Best Tent Camping near Isle au Haut, ME

Acadia, especially in the shoulder seasons, is a paradise. Although it is one of the most densely-visited parks during the summer and fall colors seasons, if you time things right, the whole park can be yours to explore.

Blackwoods Campground was our only camping option inside the park during our visit in late October. As some of the campground is closed at this time of year, we were surprised to learn it was almost full to capacity when we arrived for four nights. Definitely book in advance. It is one of the priciest NPS campgrounds at $30/night for a bare tent site, but as our only option for camping inside the park, we swallowed the cost and made the most of it. If we had visited during the summer, we would have stayed elsewhere, like on Isle Au Haut or Seawall Campground.

The campground itself is what you’d expect at most national parks. Bathrooms with flush toilets, sites with picnic tables. Easy access to the wonders of Acadia.

During our five days in the park, our favorite activities included hiking the Precipice Trail (closed during certain months because of nesting), seeing the quieter side of Acadia and walking to Wonderland Point, joining the crowds to watch the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain, and exploring the town of Bar Harbor (highly recommend seeing a movie at Reel Pizza!).

You can read much more about our five days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Acadia)

This is a wonderful campground with sites with lots of privacy. We stayed for a month and were very happy with our stay. The amenities are all well done, limited in scope. The result is a quiet atmosphere. Troy and his wife (the owners) are very friendly and helpful. Our AT&T reception was fine for streaming, internet access and calls. We did not use the laundry facilities and showers but they were clean and welcoming. And it is pet friendly. Located near Stonington, it is near the harbor, restaurants, a sand beach and the ferry to Isle au Haut. Opportunities for Kayaking, SUP’s and hiking abound here on a quiet island. Stonington has some great restaurants and is a quaint fishing village. The harbor is beautiful. And it is not far from busier areas like Blue Hill, Brooklin, Castine and a one hour ride from Mount Desert Island. What we enjoyed most was the lack of crowds and many places to just sit and enjoy the views.

There's a handful of private tent sites with picnic tables. Some tent sites have ocean views. The tents sites aren't accessible by car though, so you need to put all your camping equipment into a wagon and pull it to your site.

There's a small pavilion for campground-communal lobster/clam bakes. Showers, laundry, playground, and small camp store are all available.

I definitely like more backcountry camping, but this was the only available campground in the area. It was great for a one-night stay, but it was very busy and too touristy.

Gear Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I’m one of the lucky ones that gets to review new outdoor products from time to time. As a nature and wildlife photographer, I’m outside shooting pictures in every type of weather, both on land and sea. I needed something to protect my camera from the elements, but also need it to be lightweight and easy to put on/remove. I ordered the camera base layer and an additional lens base layer and have been using these products for the past few weeks while working at a campground and serving as a Naturalist Educator on a charter boat on the coast of Maine. This weekend, we did some sea kayak camping and hiking on the islands in the Gulf of Maine.

What I like about these products:

• Very lightweight and well made.
• Simple design, relatively easy to use in the field.
• Provides some padding so my camera and lenses won’t break when jostled around in my backpack.
• Water resistant with integrated rain cover.
• Keeps lenses warmer so that they don’t get too cold and fog up.

What could be improved:

• When I have my telephoto lens on my camera body, it barely fits into the camera base layer. I wish the pocket were just a bit deeper to accommodate this longer lens a bit better.
• The padding could be a bit thicker on the camera base layer and still be lightweight, giving my camera even more protection.
• The rain cover for the camera base layer should be fully integrated, rather than it being a separate feature. As is, it’s a bit fiddly and doesn’t always stay put when rolled down with the rest of the cover. I prefer how the lens base layer has the rain cover full integrated inside; I plan to stitch the rain cover into the camera base layer.
• I’ve added a carabiner to my camera base layer so that I can hang it from my camera strap while shooting. This way, I won’t put it down and forget about it, or have the wind carry it away when I have my back turned.
• Matador should consider making a fully waterproof product with padding, rather than just water resistant.

Product Links:

Camera Base Layer https://matadorup.com/collections/matador-products/products/camera-base-layer?variant=16831186502

Lens Base Layer [https://matadorup.com/collections/matador-products/products/lens-base-layer?variant=16831195590](http://](https://matadorup.com/collections/matador-products/products/lens-base-layer?variant=16831195590](http://)

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggjtW4p4-zY

Campground Review:

The Maine Island Trail offers 200 islands in which to sea kayak camp and Nathan Island is one of the many gorgeous options in the Deer Isle Archipelago. The free camping spots and beaches are maintained by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust. This island is perfect for 1-2 small tents and is just a stone’s throw away from the famous and beautiful Isle au Haut (part of Acadia National Park). We stayed 2 nights on Nathan and paddled to Duck Harbor for some day hiking on Isle au Haut.

