How to Elope in Acadia National Park
Your Guide to Acadia & the Rocky Headlands of the Atlantic Coastline
Below is everything you need to know to plan an elopement or wedding in Maine at Acadia National Park. As one of the most beautiful coastlines in North America, it’s a truly unique and breathtaking venue that is accessible year-round but particularly spectacular during the colorful autumn season. Keep reading to see more photos of an Acadia elopement, plus
Why You Should Get Married in Acadia National Park
Best Places to Elope in Acadia National Park
Steps to Planning an Acadia Elopement
How to Get to Acadia National Park
Best Time of Year to Visit Acadia National Park
ADA Accessible Areas in Acadia National Park
Things to Do in Acadia National Park
Bringing Your Dog to Acadia National Park
Acadia Elopement Photography Packages
Why You Should Get Married in Acadia National Park
You should consider Maine’s only national park as your destination for an adventure elopement or outdoor wedding if you love rocky coastlines, stunning autumn hikes, lakes, sweeping views, and the diverse landscape of the northern Atlantic coastline. Acadia is a unique gem amongst a busy New England landscape, and it’s worth a visit if you make a habit of checking out national parks, or simply love getting outdoors.
Best Places to Elope in Acadia National Park
Cadillac Mountain
This is one of the busiest spots in Acadia National Park because it is a spectacular sunrise viewpoint. It’s actually the first spot in the US to see the sunrise most days of the year. During peak season you need a reservation to drive up to the top, and because it is so busy I recommend it for portraits moreso than an actual ceremony. There are a few spots to find some privacy and a similar view though, so if you love this I recommend discussing those options!
Jordan Pond
This hike around the lake offers stunning views, especially in the autumn, but it tends to get busy quickly. I recommend visiting on a weekday and earlier in the day to avoid those crowds. This is a great spot if you want a relatively easy hike, views, and fall colors. There are some picturesque wooden bridges that snake through dense forest as well, which are worth pausing to photograph if we can time it right to avoid the crowds.
Great Head Loop Trail
This hike takes you through some beautiful rocky coastline that tends to not be quite as busy as some other areas in the park. You get a lot of difference environments over the course of this moderately easy hike, with multiple great spots to pause for images with stunning views.
The Bubbles
This is probably my favorite spot in Acadia for elopements. The trail takes you up above Jordan Pond for views that I personally think are worth the steeper trail to access. You’ll get wide, sweeping views of the surrounding forests from a much more dramatic vantage point than if you were at a lower elevation.
The Wonderland Trail
This spot is a little out of the way if you’re visiting the majority of Acadia Natioal Park. However, it’s a very quiet area with peak tide pools and coastal vibes! It’s the perfect spot if you want to get away from the crowds and spend the whole morning exploring a rocky beach.
Anemone Cave
This spot is such a cool and unique part of the coastline. The hike itself is easy to accomplish for the majority of people, and it’s a quick stop along the way for many other beautiful hikes. The cave itself can be accessed at low tide and create a beautiful framing for images that are truly special!
And these are just a few of the many incredible hikes, views, and venues that are perfect for your elopement!
Steps to Planning an Acadia National Park Elopement
1) Create a list of your priorities
The first thing you need to do is set your list of priorities. What is most important to you? Is it the venue, photographer, date, another vendor, or something else? Whatever is your first priority, make it happen! If that first priority to make this event perfect is a vendor—reach out to them asap!
For elopements, it’s standard to begin with booking your photographer. You really want to prioritize connecting with someone who you will enjoy inviting into this special moment. Often, I’m the only other person present for an elopement, and it’s very important to me that each couple I work with feels supported to be fully themselves.
2) Choose a date
Book that top priority—venue, vendor, or other scheduling consideration. Choose a date and get it set! Once you’ve booking your top priority for a date, it’s time to start planning. You’ll be able to reach out to other vendors to check their availability, begin sending out save-the-date’s to any guests, and finalize so many other choices. It’s at this stage that you begin to find plans falling into place.
