To be the first person to see the sun rise in the United States, you have to go to the top of Cadillac Mountain in Maine’s Acadia National Park.
Named after the French explorer who founded Detroit (a distinction, no doubt, Monsieur Cadillac might want to play down if he could see what the Motor City has become today), Cadillac mountain is the tallest natural point on America’s east coast. From the top of the granite peak, viewers have an unobstructed view of Frenchman Bay and a number of scattered islands that stretch out into the Atlantic Ocean.
The morning is chilly and blustery. A few brave souls have made the early trek to the top. Teenagers mill around looking tired but determined. Better prepared couples wrapped in blankets await the sun. A few bleary-eyed children stumble along, immune to their parents’ well-meaning encouragements to treasure the moment.
As the dawn lightens, majestic purples, oranges, and reds stripe the clouds on the horizon. Then the bright disk of the sun emerges and a little cheer goes up from the scattered spectators.
The vastness of Cadillac Mountain absorbs crowds like a sponge, so a sunrise pilgrim can feel as though he or she is virtually alone with nature’s wonders. The trick, however, is not to let your eyes stray to the car park, where scores of cars, camper-vans and even the occasional SUV are resting. Encapsulated in the scene is the essence of Acadia’s particular environmental challenge: the park’s great beauty and pristine natural scenery have sown the seeds of its greatest threat, namely the crowds that descend on its glories every year.
‘The officials here have done a great job,’ says Nate Shaw, who’s been coming up to Acadia with his family for 40 years. ‘The park hasn’t really changed too much, except for all the people, of course.’
Acadia National Park is one of America’s most popular, with about two million people visiting every year. But it is also one of the country’s smallest national parks – Acadia’s 47,000 acres, for example, are dwarfed by the 2.2 million acre Yellowstone National Park – making its ‘visitor density’ the highest in the country. Located in America’s northeast, Acadia is also within easy striking distance from some of the largest cities in the country.
This is a wonderful overview of Acadia’s history and challenges. Once people experience the park, whether rock climbing 60 feet over the pounding surf on Otter Cliffs or kayaking with a group in Western Bay at sunset, they are sure to come to CARE about Acadia, too. Every guide or tour I know are sensitive stewards of this eco-system. And the great restaurants on Mount Desert Island support organic farmers and cheese makers there as well. For an insider’s view of exploring, eating, and relaxing during a trip to Acadia, your readers can supplement the U.S. National Park Service Web site with this one:
http://www.ouracadia.com