The 5 Closest Airports to Acadia National Park

The closest airport to Acadia National Park is Hancock County Airport which is literally right outside the area, but unfortunately there’s a lot of limitations in getting there, as are the other dozen options nearby.

Since most people who want to visit this place are likely looking for a major airport to do it, what I’ve done is compiled the closest local options first, followed by the major options last (which are honestly going to be the best choice for most people).

1. Local airports close to Acadia National Park usually require you to pay more to get there, and often have at least 1 layover involved.
2. Major airports close to Acadia National Park are a few hours away from it, but there are much more cheaper, none stop flights you can find to get there. You will have to rent a car to get to the park from there though.

I personally recommend you try to find flights to the major airports if you can. It’s worth renting a car and driving a few hours to the park from there, because there is a lot to see on the way.

Here are the 5 closest airports to Acadia National Park:

1. Hancock County Bar Harbor Airport, Maine (local option, 15 minute drive from Acadia NP).
2. Bangor International Airport Maine (local option, 1 hour drive from Acadia NP).
3. Augusta State Airport, Maine (local option, 2 hour drive from Acadia NP).
4. Portland International Jetport, Maine (major option, 3 hour drive from Acadia NP).
5. Boston Logan International Airport, Massachusetts (best major option, 5 hour drive from Acadia NP).

As I said earlier there are numerous other options close to the park too, but most of them are private or small airstrips and/or military airports where you just can’t get flights to, so these 5 options are really the only ones you have, but the best options are the last 2 (Portland Maine, and then Boston airport).

Let’s get into the details of how to get to Acadia National Park from each of these airports:

1) Hancock County Bar Harbor airport to Acadia NP (details):

Here are the pros and cons to flying into Hancock County Bar Harbor airport:

Pros:

• It’s the closest airport to Acadia National Park (15 minute drive, see a map here).
• Many hotel options nearby (in Bar Harbor).
• There are flights from major airports that go here too.

Cons:

• You’ll probably have 1 stop or layover if you want to get here.
• Only 1 major rental car company nearby (Enterprise Rent a car, 10 minutes north of the airport).

2) Bangor International Airport to Acadia NP (details):

This is the second airport to consider, and I would say it’s a better choice than Hancock Airport in many respects, and here’s why:

Pros:

• Second closest option to Acadia National Park on this list (see a Bangor Airport to Acadia map).
• Bigger city nearby, meaning more flight options, more car rental options, more hotels and more flexibility.
• Only a 1 hour drive to the park.

Cons:

• Not many things to see along the way to Acadia NP.

Augusta State Airport (details):

While it’s the third closest airport to Acadia National Park, there are a few more pros than cons to this one:

Pros:

1. It has more flight options in general.
2. It’s closer to a city/town (Augusta).
3. More options for car rentals.
4. There’s many hotel options too if you’re planning to stay there.

Cons:

1. It’s still a local airport, so your options getting here are limited.
2. Not easy to find flights from major airports to this one.
3. The drive to Acadia is very long (at least 2 hours) and there’s not much to see on the way, unless you are OK with driving to Baxter State Park which is an awesome area that has a lot to see (Gulf Hagas for example).

Portland Maine Jetport (details):

This is the second best option if you’re looking for major airport options and here are the pros and cons to using it:

Pros:

• Many major airlines fly here.
• There is a possibility to get flights from Portland Maine to the Hancock County Airport (1 hour flight).
• Many hotel and rental car options available.
• You are flying into one of the most popular cities in Maine (more to see).

Cons:

• 4 hour drive to Acadia National Park.
• Not much to see on that 4 hour drive in my opinion.

Boston Logan International Airport to Acadia NP (details):

In my opinion this last airport is your best option because of all the flexibility it offers, among other benefits and here they are (the pros and cons):

Pros:

• Most major/local flight options.
• There are flights from Boston Airport to Hancock Airport (1 hour and 20 minute flight time). The Acadia NPS page also recommends this.
• A lot of hotel options.
• A lot of rental car options (cheaper prices too most likely).
• You can see a lot of things along the way before you reach Acadia National Park (the White Mountains in NH are the best option).
• Pretty simple drive overall (just take I95 for the most part, unless you want to stop and see the White Mountains).

Cons:

• You’re looking at a 5+ hour drive at least (even if you don’t stop anywhere, see a map here).
• You have to drive through 3 states to get to Acadia (Massachusetts, New Hampshire and then Maine), but there is more to see on the flip side.

Other questions about which airports are closest to Acadia National Park:

What is the closest southwest airport to Acadia National Park?

Portland Jetport is the closest southwest airport to Acadia National Park, although it takes about 3 hours to drive to after.

What is the best airport to visit Bar Harbor Maine?

Technically Hancock Airport is the closest, but the best would be Bangor International Airport or Boston Airport because of how many more options they offer.

My advice on which airport is best to fly into to get to Acadia National Park:

All the airports above have merit to fly into to get to Acadia National Park (because it’s one of the top national parks in the east coast), but in my opinion (once again) the top choice should be Boston Logan Airport because of all the options above, cheaper prices, ability to fly into the local airport closest to Acadia National Park and all the things to see on the way to Acadia, specifically stuff in the White Mountains area which far several times taller than anything you’ll see in Maine!

There are good attractions there including:

• Cannon Mountain (which you can take a gondola to).
• Flume Gorge (great family attraction and hike).
• Mount Washington (tallest mountain there is there).
• Lost River Gorge (a pretty good family attraction too).
• Portland Maine (great stop on the way too).
• Coastal Maine overall.

You can see all of these places while driving from Boston to Acadia and that could be an extra day or two that you can devote to those activities before you even get to the national park.

If you are only looking to see Acadia and price/time doesn’t matter, then still fly into Boston Airport, then take a flight to Hancock Airport, rent a car nearby and explore the park that way.

If you’re also looking to explore other national parks in the US, then usually you’ll find the same type of airport “limitations” where you will first need to go to a major one before flying to into the local one closest to the park, or driving to it (for example, airports closest to Zion National Park as well as airports closest to the Grand Canyon and the closest airports to Yosemite National Park all have the same situations).

In any case, I hope this post helps you find the best flights/drives to Acadia and since this is a park I’ve been to twice, I’ll soon be posting a list of things to do there.