Bar Harbor, Maine fall foliage

Bar Harbor sits on Mount Desert Island at the edge of Acadia National Park, where fall color meets granite mountains and the sea. Along the coast, the Ocean Path follows the shoreline from Sand Beach past Thunder Hole to the cliffs at Otter Cliff, with red and gold hillsides above the rocks. Inland, Jordan Pond sits beneath the rounded peaks known as the Bubbles, and about 45 miles of car-free carriage roads, built by John D. Rockefeller Jr., wind through the forests with stone bridges along the way. Cadillac Mountain, the tallest peak on the island, rises above it all.

The Park Loop Road runs about 27 miles through the eastern side of Acadia, much of it one-way. It follows the coast past Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, and Otter Cliff, then turns inland through the woods to Jordan Pond before climbing back toward Bar Harbor. For a second drive, head to the island’s quieter western side, around Somes Sound, the long inlet that nearly splits the island in two, to the rocky shore at Bass Harbor Head Light.