ME Private CG Mount Desert Campground

It is with a bit of trepidation that I post a review of this campground only because it is hard enough already to score a site here as things stand. That said, I enjoyed Mount Desert Campground so much that it would be a shame for other "Camp-Inner's" to not be made aware of it if going to the Acadia National Park area. We visited from June 16-23.

The campground is fairly large (around 50 acres by my estimation) with around 100-150 sites which are well spaced apart. There is a row that is water front which is the most coveted and of these only about 6 or so are suitable for teardrops (or other campers). The rest are tent sites. Off of the water there are more options for trailers, especially if electric hook up is not required. Even though I called 6 months in advance, I wasn't able to get a waterfront site. However I was quite happy with the wooded site off the water which had electric and a water spigot. We did have neighbors but with plenty of trees and brush between sites to give a sense of privacy.

It was a 2 minute walk to the water (Somes Sound) and a less than 1 minute walk to the facilities. The facilities were super-clean. There were about a half dozen different bathroom locations throughout the campground. Each was raised a foot or so off the ground and had a slotted floor allowing any water to run straight through. This kept the shower area quite tidy. There was a $1 charge for a 5 minute hot shower. I understand this is pretty standard in the Northeast. The Gathering Place was about a 5 minute walk for us and this is where every morning there was freshly baked goods available for purchase(bagels, scones, donuts, other pastries) and also available ice and wood.

The site is very near the geographic center of Desert Island and thus makes a great launching point for the various parts of Acadia National Park. They have a floating dock and rent canoes or kayaks but also allow one to tie up their own (non-motorized vessels only).

The majority of visitors are tent campers though a teardrop feels perfectly at home. The 20 foot limit on camper size keeps things very manageable in terms of crowding. A sizable number of the visitors are French Canadian but license tags revealed folks coming from all over the US. We were really happy to be able to bring along our 9 year old golden retriever but this was only possible in the "off season" (Not July or August). The cost for the site for 7 days ended up being around$250. We do plan to return next year (and are jockeying for a waterfront site).

I'll include some pics - note that there is a 12 foot change from low to high tide. The dock pic is at low tide but this whole area is flooded at high tide.

 

It is private, we have a water front scheduled for Sept. but have been told.because of COVID it could be canceled, if we.do get lucky enough for.that to not happen, then have to provide a negative COVID test taken within 72 hrs of arrival, still.trying figure that one out, have time.just keeping our fingers crossed, Maine has initiated some of the strongest measures on out of state travelers...