Blackwoods Campground — Acadia National Park

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This is one of the best campgrounds I have ever stayed at. It's gorgeous, well-maintained, close to things, and the sites are reasonably spaced apart. It was my favorite part of visiting Bar Harbor.

Blackwoods: Oct 2023 (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good (70 yr olds in 17’ trailer). I rate based on desire for at least a moderate wilderness type experience w at least some camp site privacy. NOTE: Sunrise: a short walk that begins across from sites 10 and 11. Don’t miss it! Overall Rating: 3.5 overall Price 2023: $15 w interagency pass Usage during visit: 80%. Site Privacy: Not good Site Spacing: Pretty close. Site surface: Gravel Reservations: Yes Campground Noise: Quiet Road Noise: None Through Traffic in campground: None Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: Yes Potable Water Available: Spigots are bathrooms Generators: Allowed Bathroom: Flush toilets- clean Showers: No Pull Throughs: Some Cell Service (AT&T): 2 to 3 bars Setting: Wooded with no undergrowth between sites Weather: Great October weather Bugs: Not many mosquitoes Solar: Most sites no. Site B10 had some solar. Host: I did not see any site hosts.
Rig size: Pretty good size , but choose your site carefully if you have a large rig.
Sites: I did not walk through A loop too much, but I suspect the best sites will be the outer loop. Sites I thought were okay, not great: ours, B9 is open to the road, but trailer gives some privacy from adjacent sites. Also, A37 B4 , B 9. There are probably better sites. We packed a lot in during our short time in the park, so I slacked on even a good walk through in our loop. I’ll say that sites in the mid area of Loop A were packed near each other.

Great private sites with a short 5 minute walk to the coast!

If you can get a spot here, take it, this camp is right in the middle of everything, got lots of walking paths and great bike routes! The sites are nice, wooded and easy to pull in and back out of! Lots of sites available, but they fill up quick!

The campground is very clean and the sites are comfortable and although pretty close; shrubs and trees provide sufficient privacy.

Blackwoods Campground is a large campground in Acadia National Park with 306 sites, none of which have electrical hookups.

We stayed in site B004- it was the last site available that could accommodate our 20ft Sprinter Van, so I was worried it would be disappointing but after seeing the other sites in the campground, we decided we would definitely book B004 again!

We like privacy and B004 offered some of the best privacy of any site in the park. We had trees separating us from each of our neighbors, could pull in far enough to get away from the road, and were still a decent distance to the bathroom. The only downside was proximity to the group sites, which were loud at times- but a campground with 306 sites is never going to be as quiet as the forest!

B004 is an accessible site so park officials ask that it only be reserved if no other sites are available or if you have an accessibility need.

The campground itself has no showers, but the bathrooms were clean, if dated. Access to Acadia National Park is unmatched, as we were able to wake up and drive less than five minutes for a beautiful sunrise.

We really enjoyed our visit at Blackwoods campground and would definitely consider staying there again if we were in the area.

I was skeptical because of how packed it gets but it is relatively quiet and sites space nicely apart. Clean and enjoyable

Great pull through sites for trailers, privacy and clean bathrooms. Bummer that they don’t have showers and excessive generator use due to no hookups.

We camped here for 5 days and loved it. Large wooded site was a great home base for exploring and enjoying the National Park. We loved sunrise and sunsets along bluff. Can’t wait to come back.

Blackwoods Campground is the largest and most popular of the three campgrounds at Acadia National Park. While it is very close and most convenient to the main attractions of the park, this also makes it very crowded. There are approximately 300 campsites at Blackwoods although it shares roughly the same physical landmass as its newer, quieter sister campground Schoodic Woods, which holds only about half that many campsites.

The campground is laid out kind of like a spider web, with very narrow roads separating very narrow campsites. There is ample tree coverage, but little underbrush and the trees are trimmed high into the air, meaning there is virtually no privacy between campsites on your left or right. The narrow roads both in front and behind most sites mean you are also exposed to your neighbors in those directions.

The tent sites are a little more private and densely wooded, but a further walk from the facilities.

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INTERNET: We did have two bars of T-Mobile 4G LTE and 1 usable bar of Verizon 4G LTE as well. Due to the heavy forestation and cramped campsites here, our Starlink was not usable because of too many obstructions.

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MAJOR PROS: Blackwoods is most convenient to all the main attractions at Acadia, including a short, easy, well maintained quarter mile walk down to a spectacular Ocean view from inside the campsite itself. It is also a close drive to the fantastic Park Loop Road for road tourists, and is the closest campsite to the Cadillac Mountain Drive and viewing opportunity, which is the highlight of a Acadia trip for those who like to chase picturesque sunrises (available only by reservation or a 6.7 mile round-trip hike from inside the campground itself).

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While the convenience is nice, this brings out the tourists. This campground is heavily (and I mean heavily) trafficked by families. The campground roads itself are a veritable super highway of children ages 7-13 making endless loops on their bicycles from sun-up to sundown, all day every day. It is noisy. There are crying babies and loud kids playing. Families blasting music past quiet hours and party-goers virtually every night of the week.

