J.r. L.
Yelp
The free Island Explorer Bus system is perhaps one of the best features of Acadia National Park, though as you will see, they are not only within the National Park. Locals often use the free bus system to connect to other villages on Mount Desert Island. For instance, the Northeast Harbor bus leaves the Bar Harbor Village Green and passes through the villages of Seal Harbor and Northeast Harbor, making stops at Bubble Pond, Jordan Pond and the Jordan Pond House, Seal Harbor Beach, and finally the Northeast Harbor town pier. At any point along the way you can get off the bus by simply pulling the cord, or get onto the bus by waving it down.
One of the most popular bus runs is the Sand Beach Buses, which depart from the Bar Harbor Village Green, stopping at the Sieur de Monts Spring and Wild Gardens area before continuing on along the Park Loop Road. The bus passes the Bear Brook Picnic Area, a popular spot with the locals, before passing by the Champlain North Ridge Trail, to stop here you must let the bus driver know in advance or pull the cord. The bus than makes its way past the Precipice trail, this is a stop by request area, but the bus announcement system does let you know when it is approaching the Precipice trail. The bus than passes through the entrance fee station, if you don't have a park pass on you, don't worry, it's on the honor system if your riding the bus. Next stop, the ever popular Sand Beach.
Directly across from the Sand Beach parking lot are several popular hiking trails, including The Bowl trail, the Beehive, and the Gorham mountain Trail, as well as the Champlain Mountain trail, all can be accessed here.
The next bus stop is Thunder Hole, very popular and very crowded in summertime, the bus is your best option to avoid major parking problems in this area of the park. Here is a piece of advice if you want to hear real thunder at Thunder Hole, go there as the tide is coming in, or better yet, during a storm or in late fall, the rougher the sea, the more louder Thunder Hole is.
The bus than passes the official Gorham Mountain Parking Lot, stops there are by request. The next area the bus stops in is Otter Cliffs with its very popular hiking trail which follows the edge of the sea all the way down to Thunder Hole and Sand Beach.
The Sand Beach bus than passes through the tiny village of Otter Creek, making its last stop at Blackwoods Campground before heading back toward the Bar Harbor Village Green.
The other popular bus is the Southwest Harbor buses, which depart the Bar Harbor village Green every hour, passing through the villages of Town Hill, somesville, Southwest Harbor, Manset, Seawall, Bass Harbor and finally Bernard before turning around and repeating their stops in reverse. Many peoiple who ride this bus do so in the hopes of catching a view of the Bass Harbor Lighthouse, but end up disappointed. To visit the famous Bass Harbor Lighthouse, get off the bus at the Bass Harbor Campground stop, right where you get off the bus you will see a sharp curve in the road, the main road goes right, to the left is a narrow road marked The Lighthouse Road. It's about a ten to fifteen minute walk down to the Lighthouse. A path to the right of the Lighthouse takes you right up next to it, a path to the far left of the parking lot leads to a long narrow stairway which leads down to the rocky shore below the lighthouse. You will often find artists down there painting, or a photography class teaching folks how to get great sunset photos. You can also get some really nice photos of the Lighthouse perched up on the cliff above.
The best way to use the Free Island Explorer buses is to either bring your bike or rent a bike from one of the three bike rental shops on Cottage street in Bar Harbor. All buses are equipped to carry bikes. Get off at one village, ride around and explore the shops, than catch the next bus to the next village, and so on.
Once Fall arrives, all bus schedules revert to the shaded stops only. The buses still make their daily runs, but in most cases they don't run late into the evening as the summer bus runs do.
Another option is to simply hop on any of the buses and ride its entire route, it's relaxing and allows to to see things you might not of seen hopping on and off the bus. You can do this with any of the free Island Explorer Buses. I would suggest if you have any questions about trails or villages the buses pass through, to take a few minutes before the bus departs and talk to the bus drivers, they are very informative and helpful.