NP Campground Review – Schoodic Woods, Acadia National Park, ME
A fabulous campground (huge, private, quiet sites) on the very quiet Schoodic Peninsula side of Acadia National Park in Maine.
Link to campground here: Schoodic Woods Campground, ME
Link to map location here: Schoodic Woods Campground, ME
- Site Quality = 4.5/5
Near perfect sites here with just a few (very minor dings)! This is a very new campground with around 93 sites arranged in two large loops. Sites are all firm gravel with nice “sitting areas” containing picnic table and firepit, and a range of hookups from 20A through 50A. Biggest positive is that site separation is FABULOUS throughout the campground with loads of space between sites and tons of privacy. You will definitely not feel cramped in this campground! Lots of mature trees and green vegetation plus all of camp is very quiet and relaxing (zero road noise here!). Only slight ding is that some of the sites are not quite level, but this does vary some between the two main loops:- A-Loop Sites (A1-A50, Small rigs or tenters only) – This loop is limited to rigs under 20ft, so it is only available for smaller rigs, vans, popups or tenters. All sites here are back-in with pad sizes that range in length from 20ft to around 50ft and hookups that range from 50A in “RV Electric” sites (11 sites only A1-A5, A7-A12) to 20A only in”Standard Electric” or “Tent” sites. Excellent separation and privacy here, especially towards the back of the loop. Only ding is that quite a few sites in this section are rather unlevel. Also NO water hookups on this side. I would say sites in this loop rate 4/5. Cost $30/night-$36/night.
- B-Loop Sites (B1-B33, Any-sized rig) – In this loop all sites are 50A/water. Most are pull-throughs with just three back-ins (B25, B28, B30) and they are all more than large enough to take any-sized rig. Site pads range in length ~60 ft to 150 ft(!) with fabulous separation and privacy everywhere. Hookups are great with excellent power and good water pressure. The campground loop is graded (for water run-off) so some of the side pull-throughs (the 8 sites around the very edge of the loop) are somewhat unlevel, but it’s not significant. Parking orientation within the sites is fixed. So if you’re a Class A in one of the the right side sites (B1-B22) you park facing north, so your front windshield will face away from the sun, whereas if you are in one of the left side sites (B25-B33) you park facing south(ish) so your front windshield will face towards the sun most of the day. Lots of trees and vegetation everywhere although the trees are taller (more mature) towards the entrance of the loops. If you want complete privacy I recommend B6, B7, B15, B14 or B20. Our favorite side-pull throughs were B1 (can’t see another RV from this site) and B3 (there’s a nice tree here). All sites are excellent and rate 5/5 in my opinion! Cost $40/night.
- Other Sites – There is also a group camping area (no hookups) and 9 walk-in tent sites which look very nice.
NOTE -> Reservations: Sites are reservable and reservations are recommended in summer. Senior Pass (National Park) get 50% off the price. Stay limit is 14-days.
- Facilities = 4/5
Very nice, new, sparkling clean facilities but flush toilets only. Main ding is NO SHOWERS (nearest shower is pay only and is located several miles away). On-site dump station. - Location = 5/5
You come here to visit the Schoodic side of Acadia National Park and for that purpose this campground is perfect. You are located right inside the park, amongst the quiet forest with easy access to miles of hiking and biking trails. Plus you’re at the start of the Schoodic Loop Road so you can just hop in your car and you’ll be on the drive in minutes (you are also on the FREE Schoodic Island Explorer bus route, if you prefer to leave your car in camp). Nearby Winter Harbor is a small town, but has a post office, IGA (groceries) and a few eateries. The town also has a Ferry Service to Bar Harbor, for those wanting to hop over and see the main part of Acadia NP on Mount Desert Island (around 45 mins by ferry, or an hours drive by car). - Pet Friendliness = 5/5
Great place for doggie! Lots of space in camp, plus miles & miles of trails to enjoy inside the National Park (all trails are dog-friendly here!), On-site poo bags.
Overall Rating = 4.6
BONUS ALERT = Camp in superb space and quiet on the Schoodic Peninsula!