3) Choose a ceremony location
This decision can be made anywhere in the planning stage. If you’re bringing guests, you’ll need to know your ceremony location earlier. If you’re eloping just the two of you, you can decide on this up until the days before! Of course, you’ll need to know a general location. But, for example, if you’re eloping on a hiking trail and want to choose the best spot based on what feels right in the moment, I am happy to be flexible.
4) Reserve any bookings or reservations
Now it is time to make sure you have everything all set! A place to stay, your vendors, your travel arrangements, etc. You’ll also want to check up on any other permits that may be required, especially if you’re choose a ceremony location on public lands.
Acadia National Park does have a permitting system in place for weddings. However, I have spoken with the park rangers and multiple couples over the years who’ve been told you do not need a permit for a two-person elopement. You do need a permit if you plan to bring a group of guests along for the adventure, or if you want to do any kind of set-up. I recommend keeping it simple and letting the beautiful New England nature act as your backdrop.
5) Have your dream wedding!
You’ve done the leg work, properly prepared, settled all the details, and now all that’s left to do is get hitched! Your wedding is going to be gorgeous in such a beautiful place—I can’t wait to celebrate with you!
Where is Acadia National Park?
Acadia National Park is near the little town of Bar Harbor, Maine. It’s a three-hour drive north along the coast from Portland, and about an hour southeast of Bangor. The 47,000-acre Atlantic coast recreation area primarily exists on Mount Desert Island, though some areas of the park include smaller outlying islands nearby.
How to Get to Acadia National Park
Unless you’re driving up, I recommend flying in and renting a car. Acadia does have a shuttle service, but the park is so spread out that driving on your own schedule is going to be a more relaxed experience. While parking at the most popular areas can be difficult, we work around that by choosing times and dates that are more likely to be quiet.
The closest airport to Acadia is Maine’s Bangor International Airport. You can rent a car directly from there.
Other nearby airports include Portland, Maine (3-hour drive), Manchester Regional in New Hampshire (4.5-hour drive), and Boston Logan International in Massachusettes (5-hour drive).
If you want to expand upon your New England adventure, you can do what I do and fly into Burlington, Vermont (6.5-hour drive from Acadia) and stop along the way to hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I mean, how can one travel all the way to New England and not hike the highest peak in the Northeastern United States?!
Best Time of Year to Visit Acadia National Park
Fall
September through October is one of the busiest times to visit Acadia National Park, but it’s also my favorite. This is probably one of the only national parks where my personal favorite visiting time aligns with peak season, but I can’t help choosing these dates because of the fall foliage. I’m a sucker for autumn colors and no one does it better than the New England mountains!
Winter
A lot of the trails, roads, and lodging options in and around Acadia National Park close for the winter. This means it’s hauntingly quiet and beautiful in a frozen, wintery way. But it also means that you can’t access parts of the park. If you don’t mind this limitation, winter is the perfect time to enjoy a late sunrise or early sunset along the dramatic coastline.
Spring
The first months of spring in New England sometimes feel like a sloppy extension of winter. The trails are often muddy (if not still frozen at higher elevations), and the trees are often slow to bud. But late spring, when the sunny days are getting warmer and the fresh bright green of new growth starts to cover the barren branches, the fresh air offers a truly enlivening opportunity to enjoy this area before the summer visitors arrive en masse.
Summer
Summer in Acadia National Park is simply perfect. I spend most of the year in the Pacific Northwest and New England is similarly known for having truly ideal summer weather. The trees are green, the trails are dry, and flowers are blooming. If warm weather is a top priority for you, then summer in Acadia will be ideal!
ADA-Accessible Areas in Acadia National Park
Please check out the Acadia National Park accessibility page for a full list of considerations. Generally speaking, it’s an accessible park. Many of the viewpoints are drive-up accessible, and the shuttle bus is wheelchair-friendly.
Something to consider is how difficult any given trail is. Acadia has some trails that require the use of ladders to ascend or descent, in which case a service animal would be unable to join.
PLEASE NOTE: Trails that are not accessible to people with a service animal include
Precipice
Beehive
Ladder Trail to Dorr Mountain
Cadillac Mountain West Face (from Bubble Pond)
Beech Cliff (from Echo Lake)
Perpendicular Trail (Mansell Mountain)
Things to Do in Acadia National Park
Acadia can either be the start of a grand multi-day adventure through the wilderness New England’s picturesque mountain landscape, or a day trip to enjoy a walk in the forest or along the coast. The level of physical effort, where you stay, and what you do during your visit are entirely up to you, and people of all levels of physical fitness can enjoy Acadia—as long as you’re capable of sitting in a car for the length of the drive in.
Hiking in Acadia National Park
There are so many trails throughout Acadia that have varying levels of difficulty. Acadia has a great informational page all about the hikes and different areas within the park that you may want to explore.
Camping in Acadia National Park
There are four main areas for camping in Acadia National Park. You must reserve your spot ahead of time to camp at Blackwoods, Seawall, Schoodic Woods, or Duck Harbor.
Bringing Your Dog To Acadia National Park
National Parks are not known for being pet-friendly, and Acadia National Park has their own rules when it comes to bringing your dog. (Service animals are an exception.) However, Acadia is much more pet-friendly than your average national park and are only a few areas are off-limits to your dog!
Places You Can Bring Your Dog
There are 100 miles (161 km) of hiking trails and 45 miles (72 km) of carriage roads in the park where pets are permitted.
Most trails
Blackwoods, Seawall, and Schoodic Woods campgrounds permit pets.
On Isle au Haut, pets are permitted for day hiking only.
Places You Cannont Bring Your Dog
Most lakes in the park are public water supplies. Pets and people may not swim in them.
Sand Beach (June 15-Sept 8) and Echo Lake (May 15-Sept 15) are off-limits to pets.
Public buildings
Ranger-led programs
Wild Gardens of Acadia (Sieur de Monts)
Duck Harbor Campground
Precipice Trail
Beehive Trail
Ladder Trail to Dorr Mountain Trail
Beech Cliffs Trail
Perpendicular Trail (Mansell Mountain)
Jordan Cliffs Trail between Penobscot East Trail and the carriage road
Plus, the below places it is not restricted to bring your dog, but the park does not recommend dogs due to difficulty
Acadia Mountain Trail
Flying Mountain Trail
Giant Slide Trail
Cadillac Mountain- West Face Trail
Bubble and Jordan Ponds Path, between the carriage road and The Featherbed pond
Norembega Goat Trail
Bubbles-Pemetic Trail
Penobscot Mountain (Spring) Trail
Upper Beachcroft Trail
Upper Gorge Trail
Acadia Elopement Photography Package
I offer all my standard photography packages for Acadia National Park. It’s a beautiful place to host a two-person elopement or intimate family ceremony. There are plenty of rentals nearby if you’re hoping to home-base here for a multi-day adventure, and of course you can choose one of the campgrounds for easy-access to the trails.
For longer elopement and wedding days it is easy to get the best of all the environments in Acadia National Park—forest, coastline, and the lakes! From sunrise to sunset, you could fill an entire day with adventure in this stunning nature space.
I’d be happy to walk you through some sample timelines, and show you just what can be accomplished when you choose a wedding or elopement photography package for your Acadia wedding or elopement.
Acadia National Park Elopement Photographer
Hey, I’m Jenn! When I’m not photographing elopements in epic locations, I’m home in Bellingham with my husband Dillen & our collection of foster-fail rescues, or off on my own adventure taking note of every beautiful spot that would perfect for a future elopement. I’m here to help you through the process of turning your dream into a reality, and I have an abundance of expertise to answer questions, make suggestions, and connect you with vendors/rentals/guides & more!
Click here if you’d like to learn more about my approach to elopements and outdoor weddings. If you’re ready to start planning, please send me a message!
Follow along on social media to see recent elopements, gather planning tips, and collect inspiration for your own adventure!
