Echo Lake Camp is located just outside Acadia National Park between Southwest Harbor and Somesville on Mt. Desert Island. It was established in 1925 and has been helping families, couples and individuals experience the beauty of Acadia ever since. Acadia National Park is one of America's greatest natural treasures - a rare meeting of mountains and ocean that offers dramatic vistas and unbeatable hiking. The waterfront camp is an exceptional vacation spot amid this spectacular scenery.

Echo Lake's facilities consist of platform tents with canvas sides equipped with cots, blankets, mattresses and pillows, a full-service dining hall providing three meals a day, a recreation hall and a library with comfortable chairs for those seeking quiet time to read or enjoy the fire. Flush toilets and running hot and cold water are located in two areas of the camp. Hot showers and a bath are available at the bathhouse in the center of camp, which is handicapped accessible. In addition the camp has a volleyball court, basketball net, swimming floats and boating dock with canoes, kayaks, rowboats, three sunfish and a windsurfer for communal use. The large deck outside the dining hall offers spectacular views of the lake and the cliffs.

At Echo we have adopted the AMC's policy of "Leave No Trace". All our camping and activities are environmentally low-impact. For the safety of everybody, the entire camp property is a smoke free area.

Camp begins anew each Saturday throughout the summer, and continues for one week until the following Saturday. Camp life offers numerous opportunities to enjoy all that Acadia National Park has to offer. Hikes led by experienced hike leaders are sponsored daily. For those wishing to move at a slower pace, daily walks with the camp's naturalist are available to many beautiful and unusual areas. The camp sponsors two outdoor meals each week: the lobster cookout at Thompson Island and the mussel picnic held at the camp. Each week campers have the opportunity to travel by boat to Baker Island in Frenchman's Bay and explore this remote, uninhabited site. In the evening various programs are offered including square dancing, Bingo, informative slide shows and a final Talent Night on the last night of camp. All activities are completely voluntary and participation is entirely up to the whims and desires of each camper. Some campers pick a few activities to be involved in while others do it all!

While there is no day care and supervision of children is the parents' responsibility, there is plenty to occupy children of all ages. Because of its location and proximity to the lake, Echo Lake Camp is not appropriate for children under the age of four or pets.

For further information about Echo Lake Camp's facilities and programs please call or email the managers, Ned and Mary Mitchell, at (978) 448-2871, or nmitchell @ lacademy . edu.

For reservation information see our registration page.

Between September 1 and June 20 mail to: Lillian Buck, 360 Main Street, Wethersfield, CT 06109. Or, call 860-529-6333 or email ECHOREG @ aol . com.

Between June 20 and September 1: Ned and Mary Mitchell, PO Box 219, AMC Echo Lake Camp, Mt. Desert, ME 04660 or call 207-244-3747 or email nmitchell @ lacademy . edu.