Maine Acadia National Park map and highlights

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Maine Acadia National Park map and highlights

Map of Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, off the southeastern coast of Maine.  Short  description of the Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island.     
Acadia's glaciated coastal and island  landscape embraces towering mountains, shimmering lakes, and thick  hardwood and evergreen forests. Its rich cultural history, provided by  various indigenous peoples and successive waves of French and English  immigrants, can be traced back 5,000 years. The Sieur de Monts Spring  nature center near Bar Harbor and the Islesford Historical Museum on  Little Cranberry Island explore the area's natural beauty and cultural  ties. Walking trails and 45 mi of carriage roads cut through gorgeous  countryside, and ranger-led programs explain the importance of the  surrounding scenery. The park was proclaimed as Sieur de Monts National  Monument on July 8, 1916, established as Lafayette National Park on  February 26, 1919, and changed to Acadia National Park on January 19,  1929.     
WHAT TO SEE & DO     
Bicycling and boating (rentals in Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor,  Southwest Harbor), camping, cross-country skiing (rentals in Bar  Harbor), fishing, hiking, rock climbing (permit required, see below),  swimming. Facilities: Visitor center: Hulls Cove (3 mi north of Bar  Harbor, off Rte. 3). Sieur de Monts Spring Nature Center (VA mi south of  Bar Harbor, off Rte. 3), Islesford Historical Museum (Little Cranberry  Island). Beaches, museum, guided and self-guided tours, hiking trails.  Book and map sales, picnic tables with fire grills. Programs &  Events: Daily ranger-guided walks, hikes, talks, demonstrations,  amphitheater programs, and boat cruises (late May-mid-Oct.). Tips &  Hints: Avoid touring 10-2 in summer because of crowds. Visit late  May-early June for wildflowers and migrating warblers, or first half of  Oct. for fall foliage and raptor migration. Basic snacks are available,  and a shuttle bus runs through the park. Busiest in July and Aug., least  crowded Jan. and Feb.     
FOOD & LODGING     
Camping: 3 campgrounds in the park: Blackwoods (Mount Desert  Island; 300 sites; $20; flush toilets May-Nov., pit toilets Dec-Apr.;  reservations required May-Oct.), Seawall (Mount Desert Island; 200  sites; $20; flush toilets; closed Oct.-mid-May), Isle de Haut (5  lean-tos; $25; pit toilet; closed mid-Oct.-mid-May; permit required, see  below). In Bar Harbor: KOA (136 County Rd., tel. 207/288-3520; 200  sites; $30-$53; flush toilets, showers, hook-ups; closed Nov.-May). 13  Hotels: None in park. In Bar Harbor: Quality Inn (40 Kebo St., tel. 207/  288-5403 or 800/282-5403; 77 rooms; $149-$179), Cadillac Motor Inn (336  Main St., tel. 207/288-3831; 48 rooms, 5 apts; $79-$119; closed  Oct.-mid-May), Ledgelawn Inn (66 Mount Desert St., tel. 207/288-4596 or  800/274-5334; 33 rooms; $125-$275; closed mid-Oct.-Apr.). X Restaurants:  In the park: Jordan Pond House Restaurant (tel. 207/ 276-3316; $9-$15;  closed late Oct.-mid-May); snacks at Cadillac Mountain, Thunder Hole. In  Bar Harbor: Island Chowder House (38 Cottage St., tel. 207/288-4905;  $5-$15; closed Nov.-Apr.), Terrace Grill (Newport Dr., tel.  207/288-3351; $7-$21).     
FEES, HOURS & REGULATIONS     
Entrance fee: $10 per vehicle. Permit ($25) required to camp at  Isle de Haut. Write for lean-to reservations; written forms must be  received after Apr. 1. Maine fishing license ($14 for one day, $24 for  three, and $37 for seven) required for freshwater fishing. Rock climbing  permit (free) required for groups of 6 or more at Otter Cliff. No  hunting. No pets on beaches or ladder trails, leashed pets on the rest.  No trail bikes. No bikes on hiking trails. No motorized vehicles on  trails; only foot traffic, strollers, and electric wheelchairs on  carriage roads. Park open daily but most scenic roads close in winter.  Hulls Cove Visitor Center open mid-Apr.-June and Sept.-Oct., daily  8^4:30; July-Aug., daily 8-6. Park headquarters open mid-Apr.-Oct.,  daily 8-4:30, Nov.-mid-Apr., weekdays 8-4:30. Visitor center moved to  park headquarters Nov.-mid-Apr. Sieur de Monts Nature Center open Mar.,  weekends 9-5; June-Sept., daily 9-5. Islesford Historical Museum open  mid-June-Sept., daily 9-3:30.     
HOW TO GET THERE     
3 mi north of Bar Harbor via Rte. 3. Closest airports: Trenton (12 mi), Bangor (45).     
CONTACTS     
Acadia National Park (Box 177, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, tel.  207/288-3338; 800/365-2267 camping reservations; 207/ 288-3338 group  camping and lean-to reservations, fax 207/288-8813, ). Bar Harbor  Chamber of Commerce (Box 158, Bar Harbor, ME 04609-0158, tel.  800/288-5103). Southwest Harbor-Tremont Chamber of Commerce (Box 1143,  Southwest Harbor, ME 04679, tel. 800/423-9264 or 207/244-9264). Mount  Desert Chamber of Commerce (Box 675, Northeast Harbor, ME 04662, tel.  207/276-5040). Acadia Information Center (Box 139, Mount Desert, ME  04660, tel. 800/358-8550 or 207/667-8550).  
  
Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, off the southeastern coast of Maine
Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, off the  southeastern coast of Maine.  Short description of the Acadia National  Park on Mount Desert Island   
Acadia, Maine   
Established: 1916   Acreage: 39,114   
Acadia National Park, located on Mount Desert  Island off the coast of Maine, was created to preserve the rugged beauty  of the New England coastline. Its surf-splashed shores rise to the  highest elevation along the Atlantic coast. Cadillac Mountain, elevation  1530 feet (466 meters) and Mount Sar-geant at 1373 feet (418 meters)  are its highest points. More than 275 species of birds inhabit the park.   
Abnaki Indians knew Mount Desert Island as 'the  sloping land' thousands of years before the white man landed on the  rugged Maine coast. In 1604 France's Samuel de Champlain made the first  important contribution to the historical record of the island by naming  it Mount Desert Island, after its bare and rocky mountain summits.   
By the early 1800s, farming and lumbering vied  with fishing and shipbuilding as major occupations, and the familiar  sights of fishermen and sailors, fish racks and shipyards, revealed a  way of life and a breed of people linked to the sea.   
It was the outsiders —artists and journalists —who  proclaimed the beauties of this area to the world in the mid-1800s.  People flocked to Acadia to enjoy its scenery, undaunted by crude  accommodations and simple food, and soon tourism quickly became a major  industry. Affluent citizens such as the Rockefellers, Morgans, Fords,  Carnegies and Vanderbilts chose to summer here.   
Although the wealthy of the early twentieth  century came primarily to play, they had much to do with preserving the  landscape we know today. George B Dorr devoted his life and fortune to  Acadia and became the park's first superintendent. John D Rockefeller Jr  built 57 miles of carriage paths between 1915 and 1933 and donated more  than 11,000 acres, nearly one-third of the park's area. Acadia is  unique because it was neither carved out of public lands nor bought with  public funds. The park was envisioned and donated through the efforts  of private citizens. George Dorr offered the land to the federal  government, and in 1916 President Wilson announced the creation of Sieur  de Monts National Monument. Three years later it became Lafayette  National Park, the first national park east of the Mississippi. In 1929,  the name was changed to Acadia.   
Right: The top of Cadillac Mountain—the highest point in Acadia—offers a stunning view of the rocky New England Coast.   
Facing page, top: Land and sea meet at Acadia  National Park, and between the sea and the forested mountains lies the  tidal zone—a world brimming with life forms that a poet once mused  'belong to neither land   
Previous pages: Canoers on glistening Lake  Francais in La Mauricie National Park in Quebec. Canoeing is a popular  activity on the park's numerous lakes.
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