UPDATE 3/20/18: Visitor center hours and seasonal opening dates updated throughout.

Deep snow may still cover parts of Acadia National Park, but surely it can’t be long before birdsong fills the air, flowers and trees bud and the park rouses from its wintry slumber.

Acadia in springtime is an uncrowded paradise, perfect for hikers, birders, plant aficionados, bicyclists, runners, photographers, or anyone who enjoys the outdoors and magnificent scenery without the summer and fall foliage season throngs.

Maybe you can’t get into the water at Sand Beach – but who can even in summer? – or dine alfresco in Bar Harbor or at the Jordan Pond House. Maybe you can’t hop on the Island Explorer bus shuttle over to Northeast Harbor and anywhere else on Mount Desert Island, or around Schoodic Peninsula. And maybe you can’t take the Isle au Haut mail boat directly to Duck Harbor.

But what you get instead during this season of rebirth: Roads less traveled, so you can more safely run and bike around the Park Loop Road – and maybe even up the 3.5-mile Cadillac Summit Road if you’re in great shape; plenty of parking at trailheads or carriage road parking lots; and as much solitude and communing with nature as you would like, whether you hike, bike or run, or watch for flora and fauna.

Here’s a guide to springtime in Acadia, including basics about visiting the park and activities to explore, to help you plan your trip.

Off-season lodging, dining, activities near Acadia National Park

There are enough year-round businesses open in area communities, that you can find plenty of places to stay and eat, whether you’re visiting the main part of the park on Mount Desert Island, the mainland section on Schoodic Peninsula, or even far-flung Isle au Haut. (Check out our Acadia National Park year-round lodging and dining pages.)

While spring runs from March 20 through June 20 this year, the best time to visit may be in May, when temperatures have warmed, the days are longer, and the peak season hasn’t begun yet. May is also when many of the peak-season businesses start opening their doors.

But some years, when the winter hasn’t been as snowy as this one, we’ve gotten plenty of hiking and running in during March and April, including one Easter’s Day run at low tide to Bar Island, and a hike later that same Sunday up to Champlain along Orange & Black Path, which ended with a memorable encounter with wild turkeys.

Acadia National Park basics for first-time visitors in springtime

From the Acadia National Park Web site, here’s some information to help plan your trip:

Hulls Cove Visitors Center opens April 15, with a daily schedule of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through June 24, then longer hours for peak summer months.

Through April 14, the winter visitor center is over at the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, at the corner of Cottage and Main Streets, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

Thompson Island Information Center opens mid-May, hours vary.

Entrance fees aren’t charged until May, and the 7-day pass is $25 for a car (although there’s a Trump administration proposal to nearly triple this to $70), $20 for a motorcyclist, and $12 for a bicyclist or pedestrian. Year-round passes are $50, and there are free or discounted passes for seniors, the disabled, active duty military personnel or park volunteers.

The Park Loop Road, including the Cadillac Summit Road, normally fully opens April 15. There are two short sections that are normally open year-round, Ocean Drive between Schooner Head Road and Otter Cliff Road, and a spur to Jordan Pond, accessible from Seal Harbor via ME 3 and Jordan Pond Road. Other paved roads and parking areas in the park that normally open on April 15: Beech Mountain Road Parking Area and the southern end of Schooner Head Road. Unpaved roads that usually open by May 15: Long Pond Road, Western Mountain Road and Schoodic Head Road (on Schoodic Peninsula).

Carriage roads, which are groomed for some great cross-country skiing when the conditions are right, are usually closed for at least a couple of weeks during “mud season,” so that the roads can sufficiently recover from spring thawing to avoid damage by bikers, walkers or horses. Check with the park for carriage road opening by calling (207) 288-3338 and press “0,” or check the park Web site for alerts.

Sieur de Monts Nature Center usually opens for the weekends in May, then daily in mid-June, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Isleford Historical Museum opens mid-June, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

Blackwoods Campground is open year-round, Seawall Campground opens late May, Duck Harbor Campground on Isle au Haut opens May 15 (by permit only), and Schoodic Woods Campground, in late May.

Springtime activities to consider in Acadia National Park

As the snow melts, the days get longer and the temperatures rise, hope springs eternal for springtime in Acadia National Park.

To be there in the season of nature’s rebirth, is to be renewed yourself.