Sand Beach is the only ocean beach open to swimming within Acadia National Park. Located in a horseshoe-shaped cove and flanked by high cliffs on either side, it is as beautiful a beach as you will find, reminding me of the beaches in Hawaii. The sand is soft—oddly enough 70 percent of it is crushed shells—a rarity in Maine where most of the beaches are made of gravel and cobblestones. The only downside is that the average water temperature, even during the hottest months of the summer, is 55°F (13°C). I don’t know if I could ever be hot enough to venture in, but plenty of people don’t seem to mind, particularly kids. Dying of hypothermia originally came to mind, but after doing some research I found that it would take at least a couple of hours of swimming in such water before you would die, and of course anyone on a beach would get out long before that.
Sand Beach has changing rooms, a modern restroom facility, and a water fountain. Lifeguards are supposedly on duty from Memorial Day to Labor Day weekends, though there were none when I visited the week before Labor Day.
At high tide, two-thirds of the beach disappears under the water, so there is not a lot of room to move around on a busy day during this time. However, at low tide you could land an airplane on the beach, that’s how wide it is.
While the scenery from the beach is wonderful, there are trails that lead to the tops of the cliffs on either side that give the best views. If looking out to sea, the Ocean Path runs along the cliffs on the right side of the beach, while the Great Head Trail offers views from the left side. I found the Ocean Path views to be the best, plus the trail is one of the easiest in Acadia National Park…and it starts from the Sand Beach upper parking lot. Views from the Great Head Trail are often obscured by trees, and the hike takes much more effort.
If you want to brave one of the hardest trails in the park, which entails climbing up ladders built into the cliffs, you can get an unprecedented view of Sand Beach from the rear on the Beehive Trail. From up here you can see the lagoon that has formed behind the beach, something you might not even be aware of when on the beach itself.
In a park known for vehicle congestion in the summer, I’d put Sand Beach near or at the top of the most congested areas in Acadia National Park. I passed by a half dozen times—weekends and weekdays—during my two-week visit, and cars were always parked along the road up to a half mile beyond the parking lot in either direction—and the parking lot holds approximately a hundred vehicles. Thunder Hole, another congested area, is just .6 mile down the road, which doesn’t help matters any. I highly suggest taking the free Island Explorer Shuttle Bus if you plan to visit anywhere between 11 AM and 4 PM, the beach’s busiest times. The bus lets passengers out right by the stairs that lead down to the beach, so things couldn’t be more convenient. If you are coming in the evening or first thing in the morning by car, you shouldn’t have too much trouble. I stopped by at 5 PM and there was plenty of parking.
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Last updated on August 29, 2023