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The Ultimate New England Fall Road Trip: A Six-State Foliage Loop (2026)

September 15, 2026

The Ultimate New England Fall Road Trip: A Six-State Foliage Loop (2026)

white church in autumn woodstock vermont
The Girls Trip Guide to Bar Harbor & Acadia National Park

September 4, 2026

The Girls Trip Guide to Bar Harbor & Acadia National Park

Girls trip to Acadia National Park: four friends posing on Ocean Path near Otter Cliff with pink granite rocks, Frenchman Bay, and fall foliage on the Bar Harbor, Maine coastline, cover photo for The Well Worn Shoes girls trip guide to Acadia and Bar Harbor.
Acadia National Park October Guide: Fall Colors, Weather & What to Pack

August 18, 2026

Acadia National Park October Guide: Fall Colors, Weather & What to Pack

Bright red maple leaf featured over autumn Maine waterway
The Bar Harbor Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need To Know Before You Visit

July 22, 2026

The Bar Harbor Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need To Know Before You Visit

Downtown Bar Harbor's walkable shopping streets in Maine — featured image for a complete Bar Harbor and Acadia travel guide, capturing the village's shops, benches, and small-town charm.
The Complete Guide to the Best Bars in Bar Harbor, Maine

June 18, 2026

The Complete Guide to the Best Bars in Bar Harbor, Maine

A craft cocktail at a Bar Harbor brewery bar in Maine — featured image for a guide to the best bars in Bar Harbor, designed to work as a Pinterest preview.
The Complete Guide To Getting Out On Frenchmans Bay

June 9, 2026

The Complete Guide To Getting Out On Frenchmans Bay

Complete guide to Frenchman Bay near Bar Harbor, Maine - featured image of the working harbor with moored sailboats, a classic Maine tugboat, and pine-covered Bar Island under dramatic clouds, the iconic view anchoring a complete guide to boat tours, whale watching, kayaking, sailing, and fishing charters near Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island
The Best Sunset Spots in Acadia National Park

May 26, 2026

The Best Sunset Spots in Acadia National Park

Best sunset spots in Acadia National Park - featured image of a pastel pink and purple sunset over Seal Cove with a lobster boat and seaweed-covered low-tide ledges, a guide to the most peaceful, crowd-free sunset viewing spots on the quiet side of Mount Desert Island, Maine
One Day In Acadia With Dogs: A Local’s Itinerary

May 12, 2026

One Day In Acadia With Dogs: A Local’s Itinerary

Where To Get The Best Lobster On Mount Desert Island

May 7, 2026

Where To Get The Best Lobster On Mount Desert Island

Bar Harbor Lobster Pound lobster roll in Bar Harbor Maine — close-up of a golden toasted split-top bun overflowing with fresh Maine lobster claw and knuckle meat in branded lobster pound paper with French fries, the star of the best lobster rolls on Mount Desert Island guide and a must-order at one of the most iconic seafood restaurants in Bar Harbor Maine near Acadia National Park
Dog Friendly Acadia National Park: The Ultimate 2026 Guide

May 7, 2026

Dog Friendly Acadia National Park: The Ultimate 2026 Guide

The Ultimate Coastal Maine Packing List

May 5, 2026

The Ultimate Coastal Maine Packing List

Seal Harbor sunset on Mount Desert Island Maine - panoramic golden and pink sunset over a sheltered lobster boat harbor at low tide, with exposed pink granite ledges, seaweed-covered rocks, and a spruce forest shoreline, capturing one of the most peaceful and picturesque hidden sunset spots on Mount Desert Island near Acadia National Park
The Best Coastal Maine Road Trip

April 29, 2026

The Best Coastal Maine Road Trip

The Best Coastal Maine Road Trip
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There’s a national park where wild horses wander d There’s a national park where wild horses wander down the middle of the road at sunset, and somehow, most people still don’t know where it is.

📍 🦬 Theodore Roosevelt National Park, western North Dakota.

Wild horses. Bison standing in the road at dusk. A herd disappearing into the river fog at sunset. The moon coming up over the badlands.

And you can see a ridiculous amount of it in 48 hours.

