Sand Beach to Otter Cliff
Enter from Schooner Head Road in Bar Harbor. The two-mile coastal section is one-way past Sand Beach, and all vehicles must exit at Otter Cliff Road.
Find your road
Park Loop Road connects the Mount Desert Island destinations; Cadillac Summit Road branches uphill. The two winter stretches have separate approaches from Bar Harbor and Seal Harbor.
- Park Loop Road
- Cadillac Summit Road
- Schooner Head Road to Otter Cliff Road
- Jordan Pond Road from Seal Harbor
- Named viewpoints, trailheads and road junctions
- Park entrances
- National park boundary
Acadia road seasons
The table labels the published 2026 calendar separately from normal winter access. Snow can shorten a road season.
| Road | Vehicle season or access rule | Destinations & limits |
|---|---|---|
Park Loop Road | Published 2026 schedule: April 15, 2026 to December 1, 2026 | 27-mile loop. Significant snowfall can bring an earlier closure. |
Cadillac Summit Road | Published 2026 schedule: April 15, 2026 to December 1, 2026 | Summit drive. No vehicles over 21 ft including attachments, RVs or trailers. Check reservation rules separately. |
Unpaved roads | Published 2026 schedule: May 15, 2026 to November 15, 2026 | Includes Seal Cove and Western Mountain roads. The 2026 calendar is separate from temporary repair closures. |
Schooner Head Road to Otter Cliff Road | Normal winter access, weather permitting | Two miles of Park Loop Road, one-way past Sand Beach. |
Jordan Pond Road from Seal Harbor | Normal winter access, weather permitting | Plowed to the south end of Jordan Pond. Back out the same way. |
Schoodic Loop and Point Road | Normal year-round route, weather permitting | On the Schoodic Peninsula. Listed as year-round. |
Winter access
Use the maintained approaches rather than a closed section of the full loop.
Jordan Pond from Seal Harbor
Jordan Pond Road joins the plowed stretch to the south end of Jordan Pond. Return the same way. The NPS winter page names this approach; the Park Loop Road page mentions only the coastal stretch, so check alerts before setting out.
The Jordan Pond Road approach from Seal Harbor joins the plowed section of Park Loop Road after about a mile.
Plowing, passes and a place to stay
Park roads are plowed and sanded only in daylight. State and county roads on Mount Desert Island are plowed through winter. An entrance pass is required year-round; there is no winter camping or overnight parking in the park.
The Park Loop Road entrance station at Schooner Head Road operates year-round. Check Acadia fees for passes.
Before you drive
The full loop has one-way sections; Cadillac adds a strict vehicle limit.
Park Loop Road
Allow three to four hours with stops for the 27-mile loop.
- 25 to 35 mph speed limits
- Study the one-way traffic flow before starting
- Unless signs say otherwise, cars may park in the right-hand lane
Cadillac Summit Road
The narrow summit drive has restrictions even with a reservation.
- Vehicles over 21 ft, including bike racks and hitch attachments, are prohibited
- RVs and trailers are prohibited
- The published 2026 reservation window was May 20 to October 25; check the booking page for your dates
- The reservation page gives a 9 pm vehicle closure
Cadillac has no Island Explorer bus service.
Winter coastal stretch
Schooner Head Road is the winter approach to Sand Beach.
- Two miles of one-way coastal road
- Exit at Otter Cliff Road
Jordan Pond winter approach
Reach Jordan Pond from Seal Harbor.
- Plowed to the south end of Jordan Pond
- Backtrack to leave
Beyond the vehicle gates
A road closed to cars may have a designated winter use. Check the specific closure before entering.
Skis and snowmobiles
Snowmobiles are allowed on the 27-mile Park Loop Road system, including Cadillac Mountain, and most fire roads. Unplowed park roads are also ski routes, so watch for snowmobiles.
Carriage roads
The 45-mile carriage road network allows walking, skiing and snowshoeing. Grooming needs more than six inches of snow and a frozen roadbed. Spring thaw can bring mud closures; check the park notices.
Summer traffic
NPS describes July and August congestion on Park Loop Road. Consider the fare-free Island Explorer, typically mid-June to mid-October, and have a backup destination when a lot is full. It does not serve Cadillac Summit Road.
Monthly visitation
Park-wide recreation visits provide seasonal context, not road traffic or an access guarantee.
Compare the months
In the 2021 to 2025 monthly averages, March has 4% of August's recreation visits, April 13% and May 41%. August is the peak. October has 70%, November 9% and December 2%. Road seasons and weather need separate checks. See the October guide for monthly planning.
Questions about Acadia road closures
Quick answers to the practical questions below.
Can you drive through Acadia National Park?
Normally, most paved park roads have an April 15 to December 1 season, weather permitting. The published 2026 calendar uses those dates. Park Loop Road is 27 miles; NPS suggests three to four hours with stops. In winter, use the two maintained stretches past Sand Beach and to Jordan Pond, or the plowed state and county roads.
Is Acadia National Park open today?
Acadia has winter access, but a seasonal window does not establish today's road status. An entrance pass is required year-round. Check NPS Current Conditions before driving, including for work within a road's normal season.
Does a government shutdown close Acadia's roads?
Access and services depend on the applicable official contingency plan and local safety decisions. Check Department of the Interior shutdown information and park notices before travelling. An older plan or a normal road season does not establish access during a funding lapse.
How we built this page.
An independent guide using official data. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service.
- Official guidance
- NPS and the relevant operators. The linked official pages support the access, facilities and rules described here. Confirm details before traveling.
- Schedules and conditions
- Planning patterns, not live status. Seasonal information describes the normal pattern or explicitly dated source schedule. Current conditions are handled separately. The official source is the place to confirm today’s access.
Topic sources and data details
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).
Mud season on the carriage roads comes 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.
Shutdown access should be checked against the applicable DOI contingency plan and park notices; the September 2025 plan is historical context, not a current access assurance.
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.
Park-wide monthly comparisons use NPS recreation visits averaged over 2021 to 2025, divided by the peak monthly average. These are park visits, not road traffic or an access forecast.
Operational source check: September 10, 2026. Design and emphasized source review: 2026-10-27. A design review does not refresh every underlying record.