Sight · Acadia National Park
The direct ferry stop for Isle au Haut’s Acadia trailheads.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Acadia Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Acadia National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
“…As we drove through Acadia it gave us a tour, which was really cool. Lots of great info about the parks and how to avoid the crowds. It’s a great travel companion!”
Guide
Duck Harbor Boat Landing is the ferry landing near Acadia’s campground and trailheads on Isle au Haut. It’s the closer boat arrival for hikers and campers headed to the park. Passenger ferry service stops here seasonally, generally from mid-June through late September. Restrooms are available at Duck Harbor, but the island has few other services; its small store is near Town Landing.
Town Landing is the separate year-round ferry stop, about four miles from Duck Harbor by road or wooded trail. The two stops aren’t interchangeable for a short park visit. The ferry is passenger-only, and bicycles are carried to Town Landing, not Duck Harbor. Check the current schedule and make sure your trip is booked to the landing that fits your plans.
Isle au Haut means “High Island,” the name Samuel Champlain gave it during his Maine coast explorations in 1604. Wabanaki people called the island Sulessik, “seashell place”; shell heaps along the shore show Indigenous presence before Champlain’s arrival.
Wildlife
130 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around noonSighting map
21 sightingsPeregrine FalconMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
396 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
305 sightingsPorcupineMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
201 sightingsBeaverMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
34 sightingsMinkMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Acadia. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyWestern Head Road2.1 mi · 1.3 hr · 0.1 mi awayAn easy, mostly flat dirt-road walk on Isle au Haut.
ChallengingDuck Harbor Mountain Trail1.2 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayA steep rock climb to Duck Harbor views and a cove descent.
EasyEben’s Head Trail1.1 mi · 45 min · 0.5 mi awayA 1.1-mile shoreline loop over cobble beaches to a granite headland.
EasyDeep Cove Trail0.3 mi · 10 min · 1 mi awayA short spur to a rocky cove on Isle au Haut.
ModerateCliff Trail0.8 mi · 45 min · 1 mi awayA rugged shore walk between granite ledges and Atlantic coves.
EasyMedian Ridge Trail1.8 mi · 1 hr · 1.1 mi awayPitch pine and bare rock give way to cooler island woods.
ModerateGoat Trail (Isle au Haut)2.1 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.1 mi awayA rough coastal traverse from Merchant Cove to Deep Cove.
EasyNat Merchant Trail1.1 mi · 45 min · 1.2 mi awayA short inland crossing through a stretch of dark hemlocks.Parkwolf’s Acadia ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
