Fall Guide · Blue Hill Peninsula, Maine
Coastal Maine in Autumn: Fall Activities Near Ferncrest Acadia
By late September the summer crowd has cleared from Acadia and coastal Maine, and the peninsula turns a deep autumnal sight of reds, yellows, and oranges that photographs can't quite capture. Bring layers for adventuring outside and be ready to be in awe the entire time.
FallFun
Everything worth exploring nearby between the first frosted morning and before the last leaf turns.
Leaf Peeping
Drive the Park Loop Road
Twenty-seven miles of maple, birch, and coastline, and every moment is painted in fall colors. Pair it with the Jordan Pond Path for a flat, easy walk with “The Bubbles” twin mountain peaks reflected in the water.
Stop at the Jordan Pond House for afternoon tea and popovers. It's a hundred-year-old tradition that will have a backdrop of fall magic as the cherry on top!
Leaf peeping begins the moment you start the car and even on your drive home. Maine is the first state to see the leaves turn and you can have double the viewing of Autumn’s magic.
- Park Loop Road · 59 min drive
- Jordan Pond House Restaurant · 1 hr 15 min drive, along the park loop
- Ultimate Leaf Peeping Guide · Distance varies — Ferncrest Acadia is in Hancock County
Sunrise Hikes
First light in the country, from Cadillac Mountain
From October through winter, Cadillac Mountain is the first place in the United States to see the sun come up. It is chilly, it is early, and it is worth setting that alarm.
Vehicle reservations are required through October and they go fast — keep an eye on reservation dates once you book your Ferncrest stay!
- Cadillac Mountain · 1 hr 20 min drive
- Vehicle reservations (Recreation.gov) · Required through October
Galleries
Gallery-hop the Blue Hill Peninsula
This peninsula has art worth exploring, from working artists’ galleries to festivals. Cynthia Winings Gallery and Blue Hill Books anchor the town, and the Word Literary Arts Festival takes over each October.
On Deer Isle, the Peninsula Potters studio tour and sale runs October 10–11 — a dozen studios open at once, and it's an immersive look into how artists view the Maine coastline.
- Cynthia Winings Gallery · 15 min drive
- Word Literary Arts Festival · Oct 22 - 25 | locations vary within Blue Hill, Maine
- Peninsula Potters Studio Tour · Oct 10 - 11 | locations vary within Blue Hill Peninsula
Harbor Towns
Small town charm at your fingertips
Working harbors, open studios, and Nervous Nellie's Jams & Jellies, which is part jam operation and part sculpture garden and entirely worth the detour.
The Island Heritage Trust maintains an easy loop through fields and woods down to a tidal beach where there's sea glass and tide-pool creatures!
- Nervous Nellie's Jams & Jellies · 18 min drive
- Island Heritage Trust · 20 min drive
On the Water
Paddle the coast with a fall backdrop
Osprey's Echo Sea Kayaking runs from September through October 8th. It will likely book up early, and it is worth the views.
If you would rather watch than paddle: the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta, October 9–12, involves people racing hollowed-out giant pumpkins. It is exactly as good as it sounds and has events all weekend long. It is about two hours south of Ferncrest Acadia and worth the detour.
- Osprey's Echo Sea Kayaking · 22 min drive
- Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta · 2 hr drive | Oct 9 - 12
Apple Picking
Orchards and hayrides
Homewood Farm is twenty minutes away and runs hayrides October 10–12. Guests can feed the animals onsite, pick pumpkins and straw bales, and enjoy some apple cider. One weekend only.
Johnston's Apple Orchard does pick-your-own about forty-five minutes away, open seven days a week from 10am to 5:30pm — this is a must. Hooper's Orchard keeps over seventy-five varieties of apple, pear, and peach, plus cider and donuts in the farm store, which is the real reason to go.
- Homewood Farm · 20 min drive | Oct 10-12
- Johnston's Apple Orchard · 45 min drive | 7 days a week
- Hooper's Orchard · 1 hr drive | an easy stop on your way in to camp
Spooky Stuff
Ghost tours
Bar Harbor Ghost Tours walk the old streets after dark and let you experience the town lore like never before. Fort Knox Historic Site runs everything from ghost tours to wizarding nights and scavenger hunts, thirty-eight minutes away, inside a granite fort!
- Bar Harbor Ghost Tours · 1 hr drive
- Fort Knox Historic Site · 38 min drive | check their website to coordinate dates
Back at Camp
Come back to a warm dome and sauna session, after a fall-filled day
Coastal fall is unlike anything you've ever experienced, and it is why we built our glampground the way we did. Select lodging is heated. There is a communal sauna, and one dome has a private hot tub. The bathhouse is heated and equipped with hot water.
Come back from a five a.m. Cadillac sunrise, get warmed up in a heated dome and spend the rest of the day taking in views from the sauna or out on a nearby adventure.
