Baker Island, Acadia National Park

The Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company in conjunction with the National Park Service operates a 5-hour boat cruise to Acadia National Park’s Baker Island that typically runs from mid-June through mid-September on select days of the week (currently Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). The tour is guided by a National Park Service Ranger. There is a fee, and tickets can be purchased on the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company web page. Other tours are offered by the company, so be sure to purchase tickets for the Baker Island Tour. Departure is at 8 AM.

Acadia National Park Ranger leads a tour of Baker Island

The tour leaves from the dock at 1 West Harbor Street in Bar Harbor. Unless you are staying within walking distance of the dock, I implore you to take the free Island Explorer Shuttle Bus because parking in Bar Harbor is nearly impossible to find. I missed another boat cruise that I paid $40 for because I could not find parking after driving around in circles for a half hour. On top of that, most public parking spaces have a 2-hour limit, and most tours and cruises take much longer.

The Island Explorer services most major hotels and private campgrounds. If one does not stop where you are staying, drive to the Hulls Cove Visitor Center and catch the bus from there. Depending on the route you take, the trip to Village Green (downtown area) takes 10 to 20 minutes, and buses run early enough to get you to Bar Harbor in time. The wharf is a five minute walk from the bus stop. Look for the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company office and stop in to register.

Baker Island is part of Acadia National Park and is open to everyone, so you do not need to be on a tour to visit. Anyone with their own boat can stop at the island, and when you arrive there may already be other people walking around. There are also two private residences on the island.

Private boaters on Baker Island, Acadia National Park

The tour is mainly out in the open, so if avoiding the sun is important to you, bring a hat and apply sunscreen. You may also want to bring a picnic lunch because the tour ends at the rocky beach on the far side of the island, and this is a great place to have a picnic. Furthermore, biting flies are a big problem. They tend to stay down around your ankles, so harassment is easily avoided by wearing long pants. From my experience, insect repellent has no effect on them.

It takes about an hour to get to Baker Island. Along the way the boat passes Sand Beach, Otter Cliffs, and shoreline mansions. The park Ranger will point out places of interest.

Mansion on the shore of Mount Desert Island in Maine

Cruise ships near Bar Harbor, Maine

The tour boat itself cannot land on Baker Island, so guests must transfer to a small landing craft. When the tour is full, not everyone can fit at once, so the landing craft must make two trips.

Aboard the Baker Island landing craft, Acadia National Park

Landing craft on the shore of Acadia National Park’s Baker Island

Baker Island was settled by the William and Hannah Gilley Family in 1806, so the tour focuses on life on the island during their time. The couple came to the island, which had previously been named Baker Island, with three children, but had nine more while living there. A house and outhouse that one of the children built around 1840 still stands.

Elisha Gilley House on Baker Island in Acadia National Park

The Gilleys did not own the island when they moved to it, so they basically lived for free for many years. In the mid-1820s, the government caught up to them, but a deal was made so that the family could stay. A lighthouse was to be built and Gilley was offered the job of lightkeeper. The Baker Island Lighthouse opened in 1828, though the one standing today is a replacement built in 1855. The National Park Service has owned it since 2011, but it is not open and can only be seen from the exterior.

Front view of the Baker Island Lighthouse and Lightkeeper’s Quarters, Acadia National Park

Rear view of the Baker Island Lighthouse and Lightkeeper’s Quarters, Acadia National Park

William Gilley remained lightkeeper until 1849, at which time he lost the job because he was not a member of the Whig Party, the precursor to today’s Republican Party. Lightkeepers’ jobs were presidential appointments in those days, and Whig candidate Zachary Taylor had just been elected. Two of his sons and his wife remained on Baker Island, but William moved to Duck Island. There was a lot of antagonism between the Gilley boys—who by now had their own families living on the island—and the new lightkeepers. The federal government attempted to remove the Gilleys, so the Gilleys brought a lawsuit against the government over ownership of the island. The suit awarded nineteen acres that surrounded the lighthouse to the government and the rest to the Gilleys. The main road from the shore to the lighthouse was open to everyone.

Tired of the rustic life and longing for the conveniences of the mainland, the last Gilley left Baker Island around 1930. The Gilleys were fishermen, and new motorized boats made travel faster, thus they could easily reach the fishing grounds without needing to live on an island.

When the Gilleys moved they were able to sell their land. Many, but not all, of the subsequent owners donated their land to the new Acadia National Park. There are still two private residences on the island that are used as summer homes. One is the old school house, the first red building you come to when arriving, and the other is farther up on the hill, also a red building.

One of two private residences on Acadia National Park’s Baker Island

Two other buildings on the island are a brick oil house that now displays old photos and other exhibits about the island’s history and a garage built in the early 1940s by the U. S. Coast Guard.

Oil House on Baker Island, Acadia National Park

Garage on Acadia National Park’s Baker Island that was built by the Coast Guard

The Baker Island Cemetery is also open to visitors. It holds mainly members of the Gilley Family, but there are also graves for one Coulter and three members of the Stanley Family. I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that these other families are related by marriage to the Gilleys. None of the former lightkeepers are buried on the island. If you like photographing tombstones, this is one of the rare opportunities to have the ocean as a backdrop.

Baker Island Cemetery, Acadia National Park

Baker Island Cemetery, Acadia National Park

When done touring the developed area of Baker Island, visitors have time to hike to the coast on the opposite end of the island from the landing area. A trail is located behind the lighthouse—the Ranger will lead you to it—and the walk takes five to ten minutes. The trail is flat, but a little rocky and rooty, so watch your step.

Trail to the south shore of Acadia National Park’s Baker Island

The rocky shoreline is known as the Dance Floor because of its large slabs of granite, some smooth and level enough to dance on. You’ll get to spend about a half hour here, and it is a great place to watch the waves crash over the rocks while eating a picnic lunch.

Tour group at the Dance Floor on Baker Island, Acadia National Park

Southern coast of Baker Island, Acadia National Park

If walking on the rocks, avoid the wet ones with dark patches on them. This is algae, and it can be as slippery as ice.

Waves crash on the rocks at Acadia National Park’s Baker Island

One other perk of a visit to Baker Island is the great views of Mount Desert Island.

View of the mountains on Mount Desert Island from Acadia National Park’s Baker Island

Shoreline of Acadia National Park’s Baker Island near the boat landing

I took the Baker Island Cruise and another National Park Service sponsored cruise, the Isleford Historic and Scenic Cruise to Little Cranberry Island, and I liked this one much better because the Ranger actually gives a tour of the island. At Little Cranberry, participants are simply dropped off and left to walk around on their own. On top of that, I found Baker Island a little more interesting in regards to history. Little Cranberry Island is only a mile from Baker Island, and during low tide you can walk to it on a sand bar. You can identify Little Cranberry by the U. S. Lifesaving Service Station No. 9 building located on the shore.

Lifesaving station on Little Cranberry Island in Maine

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