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Bar Harbor/ Acadia National Park, the largest national park in the East, is Mount Desert Island’s big draw. The 38,000 acres encompass 44 miles of dramatic coastline, all the island’s major mountains, part of the Somes Sound fjord, all or part of every major lake shore, 120 miles of trails and bike paths, and a scenic twenty-mile Loop Road and Ocean Drive that allow drivers to see the highlights. The Visitor Center on Route 3 south of Hull’s Cove is a must for orientation purposes. Starting from the Visitor Center, the twenty-mile Park Loop Road can take three hours (with stops) or up to a day. The two-lane, limited-access roadway can be entered or left at several locations, but the Ocean Drive segment is one-way outbound. The first two overlooks provide good views of Frenchman Bay, Bar Harbor and the area burned in the 1947 fire. Sieur de Monts Spring, covered by a small octagonal structure but still bubbling water from a fountain in the adjacent nature center, is a favorite stop. The Robert Abbe Museum of Stone Age Antiquities tells most of what you could want to know of the area’s history, especially of the Indians. The Wild Gardens of Acadia has more than 300 plants indigenous to the area’s forests, mountains and shores labeled and grouped in thirteen sections, from deciduous weeds to dry heath and bog. Well-maintained gravel paths lead past some rare specimens, with benches placed strategically along the way. (If the Wild Gardens whet your appetite, stop later at the showy Asticou Terrace and Thuya Gardens plus the remarkable Asticou Azalea Gardens in Northeast Harbor.) Sand Beach, the only saltwater beach in the park, is an arc of sand between two cliffs. You may notice hundreds of people on the beach and only a few brave souls in the ocean. Feel it and you’ll know why; the water temperature rarely tops 55 degrees. Thunder Hole is where the waves rush into a small cave and roar out with a thunderous sound, if tides and surf coincide. At Otter Cliffs, look out to sea from the highest headlands on the East Coast. Beyond is Otter Point, a rocky place good for sunning and picnicking. Leaving the ocean, the Park Loop Road turns inland toward Jordan Pond. Stop for lunch or tea at the venerable Jordan Pond House and admire the view of the two rounded mountains known as the Bubbles (named long ago by a youth for the bosom of his amour). At the end of Jordan Pond is a huge boulder balancing atop a cliff. Pass beautiful Eagle Lake, which gets smaller and bluer as you drive the 3.2-mile side trip up Cadillac Mountain, at 1,530 feet the highest point on the U.S. Atlantic seaboard. The road is excellent and gradual (an eight percent grade, which our son bicycled up) and the view from the top is incredible in all directions. A short summit trail has interesting interpretive signs. The Sunset Parking Area near the top is where everyone gathers to watch the sunset – the mountains and waters to the west a changing rainbow of greens, blues, oranges and reds. Descend Cadillac Mountain and you’ve completed the loop. CARRIAGE PATHS. Fifty miles of scenic, tranquil carriage paths were planned and built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. in the 1920s to provide a refuge for carriages from the intrusions of the auto. The ten-foot-wide paths follow the land’s contours, protected by stone culverts and retaining walls and notable for thirteen interesting, hand-cut stone bridges. About eighteen miles of the paths have been specially surfaced for bicycles; the rest are better for hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders. NATURALIST PROGRAMS. The park conducts a remarkable range of programs and tours, from boat cruises to mountain hikes to nature walks to evening activities. They follow a set daily schedule (available from the Park Visitor Center), starting with a three-hour birder’s walk at 7 a.m. and ending at 9 p.m. with Stars over Sand Beach. Among the more appealing titles are Forests of Lilliput, Mr. Rockefeller’s Bridges Walk, Trees along the Trail and Written in the Rocks. The park naturalists and their assistants are engaging and enlightening, and we’ve enjoyed every tour or program we’ve tried. Other Activities BIKING. Although the terrain is hilly, biking opportunities abound throughout Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island. The park visitor center offers detailed maps of roads and trails through the park. Cyclists can take the same routes as listed above on the Park Loop and other drives. They can get away from cars and trailers on the park’s carriage paths. HIKING. Besides 50 miles of carriage paths, 120 miles of hiking trails await the hiker. They vary from mountain climbs (naturalists lead hikes up Acadia and Gorham and Huguenot Head) to self-guided walks for casual strollers – the Jordan Pond nature path and the Ships Harbor nature trail. CANOEING AND KAYAKING. The lakes of Mount Desert Island are considered a canoeist’s paradise. Locals recommend Long Pond, the island’s largest with three access points; secluded Seal Cove Pond, Echo Lake, Eagle Lake and Jordan Pond. Tidal currents in Somes Sound are dangerous for light craft; you also might be surprised by frolicking porpoises. Canoeing the Bass Harbor Marsh at high tide is quite an experience, especially on a moonlit night when you may hear and see herons, owls, beavers and deer. WALK THE BAR. For two hours on either side of low tide, you can walk across a sand bar from the end of Bar Harbor’s Bridge Street (just west of the Bar Harbor Club) to Bar Island. There are trails and shoreline to explore, and the shallow water is considerably warmer than at Sand Beach. Bring a picnic and a bathing suit, but don’t tarry or you may have to swim back against the current. SEA CRUISES. From puffin cruises to rides through the Cranberry Isles to dinner cruises and even boat-and-breakfast, Mount Desert Island has a stunning assortment of boat trips to appeal to all tastes. Park naturalists conduct cruises aboard privately owned boats, and these are among the more informative of all the island’s cruises. Material excerpted from Waterside Escapes in the Northeast, by Nancy Woodworth and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2005. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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