Acadia For Kids

Activities for Kids

* Begin your family's day at Acadia with a stop at Hulls Cove Visitor Center. Children will enjoy the large diorama model of the park and the 15-minute orientation program which is a good introduction to the park's history. The program is shown every half hour.
* Pick up a copy of the free park map and a schedule of ranger-led activities. Children's books on birds, animals, plants and lighthouses are for sale here, as well.
* Kids of all ages can become Junior Rangers. First, they must complete the activities in the Junior Ranger booklet which is available for $1.50 at the visitor center. Then, they join one or two ranger-led programs or walks to receive a Junior Ranger pin.
* Visit the Nature Center, which features displays on park wildlife, guidebooks and brochures. Children can record animals they have seen in the center's logbook. The center is open daily through late September.
* Take kids on Acadia's carriage roads in an open, horse-drawn carriage. Wildwood Stables offers six tours every day. Please see Carriage Roads for more information.
* Go to the water and help kids look for eagles, ospreys, harbor seals and porpoises on ranger-led boat tours. Please see Boat Cruises for more information.
* Drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain where children can see many offshore islands.
* Abbe Museum, just a short walk from the Nature Center and down a woodland path, houses Native American artifacts. Here, children can learn more about Acadia's earliest inhabitants. The museum's collection includes prehistoric pottery, bone and stone tools, porcupine-quill jewelry, trade beads, baskets, a birch-bark canoe and a large wigwam. Informal tours are offered daily. The fees are $2 per adult and $1 per child, six through 15 years of age.
* Stop for homemade ice cream at Jordan Pond House.
* Children will enjoy the crashing waves and coarse-grained sand at Sand Beach. Some may want to swim in the cold ocean waters. For those who prefer warmer waters, there is a swimming area at Echo Lake. Both areas have on-duty lifeguards from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
* Take kids on a short hike. Gorham Mountain is only 525 feet high and offers ocean views. During July and August, you can pick blueberries on some of Acadia's mountains.
* Visit Schoodic Peninsula when it is almost high tide and on stormy days to marvel at the surf's sound and fury. Tide information is posted at the visitor center.