Park Loop Road Detour

The Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park is getting a major facelift this spring, and if you're planning a May visit, you'll need to rethink your route. The National Park Service has closed a section of the one-way loop between Otter Cliff and Jordan Pond for reconstruction, forcing detours that add time and miles to what's usually a simple scenic drive. The closure runs through early June, which means you're visiting during the construction window.

May is otherwise the best month to see Acadia without the elbow-to-elbow crowds that arrive in summer. The road work complicates things, but it doesn't ruin them. You just need to know what's actually open and where the traffic will pile up.

Acadia National Park

Rocky Atlantic coast crowned by Cadillac Mountain / Draws more visitors than the population of Los Angeles

The Park Loop Road is the spine of any Acadia visit, a 27-mile ribbon of pavement that threads through forests, climbs granite slopes, and hugs the Atlantic coastline. The detour this May reroutes you inland through Seal Harbor, bypassing Otter Cliff entirely and adding roughly 20 minutes to the full loop. You'll miss Thunder Hole and the Otter Cliff viewpoint from your car, but both remain accessible on foot if you park at the Sand Beach lot and walk south along the Ocean Path. That trail stays open, and it's a better way to see the coastline anyway.

The Park Loop Road was never just about the drive — it's the jumping-off point for everything worth doing in Acadia.

Jordan Pond remains accessible from both directions despite the closure, which matters because the Jordan Pond Shore Trail is one of the park's easiest and most rewarding walks. The three-mile loop circles the pond on flat terrain, with the Bubbles rising to the north and Penobscot Mountain blocking the southern horizon. You'll share the trail with families pushing strollers and retirees walking off their popovers from the Jordan Pond House, but the path is wide enough to absorb the traffic. If you want solitude, skip the shore trail and climb The Bubbles instead. The 1.8-mile loop takes you up both granite domes, and most visitors quit after the first summit.

Cadillac Mountain gets the sunrise crowds because it's marketed as the first place to see daylight in the United States, which is only true for part of the year and ignores the fact that dozens of people will be standing next to you at 5 AM with tripods and selfie sticks. The summit road stays open during the detour, but you'll need a vehicle reservation to drive up between late May and mid-October. In early May you can still show up without a reservation, which is one reason to visit before Memorial Day. The North Ridge Trail offers a quieter way to reach the summit if you'd rather earn the view. The seven-mile out-and-back climbs steadily through spruce forest before breaking into open granite slabs with views across Frenchman Bay.

The carriage roads remain the park's secret weapon for avoiding car traffic entirely. John D. Rockefeller Jr. funded 45 miles of crushed stone paths designed for horse-drawn carriages, and they're now used by cyclists, hikers, and cross-country skiers. The roads loop around Jordan Pond, Eagle Lake, and through the interior forests, with graceful stone bridges arching over streams and intersections. You won't see the ocean from most carriage roads, but you also won't sit in traffic or circle for parking. Rent a bike in Bar Harbor and ride the carriage road network for a day if you want to see Acadia without the Loop Road headaches.

The Beehive and Precipice trails are the park's marquee scrambles, with iron rungs and ladders bolted into near-vertical cliff faces. Both close in spring and early summer when peregrine falcons nest on the ledges, and the closures usually extend into June. Check the park website before you drive to either trailhead, because the parking lots fill quickly once the trails reopen. If you're visiting in May and both are closed, the Beech Cliff Trail on the western side of the island offers similar exposure without the crowds. It's a short, steep climb up metal rungs to a clifftop view over Echo Lake and the mountains beyond.

Sand Beach is the only official ocean swimming spot in the park, though the water rarely climbs above 55 degrees even in August. In May you're looking at temperatures in the mid-40s, which means you'll see surfers in wetsuits but not many swimmers. The beach itself is worth the stop even if you don't go in, with pink granite boulders framing a crescent of sand tucked between headlands. The Ocean Path starts here and runs south for four miles to Otter Point, passing Thunder Hole and Monument Cove along the way. The entire trail remains open during the road closure, and it's one of the few coastal hikes in the park where you're never more than 50 feet from the Atlantic.

Bar Harbor is the staging ground for most Acadia visits, with hotels, restaurants, and outfitters lining the streets within walking distance of the park entrance. The town swells in summer to the point where parking becomes as competitive as inside the park itself, but May offers a brief window when you can still find street parking and walk into restaurants without a wait. The Island Explorer shuttle system starts running in late June, which means you'll need your own car for a May visit. The detour will slow you down, but it won't stop you from reaching the trails, carriage roads, and coastline that make Acadia worth the trip in the first place.