Acadia National Park comprises of over 47,000 acres.
Cadillac Mountain is 1,530 feet high, 460 meters above sea level, making it the highest mountain on the Atlantic Coast.
Cadillac Mountain is the first place in the US to see the sun rise.
Acadia National Park contains more than 120 miles of historic hiking trails.
Acadia was first established as Sieur de Monts National Monument in July 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson but then was changed to Lafayette National Park in February of 1919 when it became the first national park east of the Mississippi. It was not until January 1929 that it officially was named Acadia National Park. The word “Acadia” likely stems from “Arcadia,” a part of Greece that this area reminded the explorer, Giovanni Verrazano of as he sailed by in 1524. Today, it encompasses approximately 47,748 acres in three main areas. The largest is located on Mount Desert Island. Next, is an approximate 2,366 acre tract of land to the Northeast on the mainland at Schoodic Peninsula. Thirdly, to the Southwest (accessible only by boat) is Isle Au Haut, Baker
Island (Southeast coast) and Bar Island (north side of Bar Harbor) also have National Park land. Acadia Park has a mandate that it can only gain land through donation. It is the first park to be created through the donation of land by private individuals to the federal government.
Acadia is one of the smallest of the 57 US National Parks, yet we have more than 2.6 million visitors per year. In 2016, Acadia’s Centennial Birthday Year topped out at over 3 million visitors, ranking Acadia as the 9th most visited park in the nation.
Since 1999, propane powered Island Explorer buses have carried more than 2 million passengers into Acadia National Park, eliminating more than 685,000 automobile trips and preventing 6,444 tons of greenhouse gases
There was a major fire in 1947 referred to as “The Year Maine Burned,” that burned more than 10,000 acres within the park – 17,188 total acres on Mount Desert Island. A careful eye can identify the burned areas by the presence of hardwood trees such as maple and oak. The slower growing evergreens are still widespread over the unburned sections.
Much of the physical labor required to build the park’s carriage roads and trails was provided by the Civilian Conservation Corps beginning in 1933.
One of the most unique historical aspects of how Acadia National Park formed is that it is due to the vision and donations of private citizens like George B. Dorr and Charles W. Eliot who anticipated the dangers that over-development would bring to this coastal wonderland and acted quickly to prevent it. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., played a critical role by building the now famous carriage roads (1915 – 1933) and by donating over 11,000 acres of land. There have since been countless others who have donated their time and resources towards the continued realization of this dream so that we may all experience its raw natural beauty.
To best enjoy Acadia National Park we implore each guest to go to the Bar Harbor Inn Gift Shop and purchase a Visitors Pass. Each pass helps support the park with employing park rangers, trail maintenance and provides for the huge variety of public programs the park provides
