The road is two-way for a section between Wildwood Stables, toward the middle of Mount Desert Island, and the Hulls Cove entrance near Bar Harbor.

A toll is required for vehicles continuing on the Loop Road beyond the entrance station immediately inland from Schooner Head overlook;[2] the 5.3-mile (8.5 km) section between Paradise Hill Road, at the foot of Cadillac Mountain, and the entrance station is toll-free.

[3] Completed, under the guidance of John D. Rockefeller Jr., in 1958, after a 37-year process, the road passes geographical features such as Champlain Mountain (location of an exposed cliffside trail named Precipice),[4][5][6] the Beehive (another, smaller mountain), Sand Beach (a saltwater swimming area), Gorham Mountain, Thunder Hole (a crevasse into which waves crash loudly), Otter Cliff, Otter Cove, Seal Harbor, Jordan Pond, Pemetic Mountain, the Bubbles, Bubble Rock, Bubble Pond, Eagle Lake, and the side road to the summit of Cadillac Mountain.

In winter (from December 1), only one 1.8-mile (2.9 km) section of the road remains open to vehicles: Ocean Drive, between the Sand Beach entrance station and Otter Cliff Road.

[11] Beginning at the junction of Paradise Hill Road and traveling in a clockwise direction, the following points of interest are passed:[12][13]