Acadia NP — Jordan Pond

Jordan Pond is a glacial tarn in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, Maine — one of the clearest, deepest, and most photographed bodies of water in the eastern United States. This live camera looks south across the pond toward The Bubbles — twin rounded mountains of pink granite that rise dramatically above the water. The composition has been a postcard staple of Maine tourism for over a century. Jordan Pond's water is exceptionally clear, with visibility often exceeding 40 feet, because the watershed is almost entirely protected granite with minimal vegetation runoff. The pond serves as a public water supply, so swimming and boating with motors are prohibited — leaving the surface remarkably calm for reflections of the surrounding mountains. Seasonal changes here are some of the most dramatic in the national park system. Summer brings warm afternoons, sailing and kayaking on the pond, and the daily afternoon tea-and-popovers tradition at the historic Jordan Pond House. Fall foliage typically peaks in early to mid-October, turning the maples, birches, and beeches that fringe the pond into a wall of red, orange, and gold reflected in the still water. Winter freezes the pond solid by January, offering snowshoe and Nordic skiing routes on the surrounding carriage roads. Spring brings ice-out by late April with returning loons whose calls echo across the water. Nearby attractions include Cadillac Mountain — the highest point on the U.S. Atlantic coast and the first place in the country to see the sunrise during winter months — the Park Loop Road, Thunder Hole on the rugged Atlantic shore, Sand Beach, and the carriage roads built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. Bar Harbor is the gateway town with restaurants, lodging, and harbor tours.