This is a wonderful museum! It may be small but they have put a lot of work into the exhibits! Our kids age 11,10,9,8 and 8 months loved it! They enjoyed seeing the animals and the skeletons! The adults in our group especially enjoyed learning new facts about the animals in this region! We would absolutely recommend going if you are near the Bar Harbor area! It is free but the ask for donations. It is a worthy cause!
Excellent, quaint museum. Best touch tank in the area. Starfish (seastars), sea cucumbers, huge sea snails, etc. Awesome for kids and adults. Admission is by donations. Very nice exhibits and very modern and clean building. Nice staff. This should be a must stop on every visit to the area! Check times for when open and least busy.
Great museum for all ages. They have a lot of info on local ecology and dioramas depicting wildlife. They even have a touch tank with live sea animals that occasionally has a ranger guided discussion. They recently added a live bee hive, too. Our whole family thoroughly enjoyed it
For a very small, college student run museum, this place is wonderful! The students were all very pleasant and the one at the tank was simply chock-full of information. The displays are nicely laid out and the placards well written and informative. The gift shop had lots to offer folks of all ages and interest levels. I liked that there were many exhibits that you were encouraged to touch (pelts of various animals, whale baleen, and a hawks wing to name but a few), so often these kinds of museums are look-only, nicely done! Sits right on the main road leading from the mainland into Bar Harbor on the College of the Atlantic campus, very easy to find.
Very informative museum; it is free. The dioramas made by the college students are very nice...
The museum features a local collection of preserved or stuffed insects, animals and some plants that are collected by College of Atlantic faculty and students. They also have a reach-in watertank with starfish and other small marine animals. Telephone booth has listening station for frogs and insects was also very interesting.Donation based. Well worth visiting.
This museum is comprised completely of student projects. We hung out here while waiting for Diver Eds. It was air conditioned, has restrooms, and kept the kids entertained
Lots of really nice things to see.
This is a wonderful museum. Great for kids and adults. The ranger demonstrations are very well done !!
Fantastic little museum packed with wonderful exhibits and an excellent gift shop on beautiful COA campus.
An excellent place to introduce kids to the amazing natural history of Acadia. It has an awesome touch tank, well crafted wildlife displays, and very interesting exhibits. This free little museum backs a really big impact punch.
Great public resource and awesome places to take kids for about an HR to touch and learn things. Dont forget the giant whale skull!
Awesome museum! Very cool, a touch exhibit. Great for the whole family!!!
Great place! We stopped here with the kids while we were exploring Bar Harbor. It is free but you can leave a donation. They have a nice little live creature exhibit with lobster, crabs and star fish etc. Not a place to go for a long trip, but it is fun for an hour stopover.
This is small natural history museum at college of the Atlantic near bar harbor. They have a fantastic touch tank, go when the ranger is leading a program, we learned so much about the sea creatures! And got to hold or touch about 6 or 7. We had such a great visit to Acadia but this was the highlight for my 9 year old! We enjoyed the taxidermied displays and the touch exhibits also. Admission is by donation but recommended $3.50 adults and $1.50 for kids.
Very cool visit. Got to hold a starfish.
Fun stop. Better parking needed.
We visited the Dorr Museum first thing after checking into Acadia and reviewing the board of ranger programs. That day, there was a park ranger hosting a family-friendly touch tank talk about the local marine life. It may be aimed at children but my husband and I were enthralled! Apparently the rangers go and find fresh creatures from the Acadia shore before each session and bring them all in, fresh and rested, and ready for the public to learn about them in the water tank, which is at a comfortable height. I cant say Id ever been spat at by a clam before! Id also note that you do get to see creatures that you wont see at Wonder Land beach, like starfish and sea cucumber. We toured the facility after the touch tank talk and found it full of gorgeous taxidermied creatures & animal artifacts native to the area, such as whale bones, animal pelts, stuffed seals, and tons more. Very educational and delightfully immersive place to bring the whole family. Youll maybe spend about 30 minutes to an hour here.
Cool stuff. Something to do for.about an hour.
Cool college museum, lots of great little exhibits and awesome taxidermy.Recommend this of your looking for a small stop on your way into Bar Harbor or if your staying across the street in one of the motels!
Great place to visit with kids. Its small, yet informative collectives. The staff was extremely helpful.
Great exhibit. Worth it to stop by.
Great little natural history museum with incredible dioramas and exhibits all mad eby College of the Atlantic students.
What a great place! Such a friendly and knowledgeable staff made this an awesome experience!
Really nice collection of local and area wildlife displays and a great touch tank!
The most strange museum I have ever visited. All the animals displayed there are killing others.
Took the kids on a rainy day, it was a lot of fun.
Went for the ranger talk at the tidal pool tank, but the rest of the museums exhibits are very educational and well-done, and all by the students! Free to visit (donation requested).
Nice museum to stop by for a few. Touch tank, a few small exhibits, and a gift shop.
Great small museum. Enjoyed the tidal pool tank especially.
Very Enriching
Great place
Tank talk was great, as are the other displays.