Video Overview: Want to see it in living color? Check out our ~10 min video overview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkTAQ7G3CTs
Summary: So this is by far the nicest National Park Campground we’ve ever stayed at! It only opened a few years ago so everything is brand new, and they did a beautiful job of the layout. Sites are all spacious gravel with outstanding separation (we’ve rarely seen separation this good in our 8 years of RV travel!) and nice “sitting areas” containing picnic table and fire-pit. Lots of trees and vegetation everywhere, great privacy and it’s SUPER quiet. There are two loops with slightly different feels. Loop A (A1-A50) is for smaller rigs only (20 ft max) and offers back-in sites with a mix of hookups from 50A (“RV Electric”) to 20A (“Standard Electric” and “Tent” sites). Sites are very nice here, but some are rather unlevel. I’d say this side of the campground rates 4/5 in site quality. Loop B (B1-B33) on the other hand can handle any-sized rig and offers mostly pull-through sites with 50A/water and some of the longest, most spacious parking pads we’ve ever seen! These sites rate 5/5 in my opinion! Some of the outer sites do have a slight grade, and sites either face the sun (or away from it) depending which side of the loop you park in. Plus some of the sites nearest the beginning of B Loop do have more privacy (taller trees) than others. But other than those few details I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a site that wasn’t fabulous. Perhaps the ONLY minor ding in this campground? There are NO on-site showers and since sites don’t have sewer that may be an issue for those traveling with smaller tanks (and tenters too, of course). The lack of showers didn’t bother us and the fabulous sites & gorgeous location more than made up for any inconvenience, but we did find it strange! We were in B9 which was ~150 ft long and we absolutely loved it. In fact our site was SO nice we had a hard time leaving the campground the entire time we were here. We loved the privacy and quiet (zero road noise here!), loved the hiking and biking trails (several are accessible near the campground loop), loved the scenic Peninsula loop drive (right next to the campground) and only wished we could have stayed longer. 12 paws and 4 thumbs up on this campground. We’d come back here in a heartbeat!
Extra Info: FREE on-site WiFi but it was very slow and difficult to connect to. OK cell signal, but we definitely benefited from a booster to stabilize it. Verizon varied between 1-3 bars bars LTE whereas ATT varied between 4G and 1-2 bars LTE. NO T-Mobile at all (zip, nada). 93 total sites, all reservable online. 50A/water sites (B Loop, 33 sites total) cost $40/night, 50A sites (A loop, “RV Electric”, 11 sites only) cost $36/night where as 20A electric sites (A loop, “Standard Electric” and “Tent”, 39 sites total) cost $30/night. 50% camping discount with National Park Senior Pass. On-site dump station.
Thanks for this campground review. We have stayed at many coastal Maine CGs over the years, but this one is new to me. It looks very nice, I can see what you like about it. But it’s odd that there are no showers. A little inconvenient for those in tents or small rigs, I would think.
Totally agree. The no shower thing kind of surprised me too. I actually walked into the check-in office with all my shower stuff because I’d walked around the facilities and couldn’t find them. I thought I’d missed them! But yes…no showers. Really strange.
Nina
Are their sites reservable? If they are can you reserve a certain site. Just asking because in Yellowstone when you make a reservation, they assign you a site when you get there.
As far as the senior or Access Federal Pass discounts go. “Usually” the 50% off is only on the “base rate” So the “base” rate there is $22 for the non-electric site. I believe your big sites were $40. I’m just guessing, but I would think the $40 site would drop to $29, because you only get 50% off the $22 site. And then pay the electric site charge. Every National Park campground we have stayed at that had electric sites, did that. But we have not done any in the upper Northeast National Parks yet. We plan to do a VT, NH and Maine trip next Aug / Sept. Maybe 6-8 weeks. Might include Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
YES all sites are reservable (site number specific). And I DID NOT KNOW about the “base rate” thing! Honestly since we don’t have the Senior Pass ourselves I didn’t know that detail, so you may well be right about it being $29 instead of $20…hmmmm. Maybe someone who’s been here with the pass can confirm the exact 50% rate at Schoodic?
Nina
We loved Schoodic Woods too, one of the nicest campgrounds we have ever been to. The shower situation was also our only negative. I felt bad for the tenters who had no options. We were told by a host that when the Campground was planned the idea was that a local cottage industry would open that would provide pay shower facilities for the campers and that hasn’t happened. Maybe they will rethink it and build some showers.
I was bummed about the showers too, not really because we needed them (we have huge tanks), but because I think it’s a negative for the campground. Such a big, beautiful, modern facility and yet no showers? Seems like a poor decision. The shower options outside of camp were pricey and not close.
Nina
From watch a video of why they didn’t build showers. The understanding was there was a lot of politics / land swaps that went into constructing Schoodic campground. One of the pluses for the near by town was it would bring in a little business from the campers, and some crafty entrepreneurs can offer shower facilities. To have nice large sites with electric service in a national park setting, I’ll more than gladly give that up. They have water and a dump station…..so that is great.