It's convenience and popularity means this campground also gets the most novice and disrespectful campers of the three campgrounds. Out of our stay at all three sites, this was the only location where we encountered disrespectful camp neighbors, who not only allowed but actively encouraged their young children to cut through our campsite on the way to the restroom, trash bins, etc. We also had several pieces of fire wood stolen, and someone used our fire pit as a trash receptacle and poured out a large vat of cooking grease on our campsite while we were out for the day.

The bathrooms themselves are the oldest and poorest maintained of the three campgrounds. While we were there in the busiest part of the season (July), pretty much every restroom had about half the toilet stalls out of order. The corner/handicap stalls in each restroom also have a peculiar design where the exterior facing windows are not glossed over or privatized in anyway, meaning anyone of adult height (5'7" or higher, let's say) could look into that stall either intentionally or inadvertently.

Our verdict? While the proximity to all of Acadia's feature attractions is nice, a campground is for camping, and this was the least pleasant of our three experiences there. It's worth the 30-minute to 1-hour drive from the other two campgrounds in Acadia to have a quieter, more mature, better camping experience.

This place is basically Disneyland for family campers. Beautiful scenery and setting is ruined by constant wailing of little children. Honestly, it sucks. This place could be awesome. The best part about the campground is you can hike to major trails. Beehive is about two miles away. Cadillac Mountain is a 6.7 mi round trip from the campground. We did a ten mile loop one day that took us to Otter Cove, Ocean Loop Path to Beehive, down to The Bowl, out to Champlain Mountain, and then back to Blackwoods via Gorham Mountain. Long day. Awesome views. Ruined again by arrival to Camp Disney. If you can bear the annoyance of kids, it’s great. If not, maybe come off season or with ear plugs.

No showers, by the way. Just toilets.

Great stay in Loop A at Blackwoods. Loop A is closest to the short ocean path (100 yards) that takes you down to a rocky shore vista. Connector trails (Quarry Path, Otter Cove, Cadillac Ridge South) can get you to some of top park areas without moving your car! You can get to Thunder Hole, Sand Beach, and Cadillac Mtn to name a few. Bath houses were clean, but there are no showers…..those are provided by a small mom and pop business just outside the campground. Likewise, there is a convenient store (and lobster house) within a half mile too for other supplies. The campground is always busy, but it was surprisingly quiet during my 3 nights…..the heavy forest helps dampen the noise 😊

Even though it holds a lot of people the site sizes are nice and well treed.

Short walk to the beach for a great sunrise and watching lobster boats work.

I recommend the Colonels in Northeast Harbor for dinner and great desserts.

Close proximity to Bar Harbor and a lot of the main attractions of the national park. Showers are just outside of the entrance to the campground, coin operated. Perfect site for hiking trails and seeing the town

The campground is great. Clean bathroom, showers up the road, water, grey water disposal. Need to bring in your own firewood. Across the street is a hiking trail and close to an Acadia National Park entrance. Easy to get to Bar Harbor, Jordan's Pond, The bubbles and more. Had a great time. Only reason we didn't get 5 stars is because it was a little crowded

Located in Acadia, this site is near Acadia and easy driving to some of the main activities. Sites are private in wooded area and pretty level. The bathrooms were quite far away and there were no showers or dishwashing facilities. There is a place you can shower located just outside the campgrounds for $3/5 minutes.

Of course there is no plug ins or anything but it was an amazing campground. So close to everything- bar harbor, the ocean, sand beach, it’s all just a 20 min drive. Loved the walking path with views of the ocean. Definitely one of my favorite places to camp!

We stayed at loop A45 drive thru site, but the picnic table and firering were on the left side (our RV has door on the right). It made the whole site setup a bit awkward, but we managed. Tight site but enough space to sit around the fire and enjoy the weather. Surprisingly, we had 3/4 bars on TMobile phones. No service for Verizon. Clean bathroom. Nearby water source and dumpster.

basic state campground. very average, no frills at all. bathrooms were ok. spots very close, no privacy at all. many spots not at all level, even if listing says "grade is slight".  for $30, is about what to expect.

We had a fabulous stay at Blackwoods a few weeks ago. While our site was perhaps one of the nicest, most sites (except the pull-throughs in loop A) were large, private, and surrounded by beautiful scenery (trees, mossy rocks, and so on). We were in loop B (no generators) and found it to be one of the quietest campgrounds we’d stayed at, although the partial closure due to Covid may have contributed to that. We also found that the site drained well after a big rainstorm passed through. Restrooms were clean and modern, and dishwater dump stations were available, though campers were asked to wash dishes at their sites. My only complaints were that there was no hand soap provided in the restrooms — only hand sanitizer — and that there are not many water spigots. No showers on site, but a private facility provides them right across the street from the campground entrance and we found it very satisfactory. We appreciated that we were able to access the Cadillac South Ridge Trail directly from the campground, and although we didn’t take the Acadia shuttle buses, they also stop at the campground. Book early — the reservation was not easy to get!

