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 Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park combines the combines the ruggedness of Maine's coastline with the beauty of the north woods meeting the Atlantic Ocean.

Maine

2006

About The Park

Acadia National Park, located on Mount Desert Island on Maine’s eastern coast, was the first national park east of the Mississippi River. It is the only national park in the Northeastern United States. Despite its out of the way location it still gets three to four million visitors each year. The park’s carriage roads, in July, were not a place for a quiet stroll.

The area became a destination for the wealthy who built large mansions that they called, in the spirit of Newport, ‘cottages’.  John D. Rockefeller financed the construction of many of the carriage roads and donated some of the park land. A wildfire in 1947 burned much of the park and destroyed 67 of the millionaires ‘cottages’.

The gravel carriage roads are now used for leisurely walking, bicycling and horseback riding. No vehicles are allowed on them. These roads are closed during mud season which starts in March with the spring thaw and lasts until they dry out. Mud season often precedes, and overlaps with, black fly season and is a time to avoid the park - or at least the interior.

The coastal areas of the park have many viewing points where you can see the waves crashing against the rocky seashore. In some places water spouts can be seen when water is forced into narrow channels between rocks. Venturing out on these rocky outcroppings is prohibited as the waves can easily sweep someone into the sea.

Boating and sea kayaking are popular pastimes. I tried sea kayaking with my wife and we found the kayaking very nice in a channel between the harbor and an island not too far offshore. When the group kayaked around to the ocean side of the island the water became rougher and we weren’t very comfortable out there. The guide brought us to calmer waters closer to shore.         

The dominant feature of the coastline is Cadillac Mountain which is known for its sunrise viewing. Always beautiful it is, from October to March, the place where you can see the first sunrise in the U.S.  

Wildlife

In the park there can be found bears, moose and white-tailed deer. The reptiles include milk snakes and snapping turtles. Amphibians such as wood frogs and spotted salamanders can also be found. Over 300 types of birds including various species of raptors, songbirds and waterfowl can be seen the park depending on the time of year. Peregrine falcons make their homes in the steep cliffs and the Beehive Trail, along with other trails in the mountains facing the sea, are closed at certain times of the year when they are nesting there and raising their young.

Lodging

While there are no lodging options within the park itself, there are many places to stay just outside of the park in Bar Harbor, Maine. There’s also some lodging in some of the towns surrounding the park with easy accessibility to the park. This link is to the National Parks Reservations website. A search of ‘lodging in Bar Harbor, Maine’ will yield many other choices of lodging.

Hiking

Cadillac Mountain

There are a number of hikes from the sea side up the mountains many of which involve steep climbs, iron rungs, ladders and open cliff faces. These are obviously not for everyone. The best view point is Cadillac Mountain which at 1,530 feet (466m) is the highest point in the park and the highest point within 25 miles of the shoreline on the entire Eastern seaboard.  Hiking up it is a 7 mile round trip and a fairly strenuous hike (partly due to the distance). It does not have the if you are afraid of heights, don’t do this hike factor. There are some ledges so be aware.

Summit Road

Alternatively there is the Summit Road which goes to the top of the mountain and from there you can explore on you own.

There is a link at the bottom for the National Parks website for Acadia National Park’s pages on hiking. There are many hikes within the park’s interior that are little more than, no pun intended, a walk in the park.

Some of the coastal trails, especially those closest to the sea, often involve scrambling over granite boulders and require sure-footing and a measure of confidence since, while the falls do not necessarily involve a long drop, even short falls onto jagged boulders can cause serious injury.

Having hiked on the sea side, both along the coast and up the mountains, I can recommend these hikes:

Beehive Loop Trail

This is a great hike up a steep granite face with iron rungs in a few places and not-insignificant drop-offs. Depending on whose description of the hike you read it is between 1.4 and 1.9 miles. Once you get to the top the trip down is an easy walk without any of the excitement of the trip up. You can see some pictures of the hike in the photo gallery. This is not for those with a fear of heights.

Precipice Loop Trail

This trail is aptly described by its name. It rises steeply up 1,000 feet and is a difficult hike requiring some upper body strength to pull one self up. At 3-4 miles it has some distance but is definitely one to avoid if you are afraid of heights and in less than very good physical condition. People have been killed falling off the cliffs.

Other Points of Interest

The town of Bar Harbor, Maine is a charming little place with many nice little shops and restaurants. One thing I noticed when I was there is that, despite this being the state where they catch the lobsters, it wasn’t a place where lobster in any form, was inexpensive. Lobster rolls, sold by roadside vendors, were $12-$15 in 2006. To their credit they did, however, have a substantial amount of lobster in them.

Acadia National Park Photo Gallery

Other Resources

Acadia National Park on the National Parks Service website - NPS.gov

Acadia National Park - Wikipedia

Acadia National Park - Hiking - NPS.gov

Acadia National Park - Bar Harbor, Maine

Other National Parks and National Monuments Within a Day’s Drive

There are no national parks within a days drive. The nearest is Shenandoah National Park and that is 825 miles away. There are some relatively minor national monuments which can be found with a web search.

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