A New England treasure, Acadia National Park encompasses island refuges, a rocky coast, lush forests, and Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard.
Each year people travel down the coast of Maine in droves (in Maine one travels "down" the coast in an easterly direction), following the winding seaside routes in search of ocean views and traditional fishing villages. For many, Acadia National Park is their ultimate destination. About two-thirds of the way down the coast, primarily on Mount Desert Island, which is connected to the mainland by a short causeway, Acadia's 40,000 acres contain some of the most spectacular and varied scenery on the Eastern Seaboard: a rugged coastline of surf-pounded granite and an interior graced by sculpted mountains, quiet ponds, and lush deciduous forests. Cadillac Mountain, at 1,530 feet the highest point of land on the Eastern Seaboard, dominates the park.
In 1604, the French explorer Samuel de Champlain saw the peaks of Acadia rising out of the sea and named the island L'Isle des Monts-Deserts, the Island of Barren Mountains. Today, the island is anything but deserted: With about 3 million visitors annually, it's one of America's most visited national parks. Walking, hiking, biking, paddling, and driving amid extraordinary and diverse natural beauty are the draws here.
Acadia is open and used year-round, but it's most popular in the summer. That's when tourists descend upon the island, as much for the sights of tony Bar Harbor, where you'll find most of the accommodations, restaurants, and shops, as for the park. Although there is a shuttle-bus system to relieve summer traffic, cars remain the primary mode of park transportation. Many attractions lie along the 20-mile Park Loop Road, which encircles a significant section of the park, but there are plenty of opportunities to leave the car behind and explore Acadia on foot.
Though it's rugged, Acadia is also a land of graceful stone bridges, horse-drawn carriages, and the elegant Jordan Pond Tea House. This sense of gentility stems no doubt from Mount Desert Island's long history as a summer resort for society families -- Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Morgans among them -- dating back to the late 1800s. In fact, Acadia National Park was established by a group of concerned summer residents who purchased much of the island and donated the land to the federal government; the process was finalized in 1919.
The extensive carriage road system is the legacy of John D. Rockefeller Jr., who wanted to ensure that automobiles could never overrun the park's interior. The carriage roads are wide gravel roads that wind through the interior of the park, crossing numerous stone bridges and winding through woods and across streams. As the name implies, they were originally built for use by horse-drawn carriages. Today they are enjoyed by walkers and bicyclists as well as equestrians.
