Renting E-bikes at Acadia National Park: Tips for Riding and Navigating the Trails

Acadia National Park is meant for bike riding. It may have been set aside with the intent of preservation and allowing the public to enjoy this beautiful nature in DownEast Maine, but renting e-bikes and riding the many Carriage Roads and trails of Acadia National Park is a really fun and special activity. We’ve got the scoop on where you can rent e-bikes in Bar Harbor and the surrounding DownEast towns that grant you access to the loop and Carriage Roads of Acadia National Park.

If this seems like something you wouldn’t normally do, don’t worry, it’s actually way easier than you might expect and it’s great for nearly any age with enough stamina to gently pedal. Below you will find route recommendations and some different options for planning your e-bike rentals. If you have any questions about visiting Acadia NP or biking around the National Park, please leave a comment or send us a note. We are always happy to share more and help you plan a wonderful time exploring Maine.

Highlights of Renting E-bikes at Acadia National Park

I love riding bikes but OMG, I really love riding e-bikes and biking in Acadia National Park is an exceptional experience. There are lots of options when you’re choosing where to rent e-bikes at Acadia NP from Bar Harbor to Southwest Harbor. Open later in the year than most rentals, Acadia Outdoor Center is a great option if you’re coming to Mount Desert Island for fall colors and you want to go biking through all the falling leaves.

So what’s so great about biking in Acadia National Park? When you visit with your car, you’ll be able to drive the Park Loop Road and it’s beautiful, but it’s crowded, especially during peak summer months. When you’re biking, you can start at different points throughout the park and use either the paved roads or the Carriage Roads. I LOVE the Carriage Roads, and while Acadia NP may be famous for Cadillac Mountain and the Bass Harbor Lighthouse, the network of Carriage Roads really is the gem of the National Park. Accessible only by foot or bike (and some of the roads are accessible for horseback riding), you get a much more quiet, pristine experience exploring the many area and peaks of the park on the 45 miles of Carriage Roads.

The ability to ride up the many mountains of Mount Desert Island with ease really is something. Hiking in Acadia is beautiful and fun, but riding e-bikes and getting to scope our some of the most epic views in the park without climbing the rocky stone-stepped trails is wonderful. Something unique about choosing to ride e-bikes in Acadia National Park instead of manual bicycles is the amount of ground you can cover. Yes, you still have to pedal and work hard, but your effort seems to go twice as far. Starting just above sea level, you can climb to around 1300 with ease riding an e-bike on the Carriage Trails. It’s a treat and for me, it’s kind of the only way I want to enjoy biking in Acadia National Park going forward.

Tips for E-Bikes at Acadia NP

When you’re making your plan to go e-biking in Acadia National Park, take some time to really familiarize yourself with a map. And then download an offline map of the park. The Carriage Trails wind through so much of the area and you’ll be able to access some gorgeous places, but until you start biking they aren’t really intuitive to follow. When you first drive into the park you’ll see the Carriage Trails go under or over the main roads, but then it’s unclear how to get onto them. Watch for signs and pay careful attention as you ride. The different trails sometimes intersect or cross roadways, to being alert is key.

For a great e-bike route in Acadia National Park we recommend the following if you’re starting in Bar Harbor: Bar Harbor -> Hull’s Cove Visitor Center -> Eagle Lake WEST -> Mountain Loop -> Jordan Pond Loop EAST -> Eagle Lake EAST -> Hull’s Cove -> Bar Harbor.

If you’re starting in Seal Harbor, it’s a little different but still is a wonderful e-bike route through Acadia National Park: Seal Harbor on Park Loop Road -> Day Mountain Loop WEST -> Wildwood Stables -> Jordan Pond Loop EAST -> Eagle Lake Loop -> Mountain Loop -> Park Loop Road to Seal Harbor.

You can easily stray from these routes, but they are really good options that give you many of the highlights of e-bikes in Acadia National Park. You’ll get great views, the lakes and ponds, and wildlife. While you could do just a short day on e-bikes in Acadia, I think it’s worthwhile to rent your gear for at least a half day. There’s a lot to see, and then if you plan things properly you can time your e-bike to get to Jordan Pond and eat lunch at the cafe midway through your day. You could also plot out your ride so that you could have a picnic up on the mountain with a great view. Renting e-bikes at Acadia National Park really is a fun, unique way to explore and it’s a great way to be active on vacation.

Being Prepared for E-Biking in Acadia NP

When you arrange your e-bike rentals at Acadia National Park, they’ll outfit you with a helmet and usually a bike lock as well. If you know you’re going to be biking and want to bring your own helmet and lock you can, but it’s not needed. What is needed through is the appropriate clothing for biking through coastal mountains. Since e-bike rental season is May through September typically, with a few starting earlier or going a bit later, you’ll want to be warm for your ride. Especially when you’re coasting down the hills or when you’ve made it to the top on a windy day, it can be cold. Dress in layers that are easy to adjust.

When you start out it’s chilly but once you’ve been riding for a while the temperature really can pick up. E-bikes in Acadia National Park help you get all over the place, and sometimes that means you’re riding in the shade of the tree tunnels and sometime you’re exposed on the mountainside with the sun beating down. The Carriage Roads really do go all over the place and in some places are quite wide and sun-soaked. These wide open spaces can also draw in the wind and DUST. Sunglasses are very helpful for myriad reasons. AND GLOVES! You don’t need hardcore gloves, but just gloves of some sort to break the wind on your hands.

There are lots of reasons to bring a camera for your e-bike adventure in Acadia National Park. If you want to set up a GoPro or 360 to capture the riding experience go for it! I find that putting my phone in a waterproof case with a wrist strap is a great way to be able to take photos while riding and to keep it readily available in case there’s a sudden photo opportunity. I also like to have my big camera with me because the quality of photo is so different. Also, there is some great birdwatching as you’re riding e-bikes in Acadian National Park. And if you’re lucky, you might even get to see a porcupine along the way!

E-Bike Rentals at Acadia in Bar Harbor and Seal Harbor

Depending on where you rent e-bikes for Acadia National Park, you’ll have different parking situations. Acadia Outdoor Center in Seal Harbor (see below) has parking directly in front of its building and has a system for returning bikes after hours. For the other e-bike rentals at Acadia, they’re located more directly in Bar Harbor and while some do have their own parking, some will require you to take advantage of street parking. Here are the other options for renting e-bikes at Acadia NP:

• Acadia Royal E-Bike delivery – book your rental here
• Acadia E-Bike Adventure
• Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop
• Maine State Kayak & e-Bike — book a tour here
• Acadia SUP & E-Bike
• Pedego E-Bikes
• Island Time E-bikes — book a tour here // book your rental here