July heralds the start of the summer season at Acadia National Park. This year, the month also marks the publication of the 4th edition of our award-winning book, Hiking Acadia National Park: A Guide to the Park’s Greatest Hiking Adventures by Falcon Guides.

It’s the second year in a row we’ve had a new hiking book published by Falcon, with Coastal Trails of Maine, including Acadia National Park released in 2021.

The new version of Hiking Acadia National Park builds and improves upon the prior edition, which won the highly-regarded National Outdoor Book Award in 2016.

We’ve hiked together in Acadia for almost 25 years, but we still found new things in the Maine national park to include in this latest edition: A snowy owl perched on a spruce tree on Cadillac summit in December; a fiery sunset from the Sundew Trail on Schoodic; the dance floor on Baker Island; and the exhilaration of an 8-year-old after hiking Great Head are just a few.

Among the highlights of the new book: The addition of two new trails, Seaside Path and Baker Island; the latest information on about 155 miles of trails; and updated photos, including some notable pictures by retired Acadia Ranger Charlie Jacobi who captured what might be part of the highest waterfall in the park.

Park officials helped review Coastal Maine and Acadia hiking books

During the past several years of writing and researching the book, we worked closely with Gary Stellpflug, foreman of the Acadia trails crew, and other park officials, as well as Friends of Acadia volunteers, past and present, to assure accuracy and the most up-to-date details on the hiking paths and trails, whether on Mount Desert Island or less traveled sections like Isle au Haut and the Schoodic Peninsula.

The 310-page book  can be found at Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shops, Amazon.com and elsewhere. The book features 78 hikes, from the easy Ocean Path to the expert-only Precipice Trail, along with custom maps and useful items like distance, estimated hiking time, difficulty rating, trail surface, best time to hike, canine compatibility, nearest Island Explorer bus stop and trailhead directions and GPS data.

But if Hiking Acadia National Park is a heavier tome than you want to carry in your backpack, there’s the related Best Easy Day Hikes, Acadia National Park, 4th edition published in 2019, also available at Sherman’s in Bar Harbor. This 112-page guide can fit in your pocket, but it only features 22 hikes, all on Mount Desert Island, and has no photos.

Whether you opt for the more complete Acadia hiking guide or the pocket guide, you’ll discover a “Trail Finder” section in the front, that helps you figure out the best hikes for children, peak baggers or history buffs, among other categories.

Or maybe you’d like to explore further afield than Acadia during your trip to Maine? Or you’re looking for less crowded trails than even those on Isle au Haut or Schoodic?

Then you might like to add to your collection our other Falcon guide, Coastal Trails of Maine, including Acadia National Park, released just a year ago and winner of the 2022 Silver Medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards.

This 264-page guide includes coastal trails in such less traveled areas as Indian Point Blagden Preserve on Mount Desert Island, and Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge or Great Wass Island farther in Downeast Maine.

The book was featured on News Center Maine’s popular 207 public affairs show.

It’s also the perfect hiking guide if you’re traveling up the Maine coast and looking not only for trails, but places to eat or stay, or lighthouses, museums and historic sites to visit.

A total of 41 trails, stretching from Marginal Way in Ogunquit to Mowry Beach Preserve in Lubec, are featured, along with color photos and maps.

Citing our interviews with park rangers and managers, the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands called Coastal Trails of Maine “a great new guide,” in its June 2021 newsletter,” and we hope you agree.

Hiking books among giveaways in virtual race over Acadia’s 26 peaks

If you’re not planning a trip to Acadia until next year, why not enter the new Acadia to Katahdin Virtual Race and virtually hike the 26 peaks, and be entered into a gift giveaway that includes the new edition of Hiking Acadia?

We’ve been sponsoring these virtual races since 2016, the year of Acadia’s Centennial, to help raise funds for the Friends of Acadia and other charities.

This latest edition of the virtual race takes you on a virtual National Parks tour, from Glacier Bay in Alaska to Yellowstone in Wyoming, from Shenandoah in Virginia to Acadia, and ends atop Katahdin, the terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

Earn a medal (or two) with one of the following custom options: A ribbon featuring the 26 peaks of Acadia and the 3 peaks in Baxter State Park on the Appalachian Mountain Club’s New England Four Thousand Footers List; an I LOVE Friends of Acadia or I LOVE Millinocket Memorial Library ribbon; or a rainbow or tie-dye ribbon.

All medals feature a glittery “Maine STRONG” logo, except for the one with the tie-dye ribbon, which features a moose and lobster and the phrase “Acadia to Katahdin.”

Everyone is a winner, with medals and raffle prizes mailed soon after Dec. 31, whether you completed the segments by then or not. And you only need to complete the first 50 miles by the end of the year to have scaled all 26 peaks of Acadia virtually, and earn a digital certificate marking the accomplishment.

Mileage from this race and future races will count toward cumulative totals, allowing you to reach special milestones and recognition. Details of the Acadia to Katahdin Virtual Racing Hall of Fame to be announced at acadiaonmymind.com/virtual-races

At least 5% of gross proceeds from the race go to help support Acadia National Park via the nonprofit Friends of Acadia, and Millinocket via the nonprofit Millinocket Memorial Library.

It’s easy to join the Acadia to Katahdin Virtual Race

What are virtual races, you ask? They let people from anywhere in the USA or the world sign up to run, hike, walk, bicycle or log other forms of miles, whether to raise funds for charity, earn a finisher’s medallion or just set a fitness goal. Races can include technology-driven virtual routes that allow participants to see their progress, get a Google photo of their virtual location and check out the competition online, such as in the Acadia to Katahdin Virtual Race. Or it can be as simple as allowing people to record their mileage via the honor system in order to get a medal in the mail. There are different themes for virtual races with medals, and even Disney runs them.

1. Sign up with your name and e-mail at this registration page
2. The race starts on July 1 and ends Dec. 31
3. You can track your daily miles any way you like, and can backdate them to July 1
4. Log your miles on the race page
5. Racery will keep track of fun stats like your total mileage and miles per week

Thanks to Racery’s virtual race platform, which has powered our virtual challenges since 2016. In addition to virtual races for charity fundraising like ours, Racery hosts many company virtual fitness challenges. Race hosts can use Racery for a virtual swim in the English Channel, a virtual walk on the Moon, or an Everest virtual stair challenge.