Bar Island and the Bar Harbor Sandbar

The bar appears for roughly three hours around low tide — 1.5 hours before, 1.5 hours after — connecting downtown Bar Harbor to Bar Island across a gravel and sand crossing. Lose track of time on the island and you're waiting a long while for the ocean to give it back. The island itself holds a trail that climbs through forest on an old road to open views of Bar Harbor and Frenchman Bay. Check the tide chart before you walk.