Bar Harbor

797,030 people came to explore Acadia last month — about 6,000 more than in July 2024, according to NPS data.

Almost three years into the legal battle over Bar Harbor's limit to cruise ship disembarkations, a panel of First Circuit justices has sided with the town — but a lower court will have to decide if the town should have used a less restrictive approach.

Bar Harbor is billed as "the gateway" to Acadia National Park, and its summer season draws tourists from around the country and the globe. But the region is facing new pressures this year, including cuts within the National Park Service, a drop in cruise ship visits, and a decline in visitors from Canada.

The Maine Business and Consumer Court has dismissed a lawsuit from Bar Harbor resident Charles Sidman, asking to be more involved in a local code enforcement appeal.

After years of debate and litigation, Bar Harbor is seeing significantly fewer cruise ships this summer.

More than $1 million intended to pay a contractor was sent to a fraudulent bank account.

Bar Harbor attorneys were back in court today at the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, for the latest arguments in a lawsuit concerning the town's controversial 1,000-person daily limit for cruise ship visitors.

Proponents of the moratorium said it will give them to time to study the impact that visitor accommodations have on traffic, permanent housing and the town's water, sewer and other infrastructure.

Bar Harbor residents have narrowly rejected a proposal to replace the town's 1,000-person cap for cruise ship visitors.

When residents of Bar Harbor go to the polls next month, they'll be asked to approve a new ordinance that would raise the limit on cruise ship visitors, and replace the existing cap of 1,000 people per day enacted two years ago.