Rising Tide, Heavy Traffic Complicate Dramatic Acadia Rescue.

Carrie Jones

Jul 18, 2026

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK—Shortly before noon, July 17, a woman fell into the water by Monument Cove in Acadia National Park.

The patient was in a secluded location not easily accessible by local ambulance crews or the park rangers.

Initial reports said that a woman had fallen 30 feet into the water in an area past Thunder Hole and was vomiting salt water.

Subsequent reports stated that she was unable to use her legs and losing alertness.

LCDR Blake Maurer told the Bangor Daily News, Friday afternoon, that the woman—whose name has not yet been released—is thought to have fallen into the water and was then probably pulled out by others in the rocky area.

Maurer is the incident management division chief for the Coast Guard’s Northern New England Sector.

“The initial assessment is that she had a head laceration and potential broken bones and bodily bruising. Her current medical condition is unknown,” Maurer told the Bangor Daily.

Lt. J. P. Freeman of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Northern New England said Friday night that the woman was in critical condition.

“Coast Guard Station Southwest Harbor launched a 29-foot Response Boat-Small and a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat at approximately 11:48 a.m. The crews arrived on scene at approximately 12:02 p.m.,” Lt. Freeman said.

Working alongside the Bar Harbor Fire Department and National Park Service, responders stabilized the woman aboard the Coast Guard’s 47-foot motor lifeboat, Lt. Freeman said.

Efforts to get land-based emergency personnel to the site off Ocean Drive—part of the Park Loop Road which travels past Sand Beach, the Beehive, and Thunder Hole—were stymied by vehicle congestion in the popular area of the park, which hosts approximately 4 million visits each year.

The road was shut down to try to facilitate emergency response. Simultaneously, the Coast Guard Station in Southwest Harbor responded.

“I just discussed with my crew, right now we’re at a high risk, high gain when it comes to this mission. My plan is I’m gonna nose in kind of perpendicular to where you’re at, just so that way I can see where it is and where I’m gonna get myself into,” a Coast Guard captain said on the scanner.

Bar Harbor’s Fire John Lennon and Acadia National Park rangers assisted with trying to ascertain the best way to bring in the Coast Guard’s 29-foot boat. Instead, they brought in a 10-foot skiff, which transported the patient to the larger boat.

Life Flight, the emergency helicopter, was called and had landed at the Bar Harbor ball field. However, because a water rescue was decided on, a new landing zone in Seal Harbor (part of the town of Mount Desert) was decided on.

The woman was safely taken from the rocks on the shore as the tide was coming in and brought via the Coast Guard to the Seal Harbor pier, along with a Bar Harbor paramedic. From there, an ambulance brought her to the landing zone—a field across from the Seal Harbor Beach.

“The National Park Service responded to an incident that occurred near Monument Cove along the Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park today. Emergency responders transported one individual via LifeFlight of Maine to a local hospital. No additional information is available at this time,” the National Park Service Office of Public Affairs said through an email, Friday afternoon.

The patient was not transported to Mount Desert Island Hospital, but another hospital in the area.

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All photos: Shaun Farrar/Bar Harbor Story unless otherwise specified

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The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Acadia Brochures of Maine.

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