Carroll Homestead — Attraction in Southwest Harbor

We visited around noon on a Sunday in late June 2025. There were 2 other cars in the parking lot with us at the time. There were enough spots for maybe a dozen cars. The parking lot is crushed aggregate rock so not the best for wheelchairs or strollers unless you have thicker wheels.

There is a short trail through the woods from the parking lot to get to the homestead.

There are plenty of signs all over the homestead that explain everything. There was no staff or ranger on site. The house was also not open when we visited. We just walked around and look at different exhibits. It looked like there are a lot of fun activities when there is staff here. I think we were too early in the season or maybe with budget cuts they weren't able to hire seasonal staff.

We spent maybe 15-20 mins here total. Without staff and the activities there really isn't much to do here but look around and read the signs. With the activities I think kids would have...

This wasn’t on our itinerary but I’m so very glad we stopped by - the ingenuity of homesteaders in addressing day to day situations (soapwort!) and the story of generations of this family in particular were fascinating as well as playing games and seeing the tools of their times. Ranger Claire P and volunteer ranger Ellen were particularly lovely and gave us lots additional facts (and Ellen swore in my kiddos as junior rangers which saved us a trip to the crowded main visitor center!). It was Wednesday and a 5th generation descent (Joan) was giving a talk at like 11am-ish about her family’s history. It was a short walk through the woods from the parking lot to the homestead on relatively flat but root-ful woods path. Really glad we...

We were the only people in sight when we visited a few weeks ago. The Government shutdown had just started and guess the rangers and volunteers were all off somewhere else. The place looks like a teaching exhibit for school trips. There were signs detailing how things were done and what went where, the barn, the garden, etc. The place was clean and looked like people had just gotten up and left earlier. There was no litter or mess to be seen. Probably would have been a better experience with a ranger or volunteer on hand to discuss things but it was still a nice visit seeing how people survived in Maine in...