SHORTS, NOVELS, AND OTHER THINGS

SAYLINGAWAY

SHORTS, NOVELS, AND OTHER THINGS

A = Acadia National Park

Welcome to my tour of Maine. If these posts don’t make you want to visit, then I’m not doing a great job… Be sure to click on the pictures to see the gorgeous vistas.

Map of Acadia National ParkAcadia National Park, one of the most beautiful of our national parks, is a place Rhe and Will, two of the main characters in my Rhe Brewster series, would definitely have camped and hiked.

Created in 1919, Acadia National Park was originally named Lafayette National Park I honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, but the name was changed in 1929 to honor the former French colony of Acadia, which once included Maine. The park attained federal status during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson and came under the aegis of the National Park Service on February 26, 1919, when the name was changed. It covers most of the Mount Desert Island and smaller islands around it off the Atlantic coast of Maine, and is the oldest national park east of the Mississippi. It is also one of the most beautiful.

View over Bar Harbor from Cadillac  Mountain (Wikipedia)
View over Bar Harbor from Cadillac Mountain (Wikipedia)

The area was originally inhabited by the Wabanaki people (this will be my W!), who lived in the area now called Maine for many thousands of years. The island was discovered by the explorer Samuel de Champlain during a voyage down the coast in the fall of 1604.

Schooner Head  (Thomsonmg2000)
Schooner Head (Thomsonmg2000)

The landscape architect Charles Eliot, an apprentice of Frederick Olmsted who played a central role in shaping the Boston Metropolis Park System, is credited with the idea for the park. From 1915 to 1933, the wealthy philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr., financed, designed, and directed the construction of a network of carriage trails throughout the park. The network encompassed over 50

View from the top of Bear Brook Picnic Area (Garret Fitzgerald; Wikipedia)

Rockefeller's Teeth (royalbroil /Wikipedia)
Rockefeller’s Teeth (royalbroil /Wikipedia)

miles of gravel carriage trails, 17 granite bridges, and two gate lodges, almost all of which are still maintained and in use today. Cut granite stones placed along the edges of the carriage roads act as guard rails and today are fondly called “Rockefeller’s teeth”.

View from the top of Bear Brook Picnic Area (Garret Fitzgerald/ Wikipedia)
View from the top of Bear Brook Picnic Area (Garret Fitzgerald/ Wikipedia)

The park includes mountains, ocean shoreline, woodlands and lakes, 47, 000 acres in all. The pink granite summit of Cadillac Mountain, named after the French explorer Antoine de Cadillac, dominates the eastern side of Mt. Desert Island; it is one of the first places in the United States to see sunrise.

The park is home to some 40 different species of mammalian wildlife: red and gray squirrels, chipmunks, white-tailed deer, moose, beaver, porcupine, muskrats, foxes, coyotes, bobcats and black bears. Some trails in the park are closed in the summer to protect nesting peregrine falcons.

View from the top of Bear Brook Picnic Area (Garret Fitzgerald/ Wikipedia)

Whether you are hiking, biking or traveling by car, the vistas and environment of Acadia National Park is a feast for the psyche.

Eagle Lake (Kontstantin Krismer
Eagle Lake (Kontstantin Krismer

Loading

0
0

40 thoughts on “A = Acadia National Park”

  1. HI, Noelle. Carolyn here from Pastimes-Passions-Paraphernalia.org. Of course, I would love to visit. You have given some great information which would be very helpful in creating an interesting itinerary.

  2. Hi there – I visited another site where they were doing Arizona. I’ve been to Arizona a couple of times, but only really passed through Maine once. Looks beautiful! 🙂

  3. What would this country have done without the likes of the Rockefeller’s and the wealth of others, who helped create these beautiful spots. Looking forward to this Maine destination with you.

  4. My NY sister vacationed in Maine every year and recently moved to Texas for her work. So many conversations include her lament, “Since I won’t be going to Maine this year, …” It is loved.

  5. Oh heck, more on the bucket list. Never knew about the French colony of Arcadia. Great name too for both it and the park. Thanks for the lovely post

  6. Great post, Noelle. Like you I love this place. I see that you didn’t mention Jordan’s Pond and their great popovers and that’s a good thing. Dont want too many people knowing about it.😊
    It’s easy to get lost just wandering around the park. It’s just so beautiful. Thanks for bringing me back.

  7. Great post, kiddo. It’s interesting knowing that the Cajuns (Acadians) were once up in the frozen north. No wonder they moved to New Orleans! It’s beautiful stuff and I don’t blame you for wanting to use it in your Rhe Brewster series. You could even have she and Sam backpack (when they finally do get together as all your fans hope) and find a body out there and have to solve it using just what they have at hand!

  8. I’m going to be taking notes of the sites as I’ve never been to Maine . The Twitter share seems to not like the = sign in the title so I’ve tried to change it a bit to share. I hope that’s OK. Happy Easter!

Leave a Reply

Scroll to Top
%d bloggers like this: