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Family Biking, Kayaking, Canoeing

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My wife and I first brought Jake and Melanie to Acadia when they were 6 and 4. We began with the easy hikes up North and South Bubble, peaks that stand less than 1,000 feet, with the reward of freshly baked popovers at nearby Jordan Pond House afterwards. We also paddled on placid Long Pond to picnic on a pine-studded island. Each time we returned, the kids' confidence grew, and we climbed more challenging peaks, including Acadia Mountain, where they've spotted bald eagles and viewed the precipitous cliffs of Norumbega Mountain sliding into Somes Sound, creating the only fjord on the eastern seaboard. Now Jake, 11, climbs up vertiginous rock walls on iron rungs on so-called trails, such as Precipice and Beehive, and his parents are the ones who are nervous.

It's not all about climbing. We bike the shores of Eagle Lake, where a carriage path (one of the gravel roads that crisscross the eastern half of the island) circles for six miles under towering firs and over century-old stone bridges. We've gone on half-day sea kayaking jaunts in the Atlantic, where we've gone eyeball-to-eyeball with harbor seals and searched for sea glass on deserted Frenchman Bay islands. And we always book a day with Diver Ed, who goes scuba diving with a camera attached to his head, only to return to the boat with goodies such as sea cucumbers, starfish, crabs, and lobsters.

WHEN YOU GO

Seawall, Rte. 102A, Southwest Harbor. 207-288-3338; nps.gov/acad
Beal's Lobster Pier/The Captain's Galley, 182 Clark Point Rd., Southwest Harbor. 207-244-3202; bealslobsterpier.net
Jordan Pond House, Park Loop Road, Seal Harbor. Open mid-May to October. 207-276-3316; jordanpond.com
Dive-In Theater, College of the Atlantic, 105 Eden St. (Rte. 3). 207-288-3483; divered.com
Acadia Bike, 48 Cottage St., Bar Harbor. 800-526-8615; acadiabike.com
Coastal Kayaking Tours, 48 Cottage St., Bar Harbor. 800-526-8615, 207-288-9605; acadiabike.com/kayakingpage.html
Reel Pizza Cinerama offers dinner and a movie at the same time. 33 Kennebec Place, Bar Harbor. 207-288-3828, 207-288-3811 (movie phone); reelpizza.net

When You Go

Biking: Massachusetts

We're big fans of the 22-mile Cape Cod Rail Trail, especially when you take it in bits and pieces. But to be frank, the actual ride, even after the route's recent refurbishment, can be a real yawner for kids. It's a former railroad line, straight with very little grade.

We like the ups and downs of biking -- which is why we prefer the five-mile Province Lands Bike Trail at the tip of the Cape. This undulating route dips in and out of sand dunes, weaving through scrub-pine forests and along beaches on one of the most glorious bike paths you'll ever ride.

The loop starts at Herring Cove Beach and heads inland through the Beech Forest, where the trees are often home to colorful warblers. Before sweeping downhill to the Province Lands Visitor Center, we always stop and look at the mounds of sand as they roll to the ocean.