Acadia Fees and Hours, Maine: Passes and 2026 Seasons

This is the operational side of Acadia National Park. What closes when, which pass covers what, and which of the park's several entrances you should aim for. Exact fees and posted hours change every season, so this guide covers the structure and points you at nps.gov and recreation.gov for the current numbers. Get the structure right and you will not be the car turned around at the Cadillac gate.

The park itself never closes

Acadia (4.9 from 24,003 reviews) is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There is no perimeter fence, no booth you must pass through, and no hour at which you are asked to leave. Sunrise on Cadillac and stargazing on the Schoodic shore both depend on that.

What has hours are the buildings and the seasonal roads. Confusing the two is the single most common planning mistake. "Is the park open in January?". Yes. "Can I drive to the top of Cadillac in January?". No.

What closes in winter, and what does not

From roughly the start of December until mid-April, most of the one-way Park Loop Road and the Cadillac Summit Road are gated shut and unplowed. A short stretch of Ocean Drive and the road toward Jordan Pond usually stay open to cars; the closed sections become ski and snowshoe routes. The carriage roads stay open all winter and are not plowed either, which is the point.

Route 3, Route 102, Route 198 and Route 233 are state and town roads that run through the park. They are plowed and open year-round, so the towns and trailheads along them stay reachable. A winter visit is genuinely doable; it just runs on a different map.

Visitor centers and their seasons

• Hulls Cove Visitor Center (4.5 from 2,546 reviews), off Route 3 north of Bar Harbor, is the main one. It runs a spring-through-fall season and shuts for winter. Steep staircase from the lower lot; there is an accessible upper approach.
• Park headquarters on Route 233 takes over as the staffed information point when Hulls Cove is closed for the season.
• The Bar Harbor Village Green (4.6 from 1,177 reviews) is the in-town information and shuttle hub, useful if you are staying without a car.
• Schoodic Institute (4.7 from 41 reviews) at Winter Harbor covers the mainland district.

Our visitor centers guide goes into what each one is actually good for. In short: go to Hulls Cove for maps, ranger programs and the orientation film; skip it if you already know where you are going and want to beat the parking crush.

How the pass system works

Acadia sells a private-vehicle pass covering everyone in the car for a multi-day window, a motorcycle pass, and a per-person pass for anyone arriving on foot or by bicycle. There is an Acadia annual pass, and the federal America the Beautiful interagency pass covers entry here as it does everywhere else. Senior, military, access and fourth-grade passes are honored.

Buy before you arrive. Passes are sold online through recreation.gov and printed for display in the vehicle as required by NPS, and that is faster than the line at an entrance station in August. Passes are also sold at Hulls Cove, at the Sand Beach Entrance Station, and at participating businesses in Bar Harbor and Ellsworth.

Because there is no gate, enforcement happens where you park. Rangers check displayed passes at Sand Beach, Jordan Pond, Cadillac, and the popular trailheads. Entrance passes are required year-round. Seven-day entry costs $35 per private vehicle, $30 per motorcycle or $20 per person age 16 and older arriving on foot or bicycle.

The Cadillac Summit Road reservation is a separate thing

This trips up more visitors than anything else in the park. During the busy season, driving the road to the top of Cadillac Mountain (4.9 from 1,528 reviews) requires a vehicle reservation bought on recreation.gov, and that reservation is in addition to your park entrance pass. Having a pass does not get you up the mountain.

Reservations come in two categories, sunrise and daytime, and are released in two batches at 10 a.m. Eastern: 30 percent 90 days before the visit and the remaining 70 percent two days before. Sunrise slots in September and October vanish within seconds of release. Set a reminder, be logged in, and have a fallback.

The fallback is that no reservation is needed to walk or cycle up, and none is needed outside the reservation season. Hiking the North Ridge or South Ridge trail to the summit is always free of the system.

The entrances, and which to use

If you are still deciding how to reach the island at all, getting to Acadia covers airports, drive times and the ferry options.

The shuttle, and why it is free

The Island Explorer runs propane buses on a network of routes linking Bar Harbor, the campgrounds, the trailheads and the villages, from early summer into the fall. Riding is free at the point of use; it is funded in part by park entrance passes, which is a good argument for buying one even if you never drive a park road.

Riders still need a park pass. The bus is not a way around the fee, and drivers are not selling them.

Campground and facility seasons

Blackwoods, Seawall (4.8 from 86 reviews) and Schoodic Woods all run seasonal operations and take reservations on recreation.gov on a rolling window rather than opening a full year at once. Blackwoods has the longest season; Schoodic Woods and Seawall are shorter. The Acadia camping guide has the differences between them.

Jordan Pond House, the restrooms at the major stops, and the ranger program schedule are all seasonal too. By late October most of it has wound down even though the roads are still open, and that gap (open park, closed everything) is either the best two weeks of the year or a disappointment, depending on what you came for.

2026 fees and facility dates

For 2026, non-U.S. residents age 16 and older pay an additional $100 per person unless covered by a qualifying annual or America the Beautiful pass. The entrance fee and the Cadillac reservation pay for different things: the first covers park access, while the second controls a vehicle trip up the summit road.

Cadillac Summit Road vehicle reservations cost $6 and apply May 20–October 25, 2026. The Island Explorer does not serve the summit. Hulls Cove Visitor Center operates May 1–October 31, 2026; Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton and the Rockefeller Welcome Center on the Schoodic Peninsula provide other seasonal information stops. Fee outlets are cashless.

Sources: 2026-09-13 — nps.gov; nps.gov; nps.gov; nps.gov.

Frequently asked questions

What are Acadia National Park hours?

The park is open 24 hours a day, all year. Individual facilities have their own seasons: the Hulls Cove Visitor Center runs spring through fall, and most of the Park Loop Road and the Cadillac Summit Road are closed from about December to mid-April.

Do you need a reservation to enter Acadia National Park?

No reservation is needed to enter the park or to hike, park, or drive the Park Loop Road. A separate vehicle reservation is required in season to drive the Cadillac Summit Road, and it does not replace your entrance pass.

Can you get into Acadia for free?

Entrance passes are required year-round, including for visitors arriving on foot or bicycle. Eligible federal passes and fee-free provisions can cover the entrance charge; Cadillac Summit Road vehicle reservations are separate. Pass eligibility and the 2026 non-U.S.-resident supplement affect the total.

Where do you buy an Acadia park pass?

Online through recreation.gov before you travel, or in person at Hulls Cove Visitor Center, the Sand Beach Entrance Station, other operating pass outlets, and various businesses in Bar Harbor and Ellsworth. Buying online saves the longest wait of the day in summer.