Campground · Acadia National Park
Five backcountry lean-tos on an island reached by boat or trail.
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.
See the Acadia audio tour“…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
On the western side of Isle au Haut, Duck Harbor is a five-site backcountry campground set among conifers near the inlet. Each site has an open-front lean-to with a roof and floor; the shelters are about 12.5 feet wide and 8 feet deep, and a tent has to fit inside. I'd come for a quiet island stay with real hiking, not an easy car-camping weekend.
Most visitors arrive on the passenger mailboat from Stonington. There is no road or car access to the island. During the summer service window, the boat makes a seasonal stop at Duck Harbor, near camp; outside that window it lands at Town Landing, leaving a walk of more than four miles to the campground. Reservations are required, so match the boat plan to your dates and be ready to carry your gear.
Each site has a fire ring and picnic table, and seasonal composting toilets and food lockers serve the campground. There is no electricity, camp store, shower, or trash service, and cell reception is unavailable. A hand pump is about 1,600 feet from the shelters, but official sources disagree about whether its water is potable or reliably available. Bring enough drinking water and confirm the pump's status with the park before you go; pack out all your trash.
The boat landing and its long dock sit just north of camp, across a quiet wooded inlet. Eben's Head is a separate hike from the campground and a sunset destination visitors single out; plan it as part of an overnight, not a quick stop.
Isle au Haut means “High Island,” a name Samuel de Champlain gave the island during his 1604 Maine-coast explorations. Shell heaps along the shore show Indigenous presence long before his arrival. The island's Wabanaki name, Sulessik, means “seashell place.”
Wildlife
131 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around noonSighting map
21 sightingsPeregrine FalconMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
403 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
307 sightingsPorcupineMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
205 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 · 0.1 mi awayA steep rock climb to Duck Harbor views and a cove descent.
EasyEben’s Head Trail1.1 mi · 45 min · 0.6 mi awayA 1.1-mile shoreline loop over cobble beaches to a granite headland.
ModerateCliff Trail0.8 mi · 45 min · 0.9 mi awayA rugged shore walk between granite ledges and Atlantic coves.
EasyMedian Ridge Trail1.8 mi · 1 hr · 1 mi awayPitch pine and bare rock give way to cooler island woods.
EasyDeep Cove Trail0.3 mi · 10 min · 1.1 mi awayA short spur to a rocky cove on Isle au Haut.
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 · 1.3 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.
