Bar Island

Bar Island is a wooded island in Frenchman Bay, reached on foot from downtown Bar Harbor across a natural sand-and-gravel bar. At low tide, the exposed crossing makes this a rare walk from town straight onto an island. Plan for a round trip, not a quick look from the mainland: the bar alone is about half a mile each way before you explore the island. Start at Bridge Street; drivers should use downtown parking and keep the street and bar clear. Acadia requires an entrance pass year-round.

The bar is walkable for roughly 1½ hours on either side of low tide. Check a tide chart before setting out, start early in that window and choose a firm turnaround time. Once water covers the crossing, it can be about nine hours before safe walking return is possible. Wear sturdy closed-toe shoes for the uneven sand, gravel and shore rocks, which can be wet underfoot.

The Bar Island Trail climbs gradually on an old road through the woods, with a spur to a former homesite and a route toward the island's high point. Including the town crossing, the round trip is about 1.9 miles and usually takes 45 to 90 minutes. Roots and uneven ground make it a poor fit for anyone who needs an accessible route. From the high point, look back toward Bar Harbor, Frenchman Bay and the mountains. For a photo that explains the outing, include the island's edge or the exposed bar rather than framing only the trees.

As the water falls, seaweed-covered rocks expose a small marine world: periwinkle snails, tiny snail eggs, sea stars and Jonah crabs. Move slowly and look closely along the water's edge; the best details are easy to miss if you hurry across the shore.

Families lived and worked on Bar Island before it became part of Acadia. Sheep grazed here, and residents gathered clams and fished for Atlantic herring nearby. The Rodick family farmed on the island for more than a century and kept raising sheep after succeeding in Bar Harbor's hotel business. A walk to the former homesite gives that history a place on the landscape, rather than leaving it as a name in a book.