Harbor Ridge (Southwest Harbor, ME) exchange

[cory30]

We just received a match to an ongoing search into Harbor Ridge for the week of May 29 - June 5, 2027. We have visited Maine once previously (stayed at Samoset in late June 2016) and are looking forward to returning in a couple of years.

For those with experience with this area of Maine and time of year, can you share to what level business/activities will be operating, general weather expectations, etc.?

Much of our visit would likely be spent exploring the area, finding good places to eat (doesn’t have to be fancy), some mild to medium hiking, etc.

Also any feedback on Harbor Ridge itself is appreciated. I understand air conditioning is only available in the living room area but that would likely not be an issue in early June? I also understand check out is early (9:00 am) but that is not an issue for us.

Thanks for any advice you can share.

 

[Glynda]

Our experience staying the last week of May and first week of June on Cape Cod is that most places have reopened by Mother's Day. We have not stayed at Harbor Ridge but we have rented a cottage a couple of times on down the road at Bernard on Bass Harbor. We love that side of Mt Desert Island. South West Harbor is a sweet little town with several good restaurants and just a short drive to Bernard is our favorite lobster pound anywhere! Thurston's Lobster Pound.

 

[Glynda]

Thurston's Lobster Pound

 

[Dollie]

In the 2000’s we made several trips to Maine, including one in the fall of 2009 where we stayed at Harbor Ridge. I wrote a review of this resort for TUG. In 2013 we left the mountains of Vermont for the coast of Maine. We live on the Blue Hill peninsula which is just west of MDI (Mount Desert Island). We still make the drive to MDI to explore favorite sites.

Arcadia NP – the park has many pieces, some right there on MDI, some in other areas of coastal Maine; you will need reservations to drive to the top of Cadilac mountain at that time of the year; Coastal trails

Gardens:
Asticou Terraces/ Thuya Garden
Asticou Azalea Garden
Turret Seaside Garden – at College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden – Seal Harbor; very nice gardens; free but need reservation way in advance

Bar Harbor:
Abbe Museum

Southwest Harbor Area:
Ship Harbor Trail & Wonderland Trails (dogs allowed) – part of Acadia NP; nice trails including ocean views
Bass Harbor & Lighthouse:
Bass Harbor Head Light – part of Arcadia NP; at the end of the parking lot is the trail to the cliffs and the iconic view of the lighthouse
Seawall

In June businesses and activities are starting to open. It’s a good idea to check before you go. This is true of restaurants, too. I agree about Thurston’s lobster pound, although it’s been years since we’ve been there. We have many lobster places nearby. The weather is a toss up in June (actually most of the year). I doubt you will need air conditioning. I would be sure to bring warm clothes especially if you are going out on a boat. The ocean is still cold at this time of the year.

 

[klpca]

We just stayed at Harbor Ridge this year, same week, in unit 58 (no view of the water from this unit). Our weather was nice - hardly any rain, not cold, not hot. Most things were open, but some on a limited basis.

Harbor Ridge is great. We didn't need AC because it cooled off nicely in the evening. The upstairs bedroom was a loft and the downstairs bedroom was the more private of the two. It has two beds (I think 2 queens) and our friends had no complaints. I think that we may have had a split unit upstairs but I can't quite remember. We didn't need any AC while we were there so I didn't have to turn anything on. You will have everything that you need - the units was well equipped.

The only thing that wasn't running was the shuttle bus in Bar Harbor, but we didn't have any parking issues in Bar Harbor or in Acadia NP so it shouldn't matter. It was busy everywhere we went but didn't feel crowded. We are the folks who never make dinner reservations (we are not foodies ) and we were able to walk in to most restaurants. I feel like there may have been one place that couldn't accommodate us but otherwise it was fine. There were a couple of restaurants in Southwest Harbor that weren't open when we decided to go but a waiter at Cafe Drydock where we ate, as it was nearby *and* open, explained that it was staffing issues that was leading to issues with opening.

In addition to Cafe Drydock, we enjoyed Jordan Pond House, Blaze in BH (we only did lunch here but it was located across the street from a place that had live music so it was great if you ate outside), Atlantic Brewing (Town Hill location), the Sidestreet Cafe (BH), McKays Public House (BH). We also went to Beals and the Upper Deck Cafe, Both were ok. The rest of our meals were made at home and the grocery store in BH was a big store, with everything that you need.

We hiked a lot - I would just check trails on AllTrails for ones that suit you. The carriage roads are just long walks, nothing strenuous, and we found the other trails to be rocky with a lot of roots no matter how easy the trails were. IMO hiking shoes/trail runners are a must have. We drove up to Cadillac Mountain because the trails up looked longer that we thought that we wanted to do, but next time we would hike up instead. If you are driving up to Cadillac Mt, you need parking reservations from recreation.gov. Our favorite hike was probably the loop around Jordan Pond. We went counter clockwise and it was a really pretty hike. Even though it is an easy, flat trail, there are some rocky parts around the back side of the pond that are a bit tricky. After our hike, while waiting in line for our lunch at Jordan Pond House, we saw two SAR responses and heard them discussing the incidents. Two different women had fallen near the rocky parts and had broken their ankles. These incidents happened about 15 min apart. Crazy. But what was crazy were the number of people I saw hiking in flip flops or street shoes/sandals. We also saw a woman fall and break her wrist near the Beehive trail. So go slow, wear the right shoes, and watch where your feet are going.

We took a ferry over to Great Cranberry Island to hike. It was a fun diversion but surprisingly we had *a lot* more bugs on that trail, and the trail was kind of wet, with narrow boards to get through the worst of the marshy parts. The boards were wide enough to walk single file comfortably. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't great either. I felt like other reviewers had more fun than we did. I do think that the amount of time that we spent battling the bugs may have clouded my perception. There was a single sandwich shop over there for food. Kind of a "you get what you get" place. My favorite part of the visit was their little museum.

It was a great week, and Harbor Ridge is in a fantastic location.

 

[klpca]

Gardens:
Asticou Azalea Garden

The Azalea Garden was stunning! That was one of our favorite places on MDI. We also made a quick stop at the Charlotte Rhoades Garden and thought it would be a great place for a picnic.

We played mini golf at Pirates Cove one day (our feet needed a rest) and it was a fun golf course with a very local feel.

 

[tonyg]

Haven't been to Harbor Ridge in over 20 years, but did stay there about 12 weeks when we did go. Never needed AC anytime we stayed there even in summer. We had relatives on the Island (MDI) until about 5 years ago, but they now have all left or passed away. Your June week should be OK weather wise as we generally spent the following week in the area for the past 10 or more years. Harbor Ridge has always been a quality place to stay. The only negative about the area is that there is not much in the way of stores, so it might be a good idea to stock up in Ellsworth on the way there or on a shopping trip.