Nature at West Bay Acadia & Surrounding Area

The Secret World of West Bay Acadia

Our thirty-three acres are inhabited by all sorts of critters.  When we come back in the spring, we are the trespassers.  Fortunately, we are welcomed each year like old friends.  The first to welcome us in the spring are the deer enjoying the tender leaves of the wild apple trees, the red fox families down on Seaside, and the coyotes walking along the bay at night.  Spring garden time is also turtle nesting season.  Turtles are determined to nest exactly where you don’t want them to and they do get their way!  Spring is also when we were first greeted by our moose on opening day.  It’s an exciting time of year.

The spring woods are quite vocal at night.  The spring peepers start to sing in early May and we hear the owls calling in the early morning hours.  Keep your windows open at night and hear the woods come alive!  You might hear whining, sqeeking, moaning, hooting, barking, whew! or snuffling and grunting noises.  All these sounds are part of the magic of the woods.

On warm early summer evenings, you will be delighted by our firefly’s celebration of summer.  For the best viewing, look out over the meadow in front of sites 6 and 7.  Harbor seals are pupping in the bay in the spring.  As the season changes, the seals stay in the area and join you playfully as you kayak along.

Spring and fall are great birding times.  Acadia National Park is located on the Atlantic migration flyway.  There is nothing better than going down to Peachie Point in the morning, turning on your Merlin app, and enjoying a hot cup of coffee while sitting on the loveseat swing.  Watch the eagles train their fledglings over the bay.

Besides the great hiking weather and beautiful autumn leaves, fall provides you with an abundance of deer, porcupines, and turkeys!

Whether you are coming to West Bay Acadia to hike Acadia or you are here visiting others in the area, spending a little quiet time at the campground might just give you a glimpse of fox, mink, otters, fishers, marten, porcupines, beavers, bear, raccoons, moose, bats, small rodents, coyotes, snowshoe hare, and one of our recent sightings, bobcat.