Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Mount Desert, ME

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.

We camped for years and years at Mount Desert Campground with our four children and my Sister-in-Law and her two sons. The kids are all grown now and are taking their own camping trips to this amazing place. It is a family run campground with immaculate grounds and bathroom facilities on Somes Sound in Mt. Desert, Maine which is right next to the fabulous town of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Forest. There are so many activities and amenities just minutes from this lovely campground but, if you choose to stay put...you will not be disappointed. There are lovely camp roads to walk, run, or bike. Fresh air to breathe, an epic long dock to catch and release crabs near, kayak or canoe rentals, and so much more. The Camp store has wonderful provisions including homemade bear claws in the am to enjoy with coffee or tea. It is above and beyond a family favorite place to camp in Maine.

If you're looking for real wilderness camping, this is the place to go. It's located between the busy Mount Desert Island section (30 minutes away) and the quiet Schoodic section (10 minutes away) of Acadia National Park. They only have a few tent campsites, but they are spread out so you have plenty of privacy. Nice vaulted toilet. No showers or main office, but they have a huge information board at the entrance to find everything you could need locally (public showers are less than 10 minutes away). Great spot to "get away" when visiting Acadia. Dog and family friendly.

This is a nice campground located close to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. The campground does not take reservations so you can pick whatever open site you want and if you want to extend your stay, you can. When you arrive, you get a map, find an empty site, get set-up and then go back to the office to register. Once you’re in the park if you want a different site that has a better view or FHU’s, the best thing to do is drive or walk around the section you are interested in and if you see someone packing up put a personal item (chair, table cloth, etc.). Then head to the office and let them know what site you are moving to. Weird system but it seems to work as this is how things have always been done. All different types of sites are available from FHU, electric/water, or privative sites. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. There are some sections that are nicely wooded which is great for the shade in the summer and to add a little privacy. Other sites are right on the ocean with great views but these sites are pretty close together and hard to get since the campground is first come, first served. Roads in the park are paved but some corners can be a little tight for big-rigs, best to unhitch your tow car up front in case you have to back up. The camp hosts do a great job of keeping the campground clean and were always out and about cleaning sites, fire pits, and the bathrooms.

This campground is in a good location right off Route 3 and a short drive to Bar Harbor. There is the Island Explorer (free) shuttle that have various routes and stops on Mount Desert Island and Acadia NP. The shuttle stops at the campground so you can hitch a ride downtown or to the park and not have to worry about parking.  The shuttle has a bike rack so you can bring your bike and pets are allowed.  The campground is very clean with no litter and well-maintained. The bathrooms were very clean showers are 25 cents/5 minutes. There is a really nice large swimming pool perched right along the water, nice little nature trails/dog walking areas, laundry, game room, shuffleboard, playground, water access, arcade, and more. 

Just outside the campground (within walking distance) is Utter Heaven an ice cream shop and Mainely Meat a BBQ joint. Across the street is a Pirates Cove– a mini golf course on steroids. During the summer season this place is really busy but calms down when kids go back to school.

Schoodic Woods NPS campground is state of the art for the Park Service. Not only is this new Acadia campground wired for wifi and electric boxes, but the bathrooms are shockingly well-conceived. No showers, but excellent dish washing set-up. 

Sites are generally private and well-cared for. Rangers here seem more engaged & experienced than at Seawall on Mount Desert Island and actually circulate in this section of the park. Driving the one way loop is a joy compared to the loop road on Mount Desert … one feels that you almost have the park to yourself. This branch of Acadia requires a full hour's journey from the Mount Desert side by car. Sometimes there is a ferry that goes between Bar Harbor and Winter Harbor, but it was disabled by motor failure when I visited and wanted to ride to Bar Harbor.

I stayed in site A-49 on the edge of loop A. It was a good site with a large fire ring and was level but directly faces site A-50 where a halogen light was left burning all night long spoiling the dark sky effect. 

Most of Loop A seems to be for RV's with sites A-24 to A-36 and the A-50 section being more suitable for tents. Sites A-40 to A-50 seem to have more shade than sun but it's variable. I would include A-31;A-32; A 34 as shaded sites. My impression is that A-27; A-37; A-43 are mostly sunny. A-39 was small, sloped- not level.

Our neighbors recommended this campground to us, and it did not disappoint. Booking online was easy, check- in was smooth. We chose a campsite with a platform on which to put our tent. Each campground includes a fire pit and picnic table. Our site was right next to a potable water spigot, and within easy walking distance to a bathroom building which includes full plumbing and metered showers (4 quarters for 5 minutes). The Gathering Place was where we went when we needed wifi access and Gifford's of Maine ice cream. At night you could find teens hanging there to check their social feeds. The Free Island Explorer bus also makes stops at the campground if you want to access different parts of Acadia or go into Bar Harbor without worrying about finding parking. We loved it here and definitely plan to return. Next time we're going to try to get one of the campsites on the water… those are prime locations! We highly recommend Mount Desert (pronounced the French way: dessert) Campground. Best camping experience we've ever had!