Established as Sieur de Monts National Monument in 1916 from the aggregation of privately donated land, Acadia National Park became the first national park east of the Mississippi River when it was upgraded to national park status in 1919 on the same day the Grand Canyon became a national park. For a decade is was known as Lafayette National Park in honor of the French marquis who aided the United States during the American Revolution, before the name was changed to the current name, Acadia National Park.
Most of the part sits on one Island, Mount Desert Island, on the eastern seaboard of Maine, though other portions exist on Isle au Haut, Baker Island, several small islands and on the Schoodic Peninsula of the mainland.
It is usually one of the most visited national parks, generally ranking 9th or 10th in annual visitation with about 2-2.5 million visitors per year. The busiest months in the park, in descending order, are August, July, September, October and June. August and July, however, account for 45% of the annual visitation. In the winter months, many of the park's facilities and services are closed and many areas of the park can be inaccessible.
Getting There and Around
The park is within reasonable driving distance of any airport in New England, but the closest ones are the small Hancock County Airport 10 miles from the park and the Bangor airport 50 miles away. Much of Mount Desert Island is accessible by car, but if you want to jettison driving, from late June through early October there is shuttle service between the Hancock County Airport and the town of Bar Harbor, the hub town outside the park, as well as a free bus service called the Island Explorer that connects the towns and villages on the island. That park itself is highly accessible to walker/hikers and bicycles. It is also increasingly popular to arrive by cruise ship with nearly 100 cruises stopping at the park each year.
Bar Harbor
The unofficial capital of the island, this town of 4,800 people is the hub of activity for Mount Desert Island. While not located within the park, Bar Harbor (pronounced local as Bah Habah) has most of the island's lodging, restaurants and shopping making it a favorite stop for tourists to the park. If it is solitude you seek, however, this is not the place to go.
The Park Loop Road Scenic Drive
If you prefer touring by car, the park contains what is regarded as one of the most scenic drives is America. The 27 mile loop circles around the west part of Mount Desert Island south of Bar Harbor. All sections of the road except the western side are one way, meaning that the road is most easily traveled in a clockwise direction. The road offers stunning views of the Atlantic and the forests of the island's interior.
The first major attraction on the loop is Sand Beach, the only beach in the park. While most of the coastline is rocky granite, this quarter mile wide cove flanked by rocky cliffs on either side is a beachcomber's haven. Further south along the loop is the Thunder Hole, a channel in the granite coastline where crashing waves trap air below the service, which is then discharged from the hole throwing the water up in the air to a thunder like sound. In rough seas, the waves being thrown up in the channel can easily get people on the observation walkway wet.
Heading inland, the next must stop location is the Jordan Pond. The pond itself is a great location for canoeing or kayaking or for a walk on the half mile trail around the lake, but the pond's shore is also home to the only restaurant in the park, the Jordan Pond House Restaurant, famous for its popover rolls and seafood. The restaurant started as a teahouse catering to the rich elite that once owned much of the island and summered there each year.
Traveling north on the loop you will come to a spur road up to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak along the eastern seaboard of the United States at 1528 feet tall. A popular activity in the park is watching the sunrise from the peak. In the late fall and winter months, the peak receives the nation's first rays of sunlight each morning. In the spring and summer, due to the angle of the sun, the sunrise is first visible from another mountain further northeast up the Maine coast. The summit offers stellar views down to Bar Harbor and the coastline. A short 0.3 mile loop trial takes hikers, walkers, and even those in wheelchairs, around the summit.
View down to bar Harbor from Cadillac Mountain |
Sunrise from Cadillac Mountain |
Trails and Carriage Roads
The eastern side of the island is crisscrossed with 50 miles of carriage roads, designed and constructed from 1913 to 1930 at the direction of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., one of the island's summer residents who donated not just the carriage road improvements to the nation, but a substantial part of the part land as well. Included along the carriage roads are 17 stone bridges, each one uniquely designed and built from local stone. Cars are prohibited on the carriage roads. The ones in the park are open to hikers, bikers, joggers, walkers and, on most of them, horseback riders and horse drawn carriages. Most of them also permit pets on a leash. They are designed as a series of loops up to 11 miles in length, though most are in the 3-6 mile range. The shortest is one and a quarter miles.
The Park also contains over 125 miles of marked trails, many connected to the network of carriage roads. While most of the trails were blazed either by the island's first inhabitants, the Wabanaki native Americans, or by the islands early white settlers, most of the trails were rehabilitated by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) beginning in 1933. The CCC also built both of the park's campgrounds along with many other smaller projects in the park.
Sieur de Monts Springs
In 1909, George Dorr, an early advocate for the creation of the national park and its first superintendent, constructed the small octagonal Spring House over the natural springs that today lie just south of Bar Harbor. He also inscribed a nearby rock with the words "The Sweet Waters of Acadia." From the springs area, walkers can visit a trio of other attractions. The Abbe Museum tells the story of the Wabanaki Indians of Mount Desert Island. A Nature Center teaches visitors about the ecosystem at work in Acadia while the Wild Gardens of Acadia showcase the more than 300 species of plants native to the park.
Fall Foliage and Leaf Peeping
A fire in 1947 thinned out the island's forests allowing for deciduous trees to grow amongst the firs and spruces. Thousands upon thousands of visitors come each October to see the result of the leaves of the deciduous trees changing. Splashed with reds, oranges and yellows against the evergreens make for beautiful foliage watching and a great photographic subject.
Predicting when the peak color will appear is not an exact science, but in the park it generally occurs in mid-October, though the optimal time can occur as early as the first week of the month and as late as the third week.
The Quiet and Secret Sides
The western side of Mount Desert has been dubbed the "Quiet Side" of the island. Fewer visitors to the park venture that far from Bar Harbor, but the quiet side has its allure. The four peaks on the western side are consider to be some of the best hikes and the villages of Southwest Harbor and Tremont are known for taking things at a slower pace than the hustle and bustle of Bar Harbor. Both villages have several fine restaurants. The Seal Cove Auto Museum displays a collection of antique automobiles, mostly from the "brass era" (1895-1917). The Wendell Gilley Museum in Southwest Harbor celebrates the art and craft of decorative bird carving as inspired by the pioneering innovation of the museum's namesake. A favorite spot of photographers is capturing the sunset behind the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse on the southern tip of the quiet side.
The "Secret Side" of Acadia lies on the Schoodic Peninsula across from Bar Harbor. Only about a tenth of the park's visitors ever make their way to this more remote part of the park. Known mostly for its lobster harvesting, the one-way drive through this detached section of the park feels more sequestered. The rocky point at the head of the peninsula offers great views, often enjoyable in solitude. The National Park Service operates one of its 17 Education and Research Centers near the point.
(Photo credits: Brent Danley, Andrew King, Justin Russell, Will Law, Joe Sullivan & Mark Schaffer)
Things to Know Before you Come is a weekly column of the Park Avenue group designed to help people with basic planning hints and tips for trips to specific national parks. The park featured in each week's column is selected the week before in out Friday Open Thread. Previous parks featured have included Yosemite, Yellowstone, Olympic and Glacier Bay. Park Avenue also has a weekly user contributed feature on a park released each Thursday morning at 11:30am ET/8:30am PT. This week's feature will be on Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument.