Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park, located on the rock-bound Maine island of Mount Desert, is full of soaring cobblestone beaches, sand, and soaring granite cliffs. Glacier-carved mountains rear up from the sea, cupping deep lakes in their valleys. Meadowlands, marshes and dense evergreen forests also thrive in the park. The ocean makes its presence felt with sights, sounds and smells that abound in the park.
At A Glance
In The Park
Superintendent: Sheridan SteelePhone Number: 207-288-3338
Entrance Fees: Vehicle Pass (valid for 7 days): $20; Individual Pass (valid for 7 days): $5; Annual Pass: $40
Sights: Carriage Roads; Sieur de Monts Spring Area; Thunder Hole; Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse; Islesford Historical Museum; Cadillac Mountain; Park Loop Road
Endangered Species: Peregrine Falcon
Important Dates
Established as Park: January 19, 1929By The Numbers
Acres: 47,400.00Highest Point: Cadillac Mountain (1528 feet)
Annual Visitation: 2,083,588 (2006)
Location
Latitude / Longitude :44.345040 / -68.307580 (map it)
State: ME
Nearby Big City: Bar Harbor, ME
Gateway Communities: Hulls Cove, ME; Bar Harbor, ME; Salsbury Cove, ME; Seal Harbor, ME; Northeast Harbor, ME; Islesford, ME
Nearby Airports: Hancock County Airport (BHB); Bangor International Airport (BGR)
Green Features
Has Recycling? : YesHas Shuttle System? : Yes
Has Volunteer Program? : Yes
Park Photos
Acadia National Park Co...
David Kay
Acadia Coast 2
Michael Rickard
Acadia Fall
George Burba
View More Acadia Photos
In Detail
At Your Fingertips General Park Information (207) 288-3338 TTY:(207) 288-8800 Website http://www.nps.gov/acad/ Emergencies (207) 288-8791 Lost and Found (207) 288-8791 Weather Information (207) 667-8910 ... read more.
Camping Acadia National Park offers three wooded campgrounds, all within a five-minute walk of the ocean, two on Mount Desert Island and one on Isle au Haut. Additional camping facilities are located outside ... read more.
Carriage Roads In 1901, a group of wealthy Mount Desert Island summer residents banded together to set aside the land that would later become Acadia National Park. One of the park's early benefactors was John D. Ro ... read more.
Did You Know : Beavers The best time to see beavers is at dusk when they come out to forage and cut trees. From Park Loop Road, you can see beaver lodges in Beaver Dam Pond near Bear Brook Pi-cnic Area. ... read more.
Did You Know : Cadillac Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the Atlantic seaboard north of Brazil. ... read more.
Did You Know : Fire In 1947, a fire burned for 10 days before it was brought under control, consuming some 17,000 acres and destroying more than 60 grand cottages. ... read more.
Did You Know : Sea Smoke Sea smoke, which often swirls across the bay, is caused by chill winds blowing across the warmer ocean water. ... read more.
Flora & Fauna Not just any species of plant or animal can adapt to the ecological demands of Acadia's overlapping environments, but Acadia's flora and fauna have flourished. Most of the park's animals are adept at ... read more.
Highlights Established: Since it opened in 1916, Acadia National Park has boasted a number of firsts. It was the first national park east of the Mississippi. Perhaps more significantly, it was the first nationa ... read more.
History An Island Is Born Some 500 million years ago, what we now know as Mount Desert Island began taking shape on the ocean floor. Erosion swept sediments from the North American continental plate—sa ... read more.
How Long Does Litter Last? Glass bottles 1,000,000 years Aluminum cans 80 — 100 years Rubber boot soles 50 — 80 years Leather Up to 50 years Nylon fabric 30 — 40 years Plastic film containers 20 &m ... read more.
In A Nutshell PLANNING YOUR STAY Getting to Acadia Acadia National Park lies two-thirds of the way up the Maine coast, approximately 164 miles from Portland, 270 miles from Boston and 475 miles from New York City. ... read more.
Just For Kids A visit to Acadia National Park gives kids a chance to get back to nature, and in the process to learn about plant and animal life, living history and the wonders of the ecosystem. At the same time, ... read more.
Leave No Trace Our love of and desire to experience wild places are ultimately changing them. As park visitation increases, how can we lessen our impact on the land we care about? We can practice "Leave No Trace." ... read more.
Lobster Of all the creatures that inhabit Maine's cold ocean waters, none is better known or more highly prized than the lobster. This hardy crustacean once adorned the state's license plate and pops up on r ... read more.
Lodging & Dining Accommodations are not available within the park boundaries, but inns, motels, bed-and-breakfasts and campgrounds are plentiful around Mount Desert Island. LODGING When it comes to putting a roof o ... read more.
Mount Desert Acadia National Park covers much of Mount Desert Island. Most of the park is preserved in its natural state, with commercial activity taking place outside the park in surrounding communities. Busy li ... read more.
Oh Ranger The national parks have been called "the best idea America ever had." The idea, put simply, is to preserve and protect places and resources unimpaired for future generations. In an ever-changing worl ... read more.
Only A Day Acadia's compact size enables you to take in many of the park's highlights in one day. To make the most of your time, begin your day before 9 a.m. During the summer, the park is busiest between 10 a. ... read more.
Park Regulations For your safety, and to protect Acadia's treasures, please read and follow all NPS regulations. Complete regulations are available at any park visitor center. Shoreline Exploring Exercise caution alo ... read more.
