Acadia National Park road closures by season.

Every Acadia road on one timeline.

Acadia's road calendar is short and fixed. The park's hours page gives two windows: April 15 to December 1 for Park Loop Road and the paved roads, and May 15 to November 15 for the unpaved roads. The dates repeat each year, but weather still moves them. NPS says Park Loop Road closes on December 1 unless a significant snowfall forces an earlier closure, and reopens on April 15 if weather permits. Schoodic Loop and Point Road is listed as open all year, and the carriage roads as year-round with seasonal closures.

The two stretches open in winter.

From December 1 to April 14, Park Loop Road, including the road up Cadillac Mountain, is closed to vehicles. Two short stretches stay open. The first is one of the loop's most scenic sections. Take Schooner Head Road from Bar Harbor to the fee station on Park Loop Road, then drive two miles one-way along the coast past Sand Beach. All vehicles must exit at Otter Cliff Road. So in winter, Schooner Head Road is the way in, not a closed road. The second is Jordan Pond Road from Seal Harbor. In about a mile it joins a short section of Park Loop Road that stays plowed to the south end of Jordan Pond, and you drive back out the way you came.

The two NPS pages don't quite agree on the second stretch. The winter page, updated August 27, 2026, names both. The Park Loop Road page says only the section from the entrance station to Otter Cliff Road usually remains open. Before a winter drive to Jordan Pond, check the alerts. Park roads are plowed and sanded only during daylight hours, so expect snow and ice early and late. The state and county roads on Mount Desert Island are plowed all winter.

On the Schoodic Peninsula, Schoodic Loop and Point Road is open all year. The fee station on Park Loop Road at Schooner Head Road is open year-round too, and NPS requires an entrance pass all year. Our Acadia fees page has the prices.

2026 repairs and closures.

One 2026 repair closes a road right now. Starting August 31, 2026, Schoodic Mountain Road is closed from Schoodic Loop Road to the summit of Schoodic Head, while crews with heavy equipment resurface, regrade, and ditch it. The alert gives no reopening date. The closure starts at Schoodic Loop Road, which the hours page lists as open all year.

Two spring closures have ended. Cadillac Summit Road was closed to all uses through April 30, 2026, while crews built the Cadillac East-West Connector Trail. Park Loop Road between Kebo Street and Sieur de Monts was closed to all uses through June 12, except Memorial Day Weekend, to replace an undersized culvert. Both show that construction can close part of the loop inside its season, so look at the alerts the week you go.

Winter on the closed roads: skis, snowmobiles, carriage roads.

The closed roads stay busy in winter, just not with cars. Snowmobiles can use the 27-mile Park Loop Road system, including the road up Cadillac Mountain, and most fire roads. You can cross-country ski on unplowed park roads, but NPS warns they are designated snowmobile routes, so stay alert. The 45 miles of carriage roads are open for walking, skiing, and snowshoeing, and volunteers groom ski tracks once the snow is more than six inches deep and the roadbed is frozen.

Spring brings mud season. When NPS posted its spring update on April 14, 2026, the carriage roads were closed to all uses until further notice, because they are especially fragile during the thaw. There is no winter camping or overnight parking anywhere in Acadia, so a winter trip means a room in a nearby town. Our Acadia in winter page covers the rest.

How crowds follow the Park Loop Road.

Acadia's crowd waits for Park Loop Road. March, with the loop closed to cars, averages 4% of the visits of August, the busiest month. April, when the loop opens on the 15th, is 13%. May is 41%.

Fall runs later than you might expect. October still averages 70% of August, with every road open. November, when the unpaved roads close on the 15th, drops to 9%, and December, after Park Loop Road closes on the 1st, is 2%. If you want to avoid the crush, skip July and August on the loop: NPS calls it extremely congested then. It suggests the fare-free Island Explorer bus, which typically runs mid-June to mid-October, and a backup plan if a lot is full. The best time to visit Acadia page weighs the months, and the October guide covers the last month of Cadillac reservations.

Driving the loop: one-way traffic and size limits.

Plan three to four hours, with some stops, for the whole 27-mile Park Loop Road. Speed limits run 25 to 35 mph, and part of the loop is one-way, so NPS says to use a map and understand the traffic flow before you start. Unless signs say otherwise, cars also park in the right-hand lane, so watch for them and for cyclists going around them.

Cadillac Summit Road has the tightest rules. Vehicles over 21 feet long, including bike racks and hitch attachments, RVs, and trailers are not allowed, and NPS turns them away even with a valid reservation. From May 20 to October 25, 2026, driving it takes a vehicle reservation, and the road closes to vehicles at 9 pm. Our Acadia reservations page explains how to book.

Common questions.

Can you drive through Acadia National Park?

Yes, from April 15 to December 1, 2026, when Park Loop Road and the paved roads are open. The loop is 27 miles, and NPS suggests three to four hours with stops. From December 1 to April 14 only two short stretches are open to cars: Schooner Head Road to Otter Cliff Road past Sand Beach, and Jordan Pond Road from Seal Harbor. The state and county roads on Mount Desert Island are plowed all winter.

Is Acadia National Park open today?

Acadia doesn't close for winter. NPS requires an entrance pass all year and keeps the fee station at Schooner Head Road open year-round. Which roads you can drive depends on the date, and the table above has every window. For closures today, such as the 2026 Schoodic Mountain Road repairs, check the NPS Current Conditions page.

Does a government shutdown close Acadia's roads?

Generally, no. The current National Park Service contingency plan says park roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to visitors during a lapse in appropriations. It also says parks will not provide regular road or trail condition updates, and that an area must be closed if access becomes a safety issue, such as weather or road conditions. The season dates on this page don't change, but the park's alerts may not keep up, which matters most in winter.

Where these facts come from

The 2026 road seasons come from the NPS operating hours and seasons page; the December 1 and April 15 rules, the year-round two-mile section, and the drive time from the NPS FAQ page; the winter stretches, daylight plowing, snowmobile and ski rules, and carriage road grooming from the NPS winter page (updated August 27, 2026); the winter alert note, crowding, the Island Explorer, parking, and speed limits from the NPS Park Loop Road page (updated August 17, 2026). The Schoodic Mountain Road closure is the park alert posted August 28, 2026, shown on the NPS Current Conditions page; the spring 2026 closures and mud season come from the NPS news release of April 14, 2026; the Cadillac Summit Road size limit, reservation dates, and 9 pm closure from the NPS vehicle reservations page; the year-round pass rule from the NPS fees page; the unpaved road names from a 2018 NPS news release. The shutdown answer comes from the September 2025 National Park Service contingency plan posted on the Department of the Interior shutdown page. The road lines on the map are OpenStreetMap geometry between OSM nodes, routed by OSRM (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); they show where each road runs, not its closure gates. Crowd numbers are five-year monthly means (2021 to 2025) of recreation visits from the NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package on NPS IRMA Stats. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.