Cadillac Mountain and Sand Beach — coastal Bortle 4 sky, dark for the east.
Updated:
· Tonight: Friday, August 14, 2026
📍 Coastal ME🌑 Bortle 4🚗 Via ME-3 onto Mount Desert Island, near Bar Harbor, ME.
About Acadia
Acadia National Park runs an annual multi-day Night Sky Festival, with a signature star party on Cadillac Mountain — one of the first places to see sunrise in the US, and, on the right nights, a genuinely dark spot on the Maine coast.
What you can see in the sky
Milky Way over the Atlantic and Maine coastline, plus ranger-led constellation tours during the festival.
Best time of year
The Acadia Night Sky Festival runs each fall (typically September); outside the festival, check current Park Loop Road access hours before planning a summit visit.
Why this site is worth the drive
Annual Acadia Night Sky Festival with a dedicated Cadillac Mountain Star Party
Coastal Bortle 4 sky — notably dark for the northeastern US
Multiple accessible overlooks along Park Loop Road for casual viewing
Practical tips for Acadia
Cadillac Mountain summit road access at night is limited to specific festival dates — check current NPS vehicle reservation rules
Park Loop Road closes nightly (typically around 9 PM) outside of festival programming
The festival draws large crowds — arrive early for shuttle or parking
Live 48-hour forecast
Tonight's verdict above is a build-time snapshot. For the full
hourly view — cloud cover, transparency, seeing, smoke, humidity,
moon altitude and a Bortle-aware tonight score by observing mode
(visual, deep-sky, planetary, astrophoto) — open the live forecast:
The live page combines Open-Meteo weather, US-AQI wildfire smoke,
moon math and Bortle-scale darkness into a single tonight score
(0–100), updated continuously.
Frequently asked questions
Is Acadia good for stargazing tonight?
Tonight's verdict is Excellent (High confidence). 10h of clear sky (≤30% cloud) during tonight's astronomical night, mean cloud 0%.
When is the best time of year to stargaze at Acadia?
The Acadia Night Sky Festival runs each fall (typically September); outside the festival, check current Park Loop Road access hours before planning a summit visit.
How long is the drive from Toronto?
Via ME-3 onto Mount Desert Island, near Bar Harbor, ME.
What can I see in the sky here?
Milky Way over the Atlantic and Maine coastline, plus ranger-led constellation tours during the festival.
How dark is the sky? (Bortle scale)
Acadia sits at Bortle class 4 on the 1–9 dark-sky scale, where 1 is a pristine wilderness sky and 9 is an inner-city sky.