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American National Parks - Acadia
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National Parks of America - Acadia National Park
The Acadia National Park is America's easternmost national park. This area of Maine was once a part of the French Province of Acadia, and that’s how it got the name. Acadia offers majestic cliffs rising steeply from the ocean, with surf constantly pounding their bases. Within the park is the highest point on the Atlantic seaboard, Cadillac Mountain, which rises 1,530 feet. Be¬sides the beautiful cliffs and scenic seacoast, it is an area of great diversity in vegetation with a wide array of many types of trees and flowers sprinkled in the interior.
Public parkland occupies most of Mount Desert Island with many smaller patches of land in private ownership. The area is dotted with small picturesque towns jammed with fishing boats and recreational vessels. It is certainly worth taking the time to sample some of the wide array of local seafood restaurants. If you are hiking please be sure not to trespass on private property.
Getting There: Along the coast of north-central Maine, Acadia is about 5 hours drive North-East of Boston. Take the 1-95 to Bangor and then proceeding 47 miles via US 1A and SR 3 to the town of Bar Harbor, gateway to the park which is 39,000 acres or 62 square miles in size.
Climate/When To Go: Acadia is open all year, but the Park Loop Road is closed in winter. Since spring and fall are a bit chilly for comfortable sightseeing, you should plan to visit during the summer months, even though it is much more crowded at this time. Crowds are at their peak in August, so June and July are really best. If you don't mind the weather being somewhat brisk, fall can be a very beautiful time - generally dry, with the foliage putting on its annual display of incredible color.
Auto Tour/Short Stops: The park is not one continuous stretch of land, but rather is separated into three areas - the largest and most important being Mount Desert Island, as well as Isle Au Haut (accessible only by boat), and the Schoodic Peninsula area, approximately 40 miles east of the main section.
Mount Desert Island: Entering the park via SR 3, you will soon reach the Hull's Cove Visitor Center where there are exhibits about the park and the history of the area, as well as information on activities within the park. Here, too, begins the 27-mile-long Park Loop Road, which passes many of the park's outstanding features. There are frequent accessible stops for taking in the scenic views of the rocky coast. The road is one-way (south) for 20 miles from just below the Cadillac Mountain en¬trance to Seal Harbor.
About 10 miles south of the visitor center begins the primary concentration of scenic attractions along the Ocean Drive section of the Loop Road, and they will come upon you rather quickly one after the other in rapid succession, so drive slowly and be ready to stop.
First is Great Head, one of the largest rock headlands on the east coast. Next is Sand Beach, composed almost entirely of millions of tiny sea shell fragments. Soon after is one of the most famous points in the park, the impressive Thunder Hole. Here, wave erosion has created a chasm that can, when wave and tide conditions are right, produce extremely loud reverberations that do, indeed, sound like thunder. Even when the conditions aren't just right, you are almost certain to encounter heavy surf crashing into the gorge - a very pretty picture. Finally, after Thunder Hole are the Otter Cliffs, where a heavily forested area extends right to the edge of the cliffs, more than one hundred feet above the Atlantic Ocean.
The Loop Road then skirts the south shore of the island before heading north. Several miles afterward you will reach a side road that leads to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. Be sure not to miss this short detour as there are fine views in all directions, but especially to the south and east where the terrain slopes sharply down to the sea.
A bit further north from Cadillac the Loop Road reaches its end. However, there is a second loop, via SRs 233, 198 and 102, that visits the southwestern portion of Mount Desert Island. Although this part of the park is not nearly as scenic as the area you just came from, it offers many picturesque seaside towns and coves.
The second loop leads you back into SR 3. The driving tour of Mount Desert Island (both loops) covers 50 miles and you should allow about three hours, including stops.
Should you wish to see the Schoodic Peninsula portion of the park, follow SR 3 into US 1 northbound and then SR 186. The main attraction is Schoodic Point, a rocky headland that rises more than 400 feet from the ocean. It provides outstanding vistas of the Bay of Fundy and the Mount Desert Mountains across Frenchman Bay. This addition to your route will take about 2.5 hours, including the round-trip drive.
Getting Out/Longer Stops: The stops mentioned above are all just a short walk from roadside parking areas but the park also contains many miles of trails. The easiest are the graded carriage roads, originally designed for horse-and-buggy (and you can still get carriage rides). The carriage roads cross the park road at numerous locations and give you a chance to explore more of the park's interior with its lush pine forests and flowers. The same general type of landscape can be seen from the many hiking trails, but the carriage roads are improved - you can simply take a meandering journey over the gentle hills for as long as you like. Bar Harbor and Northeast Harbor have bike rental shops and this is another good way to explore the carriage roads.
Special Activities: There are several cruises that take visitors to islands off the coast and a number of these have commentary supplied. You can also take a ferry from Stonington, a town that is east of Mount Desert Island via SRs 176, 175 and 15, to Isle Au Haut. This tiny island has some very scenic ocean vistas, but the drive to Stonington is rather long and the scenery is not significantly differ¬ent from that in other portions of the park.
Accommodation & Dining: The only place to eat within the park is the charming Jordan Pond House, set on the shore of the pond itself. There are no overnight facilities within the park's boundaries, but numerous estab¬lishments can be found in the towns of Bar Harbor and Northeast Harbor (both in the Mount Desert Island section). The former is especially noted for its variety of places to stay. The following website offers you the chance to book accommodation online:
http://www.accommodationin.info/Accommodation%20in%20United%20States/Accommodation%20in%20Bar%20Harbor/index.htm
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