Hulls Cove Visitor Center — Attraction in Bar Harbor

We visited on a Monday afternoon in late June 2025.

There were parking spots when we arrived. I don't think it's super crowded here because there really isn't much of a visitor center. You could go inside and they had a tiny exhibit area with mostly large maps of the park. They have 2 lines, one for park passes and one for information. The information line was always long and this is where we had to go for our junior ranger booklets.

There are also the National Park Service Passport Cancellation Stamp here. Don't forget all the other ones in Acadia NP like at the Sieur de Monts Nature Center, Cadillac Mountain Retail Store, Thunder Hole Retail Store, Jordan Pond Retail Store, Little Cranberry Island. They were all different stamps.

There was a small merch store here as well which took up about 1/3 of the visitor center. Also there are bathrooms here.

Other than these things there is no real other reason to be in this visitor center. It's more of a way station. However I know the brand new Visitor Center just opened up on the road just outside the park with a huge exhibit space and 300 parking spots.

The only other thing about this visitor center is that at the entrance there is the typical National Park sign "Acadia National Park". If you wanted to walk over and take a official photo with it. Unfortunately it's not a very pretty background. It's just trees and...

We visited Acadia national park in Maine USA to see sunrise on Cadillac Mountain at 4.52am it was really beautiful. It's the first place where sunrise rise is seen in USA. We went by car from jersey city. We then drove to Hulls Cove Visitor Center and parked our car. We then visited the centre to be guided regarding hikes in Acadia national park. We collected maps. They gave us bus route timings to different treks. We then caught bus number 5 to go to Jordan Pond. We reached in 20 minutes. We then went first for a small trek to a nearby trail called Carriage Road and finished it. So beautiful with a small stream flowing, lovely bridges and awesome trees. Then went as walk-in to the Jordan Pond Restaurant and booked a table for the 4 of us, we got it in 25 minutes. Then had an amazing yummy lunch and went for a lovely walk around the most beautiful and big lake though they call it a Pond. Then we returned in the evening to catch bus number 5 back to the visitor center. Please do visit when in Acadia national park. Memorable. Dr. Narayan...

Nice area, but way overcrowded from May-August. Buses are included in cost of park pass. So they are free. The park pass basically allows you to park anywhere in the park. It is left in your car and does not need to be shown to anyone. It just prevents your car from being towed away. This entrance is closest to downtown Bar Harbor. The wait for buses is very long and there is absolutely not enough parking. The buses have bike carriers, but when asked, a host promptly stated that no bikes are allowed to be taken to the trails by bus. Then why have bike carriers and advertise? Very disappointing. However, the volunteers who oversee the bus loading and unloading are very efficient and informative. When there is a hold up at a site, they will send buses more frequently than every 30 minutes. Therefore, my advice is to ride a bus from a stop outside of the park so that you will not have to park anywhere near the park entrances. Then bring a bag for the day and ride to your...