No reservations. No lines. Just the Loop Road, a whole lot of badlands, and bison who absolutely do not care that you’re in a hurry.

✨ Save this for the I-94 drive you were about to do in one shot ✨
4 million people visit Acadia every year, and the 4 million people visit Acadia every year, and the vast majority never leave Mount Desert Island. The part they all skip is the part I’d send you to if you’re looking for tranquility over crowds. 

Schoodic is the only piece of the park on the mainland, about an hour from Bar Harbor around the top of Frenchman Bay. 

Six-mile one-way loop road, no reservation, no Island Explorer crowds, no timed anything. Schoodic Point is the payoff: pink granite and black basalt dikes taking the full Atlantic, and on a big-swell day it’s the best show in the park. Dogs on leash are fine on the rocks and the trails.

Look back across the bay from the point and you can see Cadillac. That’s where everyone else is. But this spot is fantastic for sunset! 

🌅 Save this. Then don’t tell anyone 😉 

⚠️‼️ Before people come for me in the comments because they inevitably will - The Schoodic Peninsula is a PART of Acadia National Park and the National Park System (not a secret), and therefore it has the resources to sustain visitors. Most people don’t visit this part of the park because they don’t want to drive an hour, while I understand, respectfully you’re missing out! ⚠️‼️

🌲🌱 Remember to leave no trace 💚
🏔️🍁 If you asked me for my favorite fall hike in t 🏔️🍁 If you asked me for my favorite fall hike in the White Mountains, it’s not one of the 48 (4,000 footers) for the peak baggers! 🍁🏔️

Welch-Dickey Loop, Waterville Valley. 4.4 miles, two summits, about 1,750 feet of climbing, and more open granite ledge than most of the peaks twice its height. In October the whole Mad River valley is on fire below you and you’re standing on bare rock looking at it for the last mile. I’ve rated it 10 out of 5 on the blog for years and I’m not revising.

Two things nobody tells you: go counterclockwise. Clockwise puts the steep slabs on the descent and you’ll come down some of them on your backside. And bring more water for the dogs than you think, this is the only trail where I’ve ever run out. My Bama (was 11 at the time and has been gone since 2020) finished it, tired and happy. Skip it with a puppy under a year.

Coffee at Mad River Coffee House in Campton before, pizza and a beer on the dog-friendly patio at The Last Chair in Plymouth after. That’s 

🍁🏔️🍁Save this for your fall trip to New Hampshire 🍁🏔️🍁
Updated blog post coming next week 😁
October in Acadia is Disney World busy. Most peopl October in Acadia is Disney World busy. Most people lose the day to it because they do things in the order the map suggests, not the order the crowds do.

So steal my one fall day in Acadia. This is the one fall day I’d plan for a friend: sunrise from the cliffs instead of the summit, one real hike before 9, east side or quiet side, your pick, out of the park when it peaks, tide pools in the afternoon, and a sunset nobody else is at.

Every date, reservation window, and closing is in the Acadia & Bar Harbor In Fall guide in 16 pages, $27, written after six months on the island.

Comment 🍁 FALL 🍁 and I’ll send you the link! 

Happy Adventuring! 😁
Everyone books Cadillac for sunrise. While I under Everyone books Cadillac for sunrise. While I understand why, if you don’t get that reservation, I promise there are other amazing spots to see sunrise at Acadia! 

My personal favorite: Otter Cliffs. Park at Otter Point, walk two minutes on Ocean Path, and you’re standing on 110 feet of pink granite with the Atlantic doing the whole show below you. 

No $6 reservation, no 10 am refresh two days out, no line of headlights up the summit road at 5:30. Just you, the rocks, and whoever else figured this out, which in October is almost nobody.

The light hits the cliffs from the side instead of coming up over a parking lot. Dogs on leash are fine on Ocean Path. Bring the headlamp and a real jacket; the wind off the water in the dark is a different temperature than the forecast said.

Sunrise is around 6:30 right now and slides toward 7 by late October. Be there at least 20 minutes early, and take it from someone who is always racing the sun, 30 mins early is even better. The 10 minutes before the sun clears the horizon are the ones you’ll remember the most, I promise 🌅☀️

☀️ Save this for your Acadia trip ☀️
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