Bowman rated "Acadian Driftwood" as "one of Robertson's finest compositions, equal to anything else the Band ever recorded." According to "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide" critic Mark Kemp, "Acadian Driftwood" is one of three songs on "Northern Lights – Southern Cross", along with "Ophelia" and "It Makes No Difference," on which "Robertson reclaims his reputation as one of rock's great songwriters. Music critic Colin Larkin concurred that it is "one of Robertson's most evocative compositions." Music critic Barney Hoskyns considers it and "It Makes No Difference" to be "the most moving songs Robertson had written in five years." Dave Zurawik of "The Milwaukee Sentinel" praises the way the song "rattlein [his head and reverberates off unconscious" for a long time.