Recent News
- Acadia National Park: Park rangers dislodge pickup-size boulder July 22, 2008, 11:07 am
- “Eco-resort” Proponents to Make Their Case at Winter Harbor Meeting May 8, 2008, 7:44 pm
- House approves Acadia funds April 29, 2008, 6:19 pm
- Hundreds of volunteers turn out for annual Acadia park cleanup April 28, 2008, 3:01 pm
Acadia In Depth
News from the Parks
In Boston Harbor, but a World Away
July 24, 2008 - 2:31pm
BY many measures, the view from the arched doorway of the cobblestone home on Bumpkin Island, off the Massachusetts coast, has most likely not changed much since the 19th century, when hay farmers lived there. Now, as then, the sun dazzles off wind-streaked waves beyond a pebbly shore fringed with staghorn sumac and bayberry. Yet in other ways, the landscape is startlingly altered, thanks to Boston’s skyline, whose clustered, gleaming high-rises jut from a flat horizon like Oz’s Emerald City.
July 24, 2008 - 2:31pm
BY many measures, the view from the arched doorway of the cobblestone home on Bumpkin Island, off the Massachusetts coast, has most likely not changed much since the 19th century, when hay farmers lived there. Now, as then, the sun dazzles off wind-streaked waves beyond a pebbly shore fringed with staghorn sumac and bayberry. Yet in other ways, the landscape is startlingly altered, thanks to Boston’s skyline, whose clustered, gleaming high-rises jut from a flat horizon like Oz’s Emerald City.
Rescue at the Grand Canyon
July 24, 2008 - 10:09am
More than a dozen tourists and two guides had to be rescued from the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon after their raft became stranded. They were taken from their raft to the shore by the National Park Service's inflatable rescue boat.
July 24, 2008 - 10:09am
More than a dozen tourists and two guides had to be rescued from the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon after their raft became stranded. They were taken from their raft to the shore by the National Park Service's inflatable rescue boat.
South Dakota's Wind Cave offers night hikes to see black-footed ferrets
July 24, 2008 - 10:06am
WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK, S.D. (AP) — Visitors to Wind Cave National Park this summer have the chance to see black-footed ferrets at night. To mark the one-year anniversary of the reintroduction of the creatures to the Black Hills park, rangers are offering night hikes through prairie dog towns in hopes of seeing the rare animal. The program starts at Elk Mountain Campground at 9 p.m. every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday through Aug. 16. No reservations are necessary.
July 24, 2008 - 10:06am
WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK, S.D. (AP) — Visitors to Wind Cave National Park this summer have the chance to see black-footed ferrets at night. To mark the one-year anniversary of the reintroduction of the creatures to the Black Hills park, rangers are offering night hikes through prairie dog towns in hopes of seeing the rare animal. The program starts at Elk Mountain Campground at 9 p.m. every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday through Aug. 16. No reservations are necessary.
Illegal jump under investigation in RMNP
July 24, 2008 - 10:02am
Park rangers are investigating after someone leaped from the top of Longs Peak on Wednesday morning, descending with a parachute. BASE jumping is illegal in Rocky Mountain National Park, as it is in all national parks. BASE jumpers are skydivers who jump from buildings, antenna, spans or the Earth rather than aircraft. It's considered an extreme form of skydiving, since a jumper literally has only seconds before impact to deploy their chute. Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson confirmed the 9 a.m. jump from the east side Diamond face of the 14,259-foot peak and said the incident is under investigation.
July 24, 2008 - 10:02am
Park rangers are investigating after someone leaped from the top of Longs Peak on Wednesday morning, descending with a parachute. BASE jumping is illegal in Rocky Mountain National Park, as it is in all national parks. BASE jumpers are skydivers who jump from buildings, antenna, spans or the Earth rather than aircraft. It's considered an extreme form of skydiving, since a jumper literally has only seconds before impact to deploy their chute. Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson confirmed the 9 a.m. jump from the east side Diamond face of the 14,259-foot peak and said the incident is under investigation.
No new cases of virus seen in Yosemite
July 24, 2008 - 9:54am
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK -- Park officials said Wednesday that they haven't seen any new cases of a gastrointestinal illness that sickened hikers and hospitality employees in the Tuolumne Meadows area over the past two weeks. About 30 people came down with symptoms consistent with the norovirus infection at the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge and High Sierra camps in the area, said Shane Sims, a specialist in the safety office at Yosemite National Park. The lodge, at an elevation of 8,775 feet, serves as a base camp for day hikers and backpackers. Park rangers began receiving illness reports the weekend of July 12-13; the cases tapered off last week.
July 24, 2008 - 9:54am
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK -- Park officials said Wednesday that they haven't seen any new cases of a gastrointestinal illness that sickened hikers and hospitality employees in the Tuolumne Meadows area over the past two weeks. About 30 people came down with symptoms consistent with the norovirus infection at the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge and High Sierra camps in the area, said Shane Sims, a specialist in the safety office at Yosemite National Park. The lodge, at an elevation of 8,775 feet, serves as a base camp for day hikers and backpackers. Park rangers began receiving illness reports the weekend of July 12-13; the cases tapered off last week.
The East Coast's Only Natural Fjord!
Someone told me recently that it was Somes Sound in Acadia. Is that true, and can someone tell me what exactly a fjord is? Thanks.