Natural Splendors

By Staff Posted on Nature

Geology and Terrain

Most of Acadia is on Mount Desert Island, the third-largest island off the coast of the continental United States. Bisected by Somes Sound, a dramatic fjord carved by a glacier that melted 10,000-12,000 years ago, the island has two "lobes." The park extends over both of them, but the most popular sights -- Sand Beach, Cadillac Mountain, and the Park Loop Road -- are on the eastern lobe. Additional sections are on Isle au Haut, a much smaller, heavily forested island in Penobscot Bay about 12 miles southwest of Mount Desert (as the crow flies) that is reached by boat from Stonington; Schoodic Peninsula, farther down east on the mainland; and tiny Baker Island, reached by boat from Mount Desert Island.

Seas of Change

Mount Desert began to form about 500 million years ago, when ancient rivers deposited sediments on the ocean floor, forming the first bedrock. The last glacier, which advanced and retreated several times over New England, is responsible for the island's current appearance: the 17 glacially rounded mountains; such water basins as Eagle Lake and Echo Lake, which were carved out by the glacier; and huge boulders on the sides of Cadillac and South Bubble mountains, which the glacier transported over long distances and deposited randomly. Although most of Acadia's shoreline is rugged pink granite, the sea has shifted tons of sand and crushed shell into one location to create the curving Sand Beach on the island's eastern side.

Flora

Acadia is heavily forested, with a mix of deciduous and coniferous trees including alder, sugar maple, northern white cedar, aspen, white pine, spruce, and fir. On the windswept, rocky mountaintops, shrubs such as highbush blueberry, mountain holly, and creeping juniper thrive. In the low-lying marshes, many of which were created when beavers flooded areas of land, you'll find such common plant species as water lilies and cattails. You can identify a wide range of flora at the Wild Gardens of Acadia at Sieur de Monts Spring, where more than 400 plants are labeled and displayed.

Fauna

Marine mammals commonly spotted in Acadia's waters include harbor seals, porpoises, and finback and minke whales, with the occasional appearance of humpback and right whales. Several companies offer whale-watching excursions off Mount Desert Island. On shore, the most commonly seen animals are the white-tailed deer and snowshoe hare, although coyotes, weasels, beavers, and several species of rodents, turtles, snakes, and salamanders are also abundant.

For the Birds

Dozens of types of birds inhabit the park, too, from great blue herons and hawks to herring gulls and common eiders. Acadia sponsors a peregrine reintroduction program aimed at bringing back the peregrine falcon, a species nearly extinct in the eastern United States by the mid-1960s. In 1991 a pair of peregrines nested on the cliffs of Champlain Mountain in Acadia, and since then this area has usually been closed off from early spring through mid-August.