Mount Desert

There is no single centre. The town is a set of villages (Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor, Somesville, Pretty Marsh, Hall Quarry) each a few buildings and a view of the water.

What Mount Desert is known for

Somes Sound cuts five miles into the island here, and it is the reason the geography works the way it does: to get from one side of the island to the other you drive around the head of it at Somesville, which is why journeys take longer than the map suggests.

Jordan Pond sits inside this town, and the path around it is the most-walked trail in the park after the Ocean Path. 3.3 miles, level, with the two rounded hills known as the Bubbles framing the north end. The Jordan Pond House at the south end has been serving tea and popovers on the lawn since the 1890s.

Northeast Harbor, the town's largest village, has its own page: a deep marina, two of the finest gardens in Maine, and the mailboat to the Cranberry Isles.

Things to do

Walk the Jordan Pond Path. Drive or cycle the carriage roads, which are denser here than anywhere else on the island. The Rockefeller network was built largely across this town, and the stone bridges are worth seeking out individually.

Somesville is the oldest settlement on the island and keeps a much-photographed white footbridge. Seal Harbor has a small public beach that stays quiet even in August. Sargent Mountain, the island's second-highest, is climbed from this side and carries a fraction of Cadillac's traffic.

Getting here and when to go

Route 198 and Route 3 cross the town; the free Island Explorer shuttle serves the villages in season, which is much the easiest way to reach Jordan Pond without fighting for a parking space.

Late June for the gardens, September for the hiking and the emptier carriage roads. Most of the town closes down between late October and May.

Common questions

Is the town of Mount Desert the same as Mount Desert Island?

No. Mount Desert Island holds four separate towns, Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor and Tremont, and Mount Desert is only one of them. The town covers the middle of the island and land on both sides of Somes Sound. When a listing says Mount Desert it means the town; when it says MDI it means the whole island.

How do you pronounce Mount Desert?

Locally it is Mount de-ZERT, stress on the second syllable, like the sweet course rather than the Sahara. The name traces to Samuel de Champlain's French, l'Isle des Monts Deserts, the island of bare mountains, and the pronunciation held onto the French stress. You will hear both versions from visitors, but the second-syllable version is what residents use.

Which villages are in the town of Mount Desert?

Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor, Somesville, Otter Creek, Hall Quarry, Beech Hill and Pretty Marsh. Northeast Harbor is the commercial center, with the marina, the shops and the boats out to the Cranberry Isles. Somesville is the oldest settlement on the island, and Seal Harbor is quiet and residential. Directions here are given by village rather than by town.

Is Acadia National Park in Mount Desert?

A large share of it, yes. Park land within the town takes in Jordan Pond, the Bubbles, Sargent Mountain and much of the carriage road network, so several of Acadia's best-known walks begin from roads in this town rather than from Bar Harbor. The same park entry pass applies, and the same midday crush fills the lots.