hike on the carriage roads. Cadillac Mountain was also a really cool climb - it felt like a mini version of a Tour de France climb.
I just got back from Acadia NP a week ago and was glad I took my CX bike. I threw on the 700x32 Ritcher Speedmaxs with the intention of mostly riding roads and then the carriage roads a couple of days. Ha! I did one road and decided to ride the carriage roads the rest of the time. I’m amazed at the folks who ride the roads around there. I’ll take city traffic anyday! Overall, the island is perfect for riding. Lots of bikes, fun climbs, and great scenery.
People have to drive long distances up there. If you put on your turn signal on Rt-1 east of Ellsworth you better make your turn whether you change your mind or not. People start to pass you as soon as they see that lasher go on…
That can make a bike on the shoulder a dodgy place to be!
My wife and I brought our road bikes and road the carriage roads with the kids on them. They worked fine but they got pretty dusty.
Here are two photos, one of the carriage roads and the other at the summit of Cadillac Mountain. Let me know how fast you climbed it. It took me 21 mins. to go up and 7 to go down.
We stayed 8 days (camping) and we loved every minute of it.
**tigerchik - **If I had of known I would have look you up.
I haven’t been there since 1983. that’s gorgeous. nice to see it hasn’t changed.
Nice pictures! Glad you had a good time. I rode the loop road this morning, and OW swam in Echo Lake… life is pretty near perfect here.