I saw just a tab of color in the trees, which I’m thinking mid September stay? Having electric service is only a added bonus in the national parks. Looks like my type of place. More and more we are loving the national parks, forest service and BLM campgrounds around this country. Thanx for a well done campground reviews. It will make my trip planning for this area next year easier.
We stayed here in Oct during the very last week the campground was open (it closes for the season around 2nd week of Oct). Fall colors came late this year unfortunately, so we didn’t get to enjoy them to the fullest. Still a beautiful area regardless, of course.
Nina
Thanx, I just made my reservation last week for Schoodic for Sept 13-20th. Within 2 minutes the 5 available sites for that arrival date got booked. I got site #B-20. If it wasn’t for your review and video I would never have stayed here. Were doing a week first at Blackwoods, then use Schoodic as a nice week of “rest”. That bike trail, is it very steep?
SO glad you’re going. You’re gonna love it. The bike trail is somewhat steep going down towards the water, but flat closer to the campground area. ENJOY!
Nina
Nina and Paul, Thanks again, another great blog and video. We have this on our list for next year. Does the RV park close for the winter? Do you select your sites on line or pick once ypu arrive?
Enjoyed the video and data.
The campground is seasonal. It opens around May 22 and closes around 2nd week of Oct. And yes, you can reserve individual sites online.
Nina
Seems really quiet, but still pretty dang full. Regardless, it now added to the “must do” list. Looking at the googler, it says it’s about an hour from the MDI side of the park. Is there anything notable about the drive…traffic?…crazy roads?…etc? Based on the unreal accommodations at Schoodic, I think I’d just stay there and make the drive on days we’re exploring MDI side.
Stop going to so many cool spots and talking about them! We’ve got a lot of sightseeing and RVing to do because of you. Love it. Don’t stop.
Thanks!
Yup the main part of Acadia NP is about an hours drive from here. The roads over to Mount Desert Island are fine, but traffic can get bad inside Acadia NP (once you actually get onto the Island), especially on the “popular side” of MDI. When we were staying over there we had our very best experiences early morning, before the crowds ramped up. So my advice would simply be to drive in early, and leave early.
There’s also a ferry service! So another alternative is to take the ferry from Winter Harbor to Bar Harbor and simply rely on the free Island Explorer shuttle bus once you’re over there to explore around MDI. It’s super convenient, pet friendly (both the ferry and the bus) and easy.
Nina
P.S. And yes I was also surprised how full the campground was this late in the season. We were here literally the very last week it was open in Oct. Reservations are def recommended, even more so in the high season of summer!
Appreciate the response. Keep it up.
We have a twenty seven foot Class C and don’t tow. Are you allowed to drive the one way loop to Schoodic Point and beyond?
Unfortunately no. You can only drive to the Campground and back.
From the website: “No RVs, trailers or vehicles larger than 15-passenger vans are permitted on Schoodic Loop Rd”
NIna
That said, last time we were there (spring 2017) there were NO guards, no guard shack, no rangers patrolling the Schoodic loop road, so you could probably get away with driving a Class C on the road – with a sheepish grin and an apology if you get caught. Not advocating rules-breaking, mind you, just sayin’.
PS, the Scoodic lop road is one-way, so you must enter from the southern side, not from Winter Harbor village.
We have reservations there for August, but we really want to see Bar Harbor, etc. and we are concerned from reviews this campground might be too far from everything for us. An hours drive for restaurants, bars, the park, groceries, etc? Any advice is appreciated. We are from florida so it is a long drive for us just to get there and then we only have three days to see it.
This campground is far from the main area of Acadia. If you want to be closer to Bar Harbor then I recommend looking at the campgrounds on that side of the bay (we stayed at Narrows Two, but there are many others). That said, if you decide to stay in Schoodic there is a daily ferry which goes across the channel directly to Bar Harbor, so that’s another option.
Nina
Great description of the camping area! We drove through it in 2018 while staying up the road at Mainayr Campground (permanently closed now, owner was in her 90’s I think) in Stuben. Just got a reservation this morning for 05/26/2021-05/31/2021 at 10:00 when they opened. The reservations filled up in less than two minutes for all the RV and trailer sites, and most everyone of the tent sites. They are only opening up the reservations exactly 2 months ahead, web site says only reservation are going to be used, no “first come, first served” this year. Pandemic rules? Glad they are opening up! Have friends who logged in at 10:02 and everything was gone…