Echo Lake Beach is the freshwater swimming beach at the south end of Echo Lake, inside Acadia National Park on the west side of Mount Desert Island, Maine. The National Park Service runs it, and the park lists it with Sand Beach as one of its two main summer swimming beaches. Echo Lake is one of the few lakes in Acadia where you're allowed in the water at all, because it isn't a public drinking supply. Most other ponds on the island are, and swimming and wading are banned in them. The beach sits in a bowl below Beech Cliff, whose granite face drops almost straight into the lake on the west shore.

The turnoff is Echo Lake Beach Road off Route 102, roughly 4 km north of the village of Southwest Harbor and about 5 km south of Somesville. The road ends at a large paved lot with five accessible spaces. From there a wide paved path heads down a short hill to restrooms, changing rooms, drinking water, a foot rinse with a bench, and a grassy field, and a wooden walkway crosses the sand to the water. The free Island Explorer bus also stops here in season, at a signed bench area by the lot.

The swim area is a sandy crescent at the shallow south tip of the lake, with clear, calm water and a gradual entry. There's no current to speak of, but the lake gets deeper and colder as you move out from the beach, and the water stays chilly early in the summer. The NPS currently says there is no lifeguard on duty, so you swim at your own risk. During the summer season the park lends out a beach wheelchair with large inflatable tires. Email the park at least five days ahead so staff can meet you with it.

The beach itself has no separate fee, but Acadia requires an entrance pass year-round, and the NPS says you need an Acadia parking pass or a valid NPS entrance pass to park at Echo Lake Beach. A private vehicle pass is $35 and covers everyone in the car for seven days. A motorcycle pass is $30, and anyone 16 or older arriving on foot or by bike needs a $20 individual pass. Kids 15 and under get in free. The $70 Acadia Annual Pass and the America the Beautiful pass both work here. Non-US residents 16 and over now pay an extra $100 per person unless they hold an annual or America the Beautiful pass. The park is cashless, and there's a card-only pass machine at the changing rooms. The park lists the beach as open April 15 to December 1.

A few rules matter here. Pets are not allowed at Echo Lake from May 15 to September 15. The park tests the water for bacteria weekly from June through August, so check the current beach status on the NPS swimming page before you go. Motorboats on the lake are limited to 10 horsepower, so expect the odd small boat or paddler beyond the beach.

The Beech Cliff Trail and connecting paths start from the end of the parking lot. They climb to the cliff tops for the classic view straight down onto the beach and lake. The Beech Cliffs Trail climbs the face with iron ladders and is closed to pets. Canoes and kayaks launch from Ikes Point, a short drive north on Route 102. A wayside exhibit near the bathhouse covers the loons, turtles, frogs and fish that live in the lake.