Bar Harbor Campground is the Closest Campground to the town of Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park and other points of interest. We offer quality camping, at affordable prices and we accommodate the smallest tent to the largest RV. This quiet, family owned campground, open from Memorial Day to Columbus Day, is perfect for families of all sizes. We are a family owned campground, and our focus is on making your stay a great one. We do things a little differently here. Most noticeable may be the fact that we don't accept advanced reservations. When you arrive, we give you a detailed map of the grounds, and invite you to drive through and pick the site that really suits your likes and needs. Find your spot, get set up, then come and see us in the office. As you can see from the map below, we offer everything you might need for memorable stay, and with Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park close by, we're the perfect choice. Make sure and check our policies page to familiarize yourself with the campground rules. Please note that we do not accept credit cards, but we do take checks, and we have an ATM located in the office.

The Bar Harbor Campground

Don’t like making reservations?  We hate them, too. This is the only campground on Mt. Desert Island near Acadia National Park that is first come, first served. But, come early! Great campsites, lots of options for both tents and RV’s, clean bathrooms, 50 cent showers, dishwashing sinks, and a playground for the kiddos.

No biking/hiking trails from the campground to the park, but it makes for an easy place to retreat to if you are visiting Acadia National Park and/or Bar Harbor. It’s beyond BUSY during the summer, but the fall is much less crowded and truly gorgeous! The Island Explorer bus makes a stop at this campground, so you can leave your car behind and enjoy the park on bike/foot.

Everything you need for camping can be found in Ellsworth or Bar Harbor, located a few miles in either direction from this campground.

No Need for Reservations

The campground is first come, first served and has a seventh night free deal. Cash or check only. With a lower cost per night, free wifi, full hookups and a chance for a water view, we decided to take the risk and show up. We had several options to choose from, but that wouldn't have been true during our stay. We saw some pretty big rigs with very awkward setups in smaller, unlevel sites because there weren't any other options when they showed up.

We liked our site. C4 is a pull through with full hookups (30 amp). It was level, clean and a short walk to the water view, shower house, and laundry facility. We also liked how close we were to Bar Harbor, Acadia, and other attractions. Mainely Meats and Udder Heaven ice cream was a quick walk from inside the campground (there was a walking access to them). Across the street from them was Pirates Cove mini golf. We visited each and would definitely recommend as a treat to anyone staying here. The only downside was that they were decreasing their hours and were only open until 8, and if you were out hiking etc it made it an all out sprint to be there before closing. Pirates Cove is open until 9p right now.

We didn't need our WeBoost, the cell signal was fine, and the camp's wifi was great. Laundry was super clean and nice with approx 10 washers and 4 dryers ($1 each). Showers are $.25 for 5 min and were very clean.

We are suckers for pinball and had been eyeing the machine in the little shack arcade when you first pull into the campground. Save your money because most of the games had out of order signs and the pinball machine should have too.

We would definitely stay again and hopefully would be lucky enough to get a water view next time!

Worth the gamble!

We love the state parks and unorganized, off the beaten path camping. This is definitely not that! However, for easy access to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, the Bar Harbor Campground is a pretty good place to park.

The sites are small and semi-private, flat, well maintained, and you have a choice of water, electric, and even sewer or dry. Each site has a fire ring and picnic table. There are 3 buildings with flush toilets and showers (coin operated) and plenty of hot water. There is a pool, a laundromat, a game room, and a main office. Nearby are restaurants and mini-golf.

Key note: sites are first come first serve and you must pay with cash or check. No credit cards are accepted.

So if you want to be close to the action, don't want to make a reservation, have some cash, and are not looking for a "wilderness" camping experience, the Bar Harbor Campground is a good option.

Convenient vs. "Camping"

tent sites with no hookups to 220 Rv hookups....clean rest room/shower area recently remodeled. pay 6 nights &amp; 7th free, NO reservations, closest private campground to Acadia NP

friendly, reasonably priced

Good site, great location and clean bathhouses.

Nice Campground 

This large campground over looks Frenchmens bay. Large pool. Inexpensive laundry. Blueberry fields free to pick July to August. Pay showers. No reservations though. Come in early morning and wait for others to leave to grab the best sites. Or grab what ever is available and look the next morning for who leaves the better sites. Shuttle bus for free to any where, almost, on the island. The manager is a bit neurotic and that's the reason it is at 4 stars not 5\. We will keep going for the campground price and place until the manager ruins it for us or they close it.

Beautiful campground over looking Frenchmens Bay. Blueberry fields to pick.

Great campground.  No reservations taken so get there early to get his sites.

Mid July to Mid August free blueberries campside.

We were tent camping. This place isn’t solid for tent camping. Too many sites, no privacy. But it was a big RV Park, close to Acadia, hot showers, playground with views of the bay. Not all bad.

Eh, maybe in the camper

Loved how close this campground is to Acadia National Park! Nice campground with nice facilities. It’s first come first serve and they only take check or cash. They do have an atm on site. Quarter op showers, laundry on site as well. The spots are decent size, not much for privacy.

Nice campground, awesome location!

Cheap price for a campsite close to 
Acadia National Park. You can use a tent, camper, or a pull behind/pop up. It has electric outlets, bathroom facilities, showers, and it even has a swimming pool. 

Cheap and family friendly

My boyfriend and I stayed here and loved it so much. Right by Acadia, only $34 a night for a tent site. We got the best site, right on a small pond and secluded. You drive right in and pick your site. The best thing was that they don't take reservations so when we decided to extend our stay we could! I will ALWAYS go here if I'm going to Bar Harbor

MOST AMAZING PLACE

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.

Great Location - Close to Acadia NP

No reservations and an awesome shuttle system- our favorite things about staying here. 

  

This campground is huge, and takes no reservations, so it works great for us who don’t like to plan ahead. And also, there’s an amazing free shuttle system, that allows dogs!, that picks you up right at the campground. There are multiple routes you can transfer to and they take you into town or throughout Acadia NP, which is so nice for us as we are in a motorhome with no tow car. Also, Acadia NP allows dogs on most trails! Mind blown. 

  

Campground is great- there is a type of site for everyone. FHU sites all along in a row for those big RVs who like that parking lot feeling, a tent area where you park and carry your things to your camp spot, heavily wooded sites that feel like a more traditional campground, and more open sites where there’s enough sun if you rely on solar. Some sites are just 30 amp power and water, and there are dry camp sites as well. RVs can camp in a dry camp site, but no generators allowed at all (another favorite thing for us!). 

  

Laundry room is huge and clean, washer and dryer are huge and work well and are only $1 each (quarters only).

  

 There’s a dump station. Water at the dump is non-potable but you can fill your tanks at one of the many drinking water spigots throughout the campground, or pull into an empty site, like we did. 

  

Showers were ok, $0.25 for 5 minutes.