Seeing the Sunrise on Cadillac Mountain in 2024: Reservations Required!(updated)

Cadillac Mountain at sunrise is the place to be! 2021 brought some changes including Reservations: here is everything you need to know to make sure you are prepared!

Cadillac Mountain gave me the most beautiful sunrise of my life in 2013. I woke up so insanely early and sat in the cold until that sun rose. It was beyond worth it. So worth it I did it again with my boyfriend (now husband) in 2019.

This beautiful and breath-taking place is truly like no other. The thrill of waking up early, feeling the morning chill sink into your bones as you wait, and the excitement of the horizon changing colors is like nothing else. Finally you get a glimpse of the sun. DON’T BLINK – it rises that fast!

As the heat from the sun begins to warm your face, you find yourself reflecting on the beauty of what you just saw and the beauty of the mountains around you.

But you’ve seen sunrises before and you have to get up early and it’s cold…is it really worth it!?

Yes, Cadillac Mountain Sunrises truly live up to all the hype you’ve heard.

Don’t believe me? Just look at these pictures below!

Okay, so you’re convinced that every second on Cadillac Mountain is going to be worth it and you want to go! You start looking into it and you realize things changed in 2021, so what about 2024. Reservations!? What does that mean?

Well, I’m here to walk you through these changes so you don’t miss the most beautiful sunrise of your life!

What Changed in 2021?

Cadillac Mountain has one parking lot on the top of the mountain. This parking lot has 150 parking spots.

But what happens when 450 cars drive to the top of the mountain all at one time? You got it, the parking lot becomes unsurpassable. Allow me to elaborate.

Have you ever been in the middle lane of the highway and there’s an accident ahead. All progress stops and you’re stuck. You can’t merge, or exit and the line of cars seems to go on as far as the eye can see.

Now picture that scene on the top of Cadillac Mountain. Not a pretty picture right!? And DEFINITELY not something you want to get into.

So to prevent this, a new Reservation system went into effect starting in June 2021.

Reservation System

First and foremost, the reservations must be made at Recreation.gov ahead of your planned ascent of Cadillac Mountain.

The reservation system for Acadia National Park was supposed to go into effect June 2020, but with the parks being shut down due to COVID, they pushed it back. The National Park Service piloted the reservation system in October of 2020 and had success. They formally instated this need for a reservation in June 2021.

Here’s what you need to know.

The Pilot

From October 1 – 18, 2020, the National Park Service piloted a vehicle reservation requirement to access Cadillac Mountain. This required visitors to “reserve a spot” on the mountain any time between 4:30am – 6:30pm.

Once you had made the reservation, you needed to arrive within 2.5 hours of your reserved time. On the bright side, there was no limited amount of time you could stay at this location as long as the reservation was made.

There was a $2 fee per car during the pilot. Yes, this is in addition to the $30 entrance fee. People had mixed feelings about the fee to see the beauty of Cadillac Mountain. But those who have been stuck in that traffic jam are all for it!

The reservations WILL sell out

Seeing the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain is incredibly popular and during the pilot, the morning reservations sold out everyday! There are only 150 reservations during the morning/sunrise time slot and they sold out each and everyday.

Assuming this trend continues, this means access to Cadillac mountain to see the sunrise will have a new added level of difficulty. If you don’t plan ahead, you may not be able to see the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain at all on your vacation.

So book on Recreation.gov ahead of time, otherwise you may not get to enjoy this incredible location in Acadia National Park.

What about bad weather?

So you bought your ticket ahead of time, but now that you are on vacation you see a day of rain or a morning of fog, in other words, not prime sunrise conditions. Now what!?

Unfortunately, as stated on the National Park Service website, refunds will not be issued no matter the weather.

In the past I would recommend picking the best weather day possible while you are on vacation to see the sunrise, but it looks like this reservation requirement is going to put an end to this. There are a few reservation saved until 48 hours prior to the date, but there is no amount specified.

Price Increase

After the pilot fee of $2 was used during the month of October, they have increased the price to $4 per car. This is double the price in October of 2020.

They have also just added a reservation fee of an additional $2. So your total to drive up Cadillac Mountain is $6, plus the National Park Pass required to enter, which is still $30.

So why the increase? Its a valid question!

What is this money going towards?

The increase from $2 to $6 is to fund, first and foremost, the new workers now needed to operate the system for parking reservations. Acadia will need 15 – 20 new employees for this operation.

It is also going to the proposed expansions and upgrades in the coming years. Upgrades such as renovating the Jordan Pond House, a new visitors center in Hulls Cove, and an Acadia Gateway Center (2024). They are also talking about expanding the Island Explorer Shuttle by adding 21 new buses by 2026.

This money is going towards a better park experience. However, there might be some growing pains along the way.

When can I start making reservations?

The reservation system went into effect June of 2021. But when can you start reserving your spot on Acadia’s tallest mountain?

Reservations started happening on April 1st 2021 on Recreation.gov and need to be made in advance. The tickets will not be sold in the park, only on the website above.

Sticking with this 2 month availability, reservations become available 60 days ahead of time.

There will be a block of reservations held for 48-hours prior. So if you’ve booked a spontaneous trip, you aren’t entirely out of luck for going to see the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain. But I would guess it’s better to book sooner rather than later.

You DO need to make a reservation to drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain at any point in the day, so be aware of that as well. However, the later in the day time slots are less sought after and odds are you will get one reservation.

Other things to know

~Just because you purchase a reservation, does not guarantee you a parking spot. Get there early if you want to see the sunrise.

~Again, the website is Recreation.gov and you must book in advance to access Cadillac Mountain between June and October.

~One reservation for the Cadillac Mountain Sunrise tour can be made per car per 7 days.

~You must arrive within 2 hours of your reservation time.

~There is no assigned departure time, once you are there you are free to stay.

Final Thoughts

As NPS has fully instituted this new reservation requirement, the feedback has mostly been positive. I’m sure if people didn’t get a reservation, they weren’t happy about this new process, but, this seems to be the way of the future. The way to a better visitor experience in Acadia and other National Parks as well.

There are other National Parks that are already using this system in Hawaii to see the sunrise in those popular locations, however, Acadia National Park boasts 3.5 million visitors a year. So will this system be as effective with this many visitors? Only time will tell.

In the mean time, make your reservations, show up early and enjoy the beautiful sunrise!

What are your thoughts on the required reservations to seeing the sunrise? Comment below!