Picnic area · Acadia National Park
A picnic field for mudflat views and incoming-tide shorebirds.
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The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Acadia Tour Guide
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Thompson Island’s Returning Tide“You're nearing Thompson Island Picnic Area, a grassy lunch stop beside Mount Desert Narrows. Bring your own food for the tables and grills, and watch the mudflat as the tide returns: shorebirds move closer to its edge.”
Plays as you drive up to Thompson Island Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Acadia Tour Guide.
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Guide
Thompson Island Picnic Area is an open grassy field beside Mount Desert Narrows, on Route 3 just before Mount Desert Island. It works as an easy meal stop, but the broad tidal flat across the water gives you a reason to stay longer: this is the park’s best in-park place for watching shorebirds. Picnic tables and ground-level grills are spread through the field.
At low tide the mudflat is exposed. Watch from the field and scan its pools as the water returns; shorebirds move closer to the edge. August through October is the best stretch for shorebirds, while May brings migrating songbirds. Give the tide time to turn if birding is part of your stop.
There is a small parking area by the entrance and a larger lot with angled spaces. Tables can be up to 50 feet from parking across uneven grass, and reaching the field means passing between boulders about two feet apart. Marked accessible spaces, flush restrooms and accessible tables and fire grills are available, though getting down to the shore may take assistance. Keep dogs on a leash no longer than six feet.
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.
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