Long Pond Boat Ramp at Acadia National Park

A boat ramp suitable for launching motorboats (no horsepower limit), canoes, kayaks, and rowboats into Acadia National Park’s Long Pond is located at the southern end on Long Pond Road. Swimming, paddleboarding, windsurfing, and kiteboarding are not allowed near the ramp because no humans are allowed in the water within 1,000 feet (.2 mile) of the water supply intake, which is next to the ramp (gas and oil from your boat is OK, though). However, these activities are allowed at other areas of the lake. Of course, you’d have to find a way to access the lake someplace else. There is a public boat ramp at the north end of the lake outside of the park boundaries, but the entire eastern shore is still privately owned, and there are very few access points on the western shore. As for windsurfing and kiteboarding, there is no wind worth mentioning unless a tornado or a hurricane hits, so people interested in these sports wouldn’t be here to begin with.

There is a parking lot at the ramp, but it is long and narrow and more suitable for cars. I don’t know where a vehicle with a boat trailer would park, other than along Long Pond Road.

Trailheads for the Long Pond Trail, Valley Trail, and West Ridge Trail are also located at the parking lot. You can hike to the top of Beech Mountain on the West Ridge Trail, and can access the Perpendicular Trail and hike to the top of Mansell Mountain from the Long Pond Trail.