The Bar Harbor Inn
This is arrival day. Many plan to arrive early so as to fully enjoy the spectacular inn or to stretch your legs with a stroll around Bar Harbor. Dinner is at 6:30 PM and is followed by an introductory meeting with your leaders.

Distance: 31 miles | Terrain: Easier to Intermediate | The Bar Harbor Inn
Today’s ride centers on Swan’s Island. But first you ride out to Bass Harbor and to the Bass Head Harbor Light, one of the most scenic (and photographed) lighthouses on the East Coast. Bass Harbor is a working fishing village and the scenes of fishing boats, lobster pots, and quiet harbors is pure Maine. Then take a 45-minute ferry ride out to Swan’s Island which provides lovely views of surrounding islands as well as views back to Mount Desert. On the island you ride out on various peninsulas (the terrain is more “rolling” than you might expect), including a visit to Hockamock Point Lighthouse (built in 1872) for a picnic and to Burntcoat Harbor, as well as a popular visit to the Saturn Press. Swan’s Island is a lobstering and fishing island with a year-around population of about 350, and you will surely enjoy the colorful docks and local fishing boats, as well as getting a bit of an understanding of what it might be like to live in a somewhat remote fishing village. Tonight you enjoy a lobster feast at Beal’s Lobster Pound.

Distance: 20, 31 or 40 miles | Terrain: Easier to Intermediate | Bar Harbor Inn
On Tuesday you begin with a ride along Sargent’s Drive, surely one of the greatest oceanside cycling routes imaginable. Then on into the village of Northeast Harbor, passing some magnificent shingled “cottages” owned by folks that have clearly made their fortunes. The harbor area of Northeast Harbor has an interesting variety of commercial fishing boats, private yachts and sightseeing excursion boats, and the village itself has a number of interesting stores, a great number of galleries (and a good bike shop!). As you leave Northeast Harbor, you can stop and explore the paths leading through the lovely Asticou Azalea Gardens.

Next we begin your exploration of the Acadia National Park Carriage Trail system, including a visit to the Jordan Pond House where you can enjoy their famous popovers while sitting on the front lawn that overlooks Jordan Pond and the “Bubbles.” A wonderful optional ride included in the standard directions takes you from the Jordan Pond House to the lookout on Day’s Mountain where you can see much of the island as well as great ocean vistas out to the Cranberry Isles.

The construction of the 57 miles of Carriage Roads was financed and directed by John D. Rockefeller Jr. between 1913 and 1940 and is restricted to use by bikers, hikers, horseback riders and, of course, carriages. You will be impressed at the care that was taken to leave the land as intact as possible, and by the overall result of a beautiful network of roads leading us through unbelievable gorgeous scenery. Stop and admire each of the bridges you cross – they are famous for their beauty, engineering, and use of natural materials.

Finally at the end of the day you arrive at the Bar Harbor Inn. You will quickly note that Bar Harbor is a larger town than Southwest Harbor or Northeast Harbor, and you will want to explore the town with its innumerable shops, galleries and restaurants, as well as take an evening stroll along “Shore Path.”

Tonight we have a great dinner together at MacKay’s Public House, where the traditional elegance of Bar Harbor’s past has been recaptured in this historic Victorian building on Main Street.

Distance: 12, 22 or 30 miles | Terrain: Easier | Bar Harbor Inn
Today we provide you with a great kayaking adventure along the quiet inlets of Pretty Marsh Harbor. You are instructed and led on this adventure by the expert guides of the National Park Sea Kayak Tour Company. Often this is followed by a scenic hike up Beech Mountain where you enjoy a spectacular 360 view of Mount Desert and the adjoining islands. In addition, we offer you several cycling options to take after (or in lieu of) the kayaking. The biking is from Pretty Marsh Harbor along Crooked Road to the Acadia National Park Headquarters and then along the Park Road to Bar Harbor: 17 miles plus options.

You are on your own for dinner this evening. Your leaders will provide you with a list of a number of excellent dining options to choose from.

Distance: 22 or 32 miles | Terrain: Easier | Bar Harbor Inn
Thursday we take what must surely be one of the most scenic rides anywhere…the Loop Road of Acadia National Park. We have kept the mileage modest today since we know you will want to linger and enjoy the fabulous views at Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Otter Point etc… And then you wend your way back along the carriage roads and follow the Eagle Lake carriage road system as it leads past Bubble Pond and Eagle Lake. Dinner this evening is at Cafe This Way, where artfully prepared meals are served in a setting as comfortable as your own living room and as relaxed as your front porch.

Distance: 10 or 16 miles | Terrain: Easier
Our last day includes shorter rides so as to allow for guests’ travel plans. The biking brings us to another lovely area in the carriage road system, cycling over Paradise Hill with its sweeping vistas of Hulls Cove and Frenchman Bay, and past Witch Hole Pond (where we often see a pair of cavorting loons). A very nice optional route takes us past Gilmour’s Meadow and Aunt Betty Pond, both of which provide ideal habitat for deer, otter, beaver and a number of birds. Mileage 10 or 16. Additional miles available.