In July, typical afternoon highs at Acadia (Cadillac Mountain) run around 74°F (mild). Mid-afternoon sun stands about 53° high, and the sun is up from 5:02 AM to 8:14 PM. Shade depends on terrain and tree cover; open viewpoints are fully exposed.
See live sun & real shadows here →| January | 27°F |
| February | 29°F |
| March | 40°F |
| April | 49°F |
| May | 57°F |
| June | 69°F |
| July | 74°F |
| August | 74°F |
| September | 68°F |
| October | 56°F |
| November | 43°F |
| December | 31°F |
Shade depends on terrain and tree cover; open viewpoints are fully exposed. See real building shadows over satellite imagery for any time of day: https://isthereshade.com/?anywhere&at=44.35,-68.21667
Around 8:14 PM local time in mid-July (it shifts through the year). Sunrise is about 5:02 AM.
Acadia (Cadillac Mountain) · Bar Harbor, ME. Data: exact sun position; climate normals from historical weather; live forecast on the interactive view.
Cadillac Mountain gives you the highest point on the Atlantic coast of the United States, a bare granite summit with long views over Bar Harbor and the islands. What it does not give you is much shade. The top is open rock and low alpine scrub, the tree line falls away below you, so once you are up on the summit loop you are in the sun until you head back down.
The saving grace is the climate. This is coastal Maine, and even the warmest part of the year is temperate: July afternoon highs run about 74°F, matched by August, with June closer to 69°F. Heat is rarely the problem here. Wind and exposure are the real story, and the sun can still burn at altitude even when the air feels cool.
Cadillac is famous for sunrise, for part of the year it is one of the first places in the country to see the sun, and in July that comes early, around 5:02 AM. Sunset lands near 8:14 PM. Those two ends of the day are when the summit is at its finest: low golden light, cooler air, and the crowds either just gathering or thinning out.
Through the middle of the day the sun climbs high and the open rock offers no cover. At 3 PM in high summer the sun sits about 53 degrees up, to the west-southwest, so shadows off the boulders and the few stunted trees are short and shifting. If you are hiking the summit trails at midday, plan for continuous sun exposure rather than shade breaks.
Down in the forested parts of Acadia, the carriage roads, the wooded trails, the pond loops, tree cover is genuine and generous, and a hot afternoon is easily spent in dappled shade. The summit itself is the opposite: come prepared to be in the open. The pockets of relief up top are behind the larger granite outcrops on their sun-away side, which in the afternoon means their east-northeast faces as the sun swings west.
To picture how the ridgelines and boulders throw shadow at the hour you plan to be up there, the satellite shadow view shows the terrain shadow for your date and time.
Because the highs are mild, you do not need a heat-danger plan here. You need a wind-and-sun plan. Bring a layer even in July; the summit is often ten or more degrees cooler than Bar Harbor and the wind bites. Sunscreen and a hat matter more than they seem to, since the elevation and the reflective granite intensify the light and there is no canopy to hide under.
For the gentlest visit, aim for sunrise or the last two hours before the 8:14 PM sunset. Midday works too, the temperature never gets punishing here, but the light is flat and the parking fills. Spring and autumn are quieter still, though the summit road's seasonal access and Maine's shoulder-season chill are worth checking before you go.