Duck Harbor Campground

Acadia National Park, Attn: Duck Harbor Campground, PO Box 177
Bar Harbor, ME 04609

Overview

Duck Harbor campsites are reservable starting on April 1st at 10:00am ET. Duck Harbor Campground is located on Isle au Haut, a rugged island off the coast of Stonington, Maine. Remote and inaccessible to automobiles, Isle au Haut is linked to the mainland by mailboat.

Recreation

Isle au Haut offers excellent hiking. The remoteness of the island provides a quiet experience along primitive trails with many great views of rocky cliffs and coastal scenery. Bicycling is allowed but is very rigorous, on loose rock, and unpaved road. No trail biking. You must bring your own mountain bike. Bicycles can only be unloaded at the Town Dock. No bicycles may be loaded or unloaded at Duck Harbor Landing.

Facilities

This small campground contains five campsites. Each campsite has a fire ring, picnic table, and a lean-to shelter which is three-sided with roof and floor. Dimensions are 8' tall, 8' deep, and 12.5' wide. Use of tents is limited to what can fit inside the shelters. There are three composting toilets at the campground. There is a non-potable water source 0.3 miles from campground, however it may not be available during your stay. Plan ahead to bring enough water for the duration of your stay. There is a ranger station 4 miles from the campground but only 0.3 miles from the Isle au Haut Town Landing. The ranger station is open mid-May to mid-October, when there are rangers on Isle au Haut for the season. While the rangers are typically out in the field and not at the ranger station during most of the day, the lobby remains open, allowing visitors access to maps, reading material, and the only public restroom in town. Boat service to Duck Harbor is limited at the beginning and end of the season. Please review the Need to Know section.

Natural Features

Isle au Haut provides opportunities to explore rocky shorelines, wooded uplands, marshes, bogs, and a mile-long freshwater lake. A section of Acadia National Park covers about half of Isle au Haut. The campground is situated on the western side of Isle au Haut. It is just south of the Duck Harbor Boat Landing. The island is approximately six miles long by two miles wide.

Nearby Attractions

There is a small, traditional village near the Isle au Haut Town Landing where one can find a general store, seasonal gift shop, a seasonal food shack, and post office.

Charges & Cancellations

No Shows

If a camper does not arrive at his/her campsite by 11:00am check-out time the day after the scheduled arrival date, their reservation will be cancelled, the camper will incur a $20.00 service fee, and forfeit the first night's camping fee.

Making Changes to Your Reservation

A $10.00 service fee will apply if you make any changes to your reservation.

Cancelling Your Reservation

If you cancel your reservation the day before or on the day of your scheduled arrival date, you will incur a $10 service fee and forfeit your first night's camping fee. If you cancel your reservation 2 or more days before your scheduled arrival date, you will only incur a $10 service fee.

Please review Rules & Reservation Policies below for more information.

Camp site features

Across 5 camp sites:

Picnic table: all 5 sites
Largest party: 6 people

Directions

From the north, take I-95 to Bangor, then I-395 to Brewer, then take Rte. 15 south to Stonington. From the south, take I-95 or I-295 to Augusta, then Rte. 3 to Belfast, then Rte. 15 to Stonington.

Stay Limit

Check in from 11 AM, check out by 11 AM.

Reviews

66 reviews

5 stars

4 stars

Hillary B

Loop:Duck Harbor Campground

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Reviewed a month ago

Joni T

Loop:Duck Harbor Campground

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Reviewed a month ago

Rangers were so helpful & the site was beautiful!

Tyler K

Loop:Duck Harbor Campground

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Reviewed 2 months ago

Excellent camp sites, very clean bathrooms. Worth the long paddle to stay overnight here!

Nicole T

Loop:Duck Harbor Campground

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Reviewed 2 months ago

Fantastic campground with great access to Isle au Haut. The lean-to site was beautiful, with a wonderful view of the sunset. The compost bathrooms were really cool, too.

Robert A

Loop:Duck Harbor Campground

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Reviewed 2 months ago

Everything was great but the water situation needs to be improved. Is the water drinkable or not from hand pump if filtered. Testing is not that difficult and pump leaks quite a bit . Otherwise trails and hikes were wonderful.

Rachel J

Loop:Duck Harbor Campground

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Reviewed 2 months ago

It took us three years to finally succeed in getting a reservation at competitive Duck Harbor, but it was worth it. Be sure you check the SEASONAL dates of the ferry (we hadn't realized we were a few days past summer hours and missed the last ferry of the day by 20 minutes!), but once you get on that boat, the relaxation begins. Predicting how much potable water we'd need (as the water pump was broken when we were there) was tricky, but we nailed it, and didn't lack for anything. It was nice that the lean-tos had protective boxes to keep the animals away. As the instructions say, this is not car camping, so mostly we packed like it was a backpacking trip. However, we did want a cooler, and overall, had more gear than we could carry on our backs or in our hands in one trip off the ferry. So we brought a rolley cart, which was only good until we reached the island. It was too bumpy to take it on the trails. So just be prepared in that way. We loved our campsite, the fabulous hiking trails, and the quiet and calm nature of the island. It felt like a real privilege to be there.

Availability

See the Camp Sites section below to find detailed booking availability.

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