Best Tent Camping near Southwest Harbor, ME

Since the campground is closing this fall to renovate I will focus mostly on what the park has to offer. Our family of four plus one pet was impressed with the transportation system provided by Acadia in partnership with L.L Bean. Free buses are pet-friendly which allowed for maximum exploration. Activities within walking distance from the campground included hiking, beach combing, and picnicking. Waking up to see the beautifully painted sky over the ocean at sunrise is well worth it! Rock climbing and various boat excursions were also available. Southwest Harbor neighbors the campground and has adorable coffee houses and restaurants. Also, be sure to seek out one of Ms. Frances' blueberry pies from the Quietside Cafe. Hoping renovations keep walk-in woodsy sites, but update bathrooms and maybe include showers, although a clean pay facility exists a mile towards Southwest Harbor. All together, the gorgeous geography, National Park Service and kind neighboring towns made tent-camping in Acadia an outstanding and affordable experience. This will not be our last visit!

We stayed at this campground unexpectedly as two places I was looking at would not accept reservations less than 24 hours in advance. They had availability, offered wooded tent spots, and were affordable as some campgrounds anymore are charging an arm and leg to camp. When we arrived, the girls in the office were super sweet. They had the essentials needed if you are in a pinch, a cute gift shop for the Bass Harbor Lighthhouse (bring your lighthouse passport with you to get stamped here), have coffee/muffins in the morning, washrooms were very clean, laundry, dog park, dog run, small rec center, and pool. Tent sites are nicely wooded and spaced out, so you are not on top of one another. Quiet hours are between 10 PM and 7 AM, and it was so nice to camp in peace and quiet with others wanting the same thing. There are homes close by, but they are fenced off and really are out of sight, so it's not really an issue. The Bass Harbor Lighthhouse is literally 500 feet away. We could hear the bouy ding from our campsite. There are two beautiful hiking trails .7 miles away from the campgrounds: Ship Harbor and Wonderland, that bring you to beautiful ocean views. One of the Acadia Park entrances is 5 minutes away. Southwest Harbor is a short ride away to grab an ice cream or a nice dinner. There is a brand new mini golf center further down the road that is amazing!! The Acadia Mountain trail is not far nor is the Cranberry Island Ferry. This was a prime location to see another side of Bar Harbor, see beautiful sites and avoid the crowds of downtown Bar Harbor. So happy I stumbled across this campground by accident. I would highly recommend and will definitely return!

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.

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