We stayed here because we were visiting Acadia. Duh. We hardly spent any time at the campsite. But it has everything needed for an enjoyable stay. It has a dump and water fill station at the front of the campground. The sites aren’t very private but it didn’t matter to us here. The bathrooms only have toilets and sinks. I’m not sure if the campground has showers but there is a pay-per-shower business near the campground that seemed decent from the road. We showered in the van and utilized the availability of the dump and fill station. This campground doesn’t allow the dumping of dish water at your campsite. They have a station where you dump the water. It has a screen that catches particles. You clean the screen and throw what it caught in the garbage.

This campground is great for doing stuff early and late at the park. Since it’s May and daylight very early, after sunrise we went through the park again and practically no one was at all major points.

If you collect Passport Stamps for your National Park Passport Book, don’t forget to get your stamp at the check-in station! You have to ask for it but they totally have a stamp. All the Acadia park campgrounds do actually.

I have been going to Blackwoods yearly for nearly 20 years. Acadia is a special place but in recent years has just gotten a little too overrun for us. Despite the huge visitor increase, the campground has done a decent job of maintaining the sites. The bathrooms are tired and there is no dishwashing station. But it's the location that brings us back. You can bring your thermos down to the cliffs along the road and watch the sky brighten. It's really amazing. We even had an eagle do a fly-by while enjoying our coffee. The shuttle provides a great way to get to town to dinner or even a hiking trail.

...but if you are a person like me who prefers quiet camping, this campground may not be for you, at least during the busy summer months. When I stayed at the campground one summer, children were everywhere. It did finally get quiet near quiet hours tho. Sites and facilities were nice. GREAT location and close proximity to Acadia attractions. Nearby coin showers outside of the campground as well.

We spent a night here while visiting Acadia National Park, got in late and left before sunrise to make it to the top of Cadillac Mountain. The campground was packed, but due to all of the trees our campsite felt private. Great location inside the park, and close to Bar Harbor.

We had the best spot with easy access to the trail head. Great weekend of hiking Cadillac mountain and the beehive. Would totally book again.

The campground was clean and beautiful. We were able to walk to the shuttle pickup and ride it to all stops in the park, and to Bar Harbor. It was so convenient! We had to drive offsite to showers, though. The campground felt safe with Park Rangers walking around.

Ten minute drive to downtown bar harbor, close to the park entrance. No showers in the campground, or I’d say five stars. There is a backwoods style shower house just out side the can ground. Place has fire wood and ice based on the honor system, but the showers are coin operated.

Review for Blackwoods campground.

We trekked up from Rhode Island to Acadia and had every intent on staying at seawall. However, once we made the 7 hour drive, we decided to stay somewhere a little closer to where we intended on hiking. Blackwoods campground is a wonderful option for those of you interested in hanging around bar harbor or hiking the Beehive trail. The campground itself is wonderfully cared for and we were very pleased to be able to come right in without a reservation. It gets super busy on weekends and in season so a reservation is suggested. Bathrooms are clean, there is a dish water dump station, potable water sources throughout and dumpsters to keep trash out of your site. You also cant beat that public transportation (thanks LL Bean!) It allows you to keep the car at the site if you want and pick up a bus at pretty much all trailheads. The rangers at Blackwoods were very knowledgable and friendly. Thanks for a perfect couple of days, Acadia!

Gear Review of Morsel at Blackwoods Campground

If you guys have read my other reviews, generally i get gear that i never really would have gotten otherwise. Dont get me wrong, its always amazing stuff, but this was the first practical review i have conducted where i have truly felt like “where the heck has this been my whole life??”

These hyper-utensils are not just a spork. They are a fork, spoon, knife and serving spoon, or chili stirrer, or package opener. This was truly the only thing we needed as far as utensils went, and all four of us were very happy. My husband is a chef and makes some pretty elaborate camping meals. These morsels held up and threw down. And (perhaps most importantly) they were a breeze to clean!! I will be getting more in the future, i am five star pleased with this wonderful product. Get your own here- available in two sizes! https://morselspork.com

Fairly typical national park campground. Two huge loops; sites varied in size; some were clearly for tents only as they had huge boulders that separated the driveway area from the rest of the campsite. Ours was site A46 and was a large pull-through. Easy access to the bathroom which was clean. I thought there were enough trees to separate the sites and provide privacy. Generators are annoying but their allowable hours are limited. Unusual that there were windows in the bathroom, and you could see into the handicapped stall from the windows! No showers, no hookups, no hot water. I did like the“drain” for dishwater– I’ve never seen one like this before. It was located just outside of the bathrooms in the A Loop. The biggest plus to this campground is access to the Cadillac Mountain trail, a challenging but rewarding hike! Also, as a senior, can't beat the price of $15 per night!