The camping spot is simple and similar to most backcountry sites: a flat space to pitch your small tent, no toilet, no drinking water, no picnic table, and no reservations possible. But, what this island lacks in “amenities” is made up for in beauty all around! With a deep, rocky shore, it’s the perfect place to make dinner, watch the sunrise or set, and star gaze with no city lights or trees to obstruct your view.

The nearby village of Stonington has everything you may need for your island camping adventure. You can even rent kayaks and most of your gear from Old Quarry Ocean Adventures.

Things to consider when sea kayak camping in this area: 1) the fog can roll in at any minute so come prepared with a chart, compass, bearings between islands/markers and a marine radio, 2) you are required to use Wag Bags instead of digging hole to dispose of human waste, 3) since all of the islands are first-come, first-served, have a back-up plan for camping on another island, 4) there are no docks, so the islands are not accessible to large boats, 5) you may get awakened by the sound of lobster boats motors, as they start their day pretty darn early; bring ear plugs if you are light sleeper, 6) the tide in this area is significant (9-12 vertical feet), so landing at high tide is tricky/impossible on Nathan (and many other islands) and 7) leave a float plan before you go out (Old Quarry Ocean Adventures is the perfect spot to do this, as well as launch and park for a small fee).

We reserved a site with a water view (all the waterfront tent sites were already reserved). The tent platform was nice (they provided the nails for anchoring the tent corners. By using platforms, they have allowed many more tent sites where terrain would have made it impossible. Our site had electric (a potable water standpipe was across the street).

Restrooms were very clean and there was plenty of hot water for the coin operated showers.

Wifi is great at the Gathering Place 24/7. Very intermittent at the tent site—but we’re camping so not an issue. Gathering place had hot coffee and fresh baked goods in the am—but get there early as croissants and scones sold out quickly!

The shuttle was not operating when we were there (June 2021) but once operations return to normal, there is a shuttle to Acadia. The location is great—both to visit the park and for access to Bar Harbor. Camping is so reasonable that we felt eating out for dinner every other night was justifiable, given the cost of hotels in the area.

There is a kayak launch and floating dock. But be very aware of tide schedule!

The owners are fabulous and friendly. Clean sites as well as facilities. Beautiful pool!! Tent site had a simple lean to that helped tremendously.

We tent camped here, facilities were nice but sites were close to each other. Huge bonus for beautiful stars and hearing the waves crash and bouy bells at night! Several nice hikes in Acadia for all experience levels.

This is the location to be if you want to be close it it all in Acadia. A short drive to Bar Harbor, with many of the big attractions nearby. Make reservations either online (super easy and fast) or by phone (be patient and expect to be on hold) if you are going anytime between May and September. I wasn't able to get a tent site so I pitched my rent on a gravel RV drive. It looked like tent sites had gravel tent pads, so you might want a good tent footprint cloth (or double up a tarp). Nice flush toilets (with outlets that that tweets and teens will be charging their phones on), with pay showers about a half miles outside the campground. All sites had fire pits and picnic tables.

Spent 2 nights here and loved every minute of it. From the amazing sunsets, to the nice tent sites, Bar Harbor KOA impressed us. Quick check-in, free delivery for firewood, hot water for showering.

Very nice camp ground. Big place with plenty of sites. All different types of sites. Electric, No electric, Water, sewer hook up or really nice tent sites in the woods. All amenities and a pool.

This is a great place to tent/camp if you’re looking for Acadia adventures. They also provide electrical outlets to charge equipment and phones as well as decently clean showers and bathrooms. Downside: usually very crowded.

Check out one of my vlogs featuring the campsite: https://youtu.be/Y_81vS7zE1c

The staff/owners were very friendly and my tent site was right on the beach. The sunrise and sunset were absolutely gorgeous. The price was incredible given the proximity to the water. The only negative was that the RVs were pretty loud.

Really loved this campground so we came back for a second go, this time with a travel trailer. Although the tent sites were large, the RV sites felt a little snug. Still great access to Acadia national Park and the pool and playground were great for family.