One visit to Acadia and it’s easy to understand why the place is so popular. Located primarily on Mount Desert Island – a few acres of the park are on the nearby Isle au Haut and the Schoodic Peninsula – Acadia is a magnificent combination of natural elements: mountains, oceans, forests, tide pools, lakes, fjords, and cliffs.
The environmental diversity provides for a broad range of outdoor activities, from exploring the ecosystem of the many tide pools, to biking along the 70 kilometres of rustic carriage roads, to trekking to the top of any of the two dozen peaks along more than 180 kilometres of trails. In fact, one slightly unnerving aspect of the place is the amount of sports paraphernalia that can be glimpsed strapped onto the roofs and flanks of vehicles.
Acadia prides itself on being somewhere for the whole family. ‘Families can climb up many of the mountains without a lot of gruelling labour,’ says Marla O’Byrne, president of a nonprofit organisation called Friends of Acadia (FOA). ‘Acadia is small but it has great wonders.’
Acadia can thank America’s Hudson River School painters of the 19th century for putting the island on the nation’s mental map. Their dramatic landscape paintings piqued the interest of America’s rich and famous who, naturally, decided to build luxurious estates there (which they called ‘cottages’). Rockefellers, Morgans, Carnegies, Vanderbilts, Fords, and Astors all called Mount Desert Island home during the summers.
Their wealth, however, didn’t all go on the pursuit of pleasures. They also devoted significant resources to preserving the landscape and donated thousands of acres to the public. Philanthropist John D Rockefeller, Jr, financed, designed, and directed the construction of an extensive network of carriage trails throughout the park.
The cut granite stones that line many of the roads are affectionately called ‘Rockefeller’s teeth’. The heir today to that conservationist vision is the Friends of Acadia ‘This is like home to me,’ says O’Byrne. ‘It’s such a magical place I was inspired to help.’
Friends of Acadia – you can befriend them on Facebook – has raised millions of dollars and has emerged as a potent public-private model for how national parks across the US can tackle the often expensive task of conservation. Among other initiatives, FOA helped to institute a propane-fuelled bus system called the Island Explorer to blunt the impact of all the vehicles that ply Acadia’s roads.
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