Smuggler’s Den Campground

Site is set up perfectly! Very clean. They have everything you need available at the site. Can see the stars perfectly & not far from Park

We stayed on a premium tent site, which was very private and clean, with a lovely view. The bathrooms were always spotless and fresh, and the water at the sinks was warm. Which was a huge deal for late October camping! Overall a superb experience.

Yes, this place is close to Acadia (which was great) but a lot of places are… So let me tell you what made this place so great for us! We’ve visited a LOT of campgrounds over the yrs. Usually, the bathrooms… are something you can tolerate. But this one actually smelled FRESH every time I walked in. Well lit, and gleaming porcelain everywhere. In addition just outside the bathroom is a utility sink with lighting, hot water and a clothes line. This was a GOD send when my kid got sick in the middle of the night. There was convenient access to everything– camp store, bathroom and a water pump on each site.
We got the rustic cabin and arrived in probably the worst storm of the season… but the rustic cabin was more than enough and being able to be in a comfy bed (with a heater running) while listening to all the tall trees sway in the breeze was actually rather nice.
Next day, the weather cleared and yes, it was a short drive to the beautiful Acadia National park but also to Bar Harbor which is a great little town with any/​everything you could need! It was so nice to come back in the evening and just sit around the fire pit watching the sunset. The changing leaves above were BEAUTIFUL.
We saw a few other friendly campers/​staff a few times in the distance but for the most part, it was very private and we felt like we had our own little cabin in the forest. Wish we could have stayed longer!

Like camping in a wooded parking lot. The site aren’t that great, especially the motor home sites. The bathhouse was very clean though, and pleasant to use. The campground is also well located, its a quick drive to almost anywhere.

Stellar campsite! Very closely situated to Acadia. Clean and nice showers and facilities. Sprawling cozy campsites. Staff was also very helpful and nice.

Great! Just close enough to the main parts of Acadia via car. Pool and restrooms were super clean! Staff was friendly.
We tent camped in a premium site and it was perfect. Very private.

I went camping here when I was little, and this really is a great camping spot for the whole family. We rented a pop up camper, and I never had so much fun on a camping trip. We hiked through the woods to Echo Lake, where I had the pleasure of seeing a bald eagle flying next to the cliff when I got out of the water! I’ll admit I was a little upset over the whole «no TV» in the beginning, but I was too busy having fun, so I didn’t miss it one bit! From nightly campfires to hiking up to the general store, it’s definitely worth it to go camping here. I also had no idea the campground is pet friendly, too. Now that I have a nephew, I can’t wait to make some more memories at Smuggler’s Den — and relive a few old ones, too. Now who’s got the marshmallows? I heard we’re going to make S’mores after dinner.

Great camping spot, about a 20 min drive from the entrance to loop road and Cadillac mount. Also a mile walk through the woods to the Echo Lake swimming area Definitely a family based campground with a pool, huge field, a playground, and showers/​bathrooms.
I stayed here with a about 15 people (ages 23 – 26) at one of their group sites. We did get a warning for being too loud at night, and I can’t disagree with them… we were being loud but most of us went to bed fairly early. There was another camp making tons of noise too and we all went to bed before them… they showed up at 11pm and started making tons of noise… so I honestly think the complaint was about the other site (but they assumed it was us because we had such a large group of young people).
Either way I give them 4 stars for being clean and having tons of amenities and a great staff. They don’t get 5 stars because the camp sites are very close to each other. Its not a deep woods campground so I wouldn’t expect that… but I do wish the sites were a little farther apart.

I was prepared to not like this place. We made reservations and had made it clear we were a big rig with 4 slides and were assured they could handle it. We arrived 15 mins before check-​in and there was no one at office. A sign in the door said they would return at a time that was already well past. I called the number on the sign and was helped by the very nice, helpful night clerk (this was midday) who came down immediately to check us in. Unfortunately our site was in no way an easy site to back into for something our size and it took a lot of maneuvering. The night clerk came to check on us and asked if we wanted a cement site as «They were much easier to get into»! This was the first we had heard about cement sites and since we were now almost in, we declined. But a hint for all big rigs… get a cement site. After all that the people we dealt with were friendly and very helpful. The campground was clean, bathrooms old and clean, mainly treed
sites, weak wifi, great cable, nice pool area, grassy sites, good interior roads. Although on the «quiet» side of the peninsula, it was a great base for exploring Acadia. We were here 5 nights and I would stay here again.(this is a true review and I am in no way affiliated with this campground or being compensated for my review)

Pretty good for tent camping. We were able to make a reservation for one night on the same day. It wasn’t our first choice, but a lot of the other ones were already fully booked. This actually worked out well and the site was nice. The bathrooms were ok and our site had enough tree coverage to give us a little privacy. The town just south was cute and had good food. We also drove to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor easily from here.
Overall, not a bad place and reservations can easily be made online but you don’t get to choose your specific campsite.

This campground isn’t as big as other campgrounds in the area which, to me, adds to its charm. Conveniently, the RVs are isolated to an area in the front, so the tent and popup campers aren’t sandwiched int between the large vehicles. There is also a large field great for Frisbee and star gazing that is surrounded by tent sites (where we stayed), which is great because you still get some sort of view since this campground isn’t overlooking any of Mt. Desert Island’s famous tourist spots. There were a lot of families when we were there, so it was sort of noisy in the evening hours of playing kids, but fairly quite at night. One night we had a loud group arrive about 10pm (start of quiet hours) and spent 2 hours nosily setting up their stuff next to ours. The bathrooms were VERY clean at this campground and the showers had endless hot water. These two things are often very hard to find in any campground. The only issue I’d say was our site was a bit small, especially compared to the neighboring sites and it wasn’t quite level. But the table was in good shape and the fire pit was fine. Next time I’m in the area, I’ll definitely stay at Smuggler’s Den again.