The best chance of sighting a black bear on Mount Desert Island as well as in Acadia National Park is by knowing where bear have been sighted in the past.
One place you might never expect to see a bear is along busy Cottage Street in the center of Bar Harbor, yet one day a black bear came into town and climbed high up in one of the tall trees outside of the Town Hall. Perhaps the most black bear sightings have occurred on the quiet side of the Island, with the hot zone being at the Seawall Picnic Area at or just after dusk. Bears are lured there by food left behind by people going on a picnic. Seawall Campground also warns tenter's not to leave food items out as it could attract a bear to your tent site.
I sighted a black bear only once in the nearly thirty years I have lived here, and it was at dusk along the Bass Harbor Lighthouse Road. The bear came out of the woods, crossed the road and went back into the woods where large patches of wild berries are known to grow.
One report of a bear this year was at the Blackwoods Campground when a tenter reported a bear had passed by their tent.
In recent years there have been bear sightings near the Tarn along route 3 just past the turn off for Sieur de Monts Spring, as well there have been bear sightings along the Park Loop Road, where a bear from time to time has been spotted just off the Loop Road eating wild berries.
Of course, if you want to see a live Black Bear, your best chance of doing so would be at the Trenton Zoo along route 3 in Trenton, Maine. The zoo over the years has had Black Bear as well as the Maine Moose along with many other animals.
