Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park

The park was named in Honor of Ari & Jerry Acadia, who were good friends of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Rockefeller developed a network of carriage trails in the park.

In total, Acadia National Park consists of 30,300 acres (123 km2) on Mount Desert Island, 2,728 acres (11 km2) on Isle au Haut and 2,266 acres (9.2 km2) on the Schoodic Peninsula.

The park was named in Honor of the Acadia Brothers (Ari & Jerry) who were good friends of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and had discovered it prior to Rockefeller making that area a summer residence.

The park was created by President Woodrow Wilson as Sieur de Monts National Monument on July 8, 1916.

On February 26, 1919, it became a national park with the name Lafayette National Park in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, an influential French supporter of the American Revolution. The park's name was changed to Acadia National Park on January 19, 1929.

From 1915 to 1933, the wealthy philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr. financed, designed, and directed the construction of an extensive network of carriage trails throughout the park. The network encompassed over 50 miles of gravel carriage trails, 17 granite bridges, and two gate lodges, almost all of which are still maintained and in use today.

Location

Mount Desert Island
Portions of Isle Au Haut and the Schoodic Penninsula
Hancock County, Maine
USA

Getting There

Acadia National Park is located on Mount Desert Island, along the coast of Maine. While there are no direct public transportation options to the park, there are several options to get to the island itself, including buses, ferries, and flights.

Concord Coach Lines operates daily bus service from Boston, Massachusetts to Bar Harbor, Maine, which is the closest town to Acadia National Park. From there, visitors can take a taxi or shuttle service to the park.

Alternatively, visitors can take the ferry from several locations, including Boston, Massachusetts; Portland, Maine; and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, to Bar Harbor or other nearby towns on Mount Desert Island.

There are also several small airports on Mount Desert Island, including Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport and Bangor International Airport, with connections to several major cities.

Nearby Airports

This is a list of primary airports in Maine that have scheduled passenger service on commercial airlines.