Mount Desert Campground

Overall Rating (1 to 10) : 9 (for waterfront sites), 7 (for the rest of the campground)

Location: Mount Desert Island, Maine

Mount Desert is a privately owned campground, and I had a hard time swallowing the $35/night fee (and this was the off season rate), but after getting over my cheap-assedness I had to admit that we had a really awesome site. We had C15, which is right on the water (Somes Sound). The view from our tent was spectacular, particularly at sunset. This is a perfect campground for folks interesting in canoeing or kayaking -- we tied our canoe to the floating dock (which was right next to our site), so there was no need to drag the canoe in and out of the water every time we wanted to use it. This campground is all about the waterfront sites.

The downside is that the waterfront sites lacked much privacy; though beautiful, the woods had no undergrowth and we could hear every little rustle of our neighbors sleeping bags (maybe also the water added to the transmission of sound?). I felt guilty getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, since I knew everyone in the general vicinity would hear me, no matter how quiet I was. That said, it was amazingly quiet -- I can't believe how quiet it was, considering that 95% of the waterfront sites were filled. It didn't get noisy until our last day at the campground, when a family with three very loud children showed up (people with kids, take note -- it's not o.k. to let them run around by themselves at 6:30 in the morning).

The bathrooms were clean and well located, with running water and coin operated showers. The campground as a whole was extremely clean and well maintained.

Mount Desert Island is a great place to spend a week long vacation. We were there for 4 nights, and I wouldn't have cut it any shorter, considering the lengthy drive to get out there. The island is an outdoor adventure mecca, but it never seemed that crowded during our stay (the first week of September). We saw a seal and three dolphins while paddling in Somes Sound -- it was awesome. We did some hiking in Acadia, checked out the park's nature center, and walked around Bar Harbor. We never even got over to the west side of the island.