Salisbury Cove in Bar Harbor, Maine

Salisbury Cove, Maine, is a quiet and lovely little village on the North side of Mount Desert Island providing a northerly view of the mainland. It is actually part of the municipality of Bar Harbor. Look for a road coming off the North side of Route 3 for easy access. This shows a view of the ocean from the stop sign. A short drive from here to the east is the entrance to Acadia National Park in Hulls Cove, also part of the town of Bar Harbor.

Salisbury Cove GPS: 44.430591, -68.284610

Some Local History

The well known Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDI Biological Lab), a private marine biomedical research institute, is located in Salisbury Cove. Founded in 1898 in South Harpswell, Maine, by J.S. Kingsley of Tufts University, the Lab moved to Salisbury Cove in 1921 when an organization called the Wild Gardens of Acadia made an attractive land offer. Of particular note is that this land-holding group was headed by George B. Dorr and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. who were both instrumental in the original founding of Acadia National Park.

People often miss-spell Salisbury as Salsbury. To verify the preferred spelling, view the photo capture of the Salisbury Cove Post Office, complete with “Lobster” mail. For Salisbury Cove and area lodging, dining, activity, and Acadia National Park regional information, please refer to the navigation at the top of this page.

Salisbury Cove Location Map

Resources

On the North Side of MDI

Greg A. Hartford, photographer, author, publisherVisitors to Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island, Maine are pretty used to driving on Route 3 as they make the yearly journey to the Bar Harbor business district. The road was modernized and reshaped many years ago. Before this, there was a more winding road that went along closer to the shore, especially through Salisbury Cove on the north side of Mount Desert Island. As mentioned earlier, this is part of Bar Harbor. The past road in this area is called the Old Bar Harbor Road. Whenever I turn off Route 3 to drive here, I get a wave of early memories from when I was a young boy. One of the nice things about staying at a place here is that there is far less traffic and gives a feeling of being in a small village that existed many years ago. This is a nice place to let your children experience as well.

Acadia and Bar Harbor Resource Guide