Acadia National Park

Maine’s mountain and coastal beauty reach at peak at Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park, which shares Mount Desert Island with the lovely coastal city of Bar Harbor, includes all the spectacular and diverse outdoor beauty that has drawn visitors to Maine throughout history. An extra advantage is that the park is owned and run by the National Park Service, which operates visitor centers, publishes a daily newspaper of park events, and employs expert rangers who present a large range of programs for children and families, nature lovers, and people enthralled by history, lighthouses, maritime life, Native American culture, and more.

The diversity of the park offers pleasures for every taste. Hikers can trudge 125 miles of hiking trails and climb of 1,530-foot Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak on the Atlantic coast. Visitors can drive, bicycle, or rent a horse-drawn carriage ride of the 45-mile carriage road system built by built by John D. Rockefeller Jr., offering magnificent views of Frenchman Bay to the east. For history-minded visitors, the Sieur de Monts Spring area offers a Nature Center, the Abbe Museum at Sieur de Monts Spring, and the Wild Gardens of Acadia, a microcosm of Acadia’s plant life. Lighthouse buffs won’t want to miss Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse on the west side of Mount Desert Island. Short trails around the lighthouse provide spectacular views. Tent and RV camping is available at Blackwoods Campground and Seawall Campground, wooded campsites within a 10-minute walk of the ocean.

From May through October, park rangers present a variety of programs in the park. Examples are cruises of the Frenchman Bay Cruise aboard a majestic, four-masted schooner; Peregrine Watch, a visit to a nesting family of peregrine falcons on Champlain Mountain; Life Between the Tides, an investigation of the world where ocean meets land; Mr. Rockefeller’s Bridges, a hike along tree-lined carriage roads to beautiful stone bridges; and Dive-In Theater Boat Cruise, where visitors can cruise through Frenchman Bay in search of seals, porpoises, and coastal bird life and watch live video as a diver explores the ocean floor. (Many ranger-led programs are designed for young children.)

Outdoor activities at the park encompass bicycling, boating, camping, rock climbing, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, swimming and tidepool exploration. During inclement weather or simply for a change of pace, the park offers fun activities indoors, too. At Hulls Cove Visitor Center, you can watch a 15-minute video about Acadia and browse a bookstore with titles about Acadia's natural and human history, art, children's stories, and more. The Nature Center at Sieur de Monts Spring is the place to learn the answers to questions about the geology, plant and animal life in the park. To get a feel for the maritime history of the region, visit Islesford Historical Museum on Little Cranberry Island. The story of the Cranberry Isles is told through ship models, photographs, and tools. And the Abbe Museum at Sieur de Monts Spring, describes Maine’s Native American heritage from 12,000 years ago to the present.

Extensive information about the park, numerous maps, and advice on planning your visit are available at Acadia National Park