UPDATE: Department of Interior on Wednesday released a plan for Acadia National Park and other national parks to operate during a government shutdown that started on Wednesday after Congress failed to approve a bill to fund the government at the start of the new fiscal year. In a release, the National Parks Conservation Association says the DOI plan calls for parks to be largely left open with minimal staff. The DOI plan does not urge parks to discourage visitors. Campgrounds, most of the Park Loop Road at Acadia, entrance stations, viewpoints and trails to remain open.

A federal government shutdown at Acadia National Park could hit on Wednesday, closing at least some parts of the national park during one of its busiest months of the year and hurting local businesses.

The shutdown of the federal government would come on Wednesday, Oct. 1, if Congress remains deadlocked on a bill that would extend federal appropriations beyond the end of the 2025 fiscal year on Tuesday. In past shutdowns, thousands of federal workers were put on furloughs, including employees at Acadia, but this year there could also be extensive firings of workers under a plan by President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget.

President Donald Trump was scheduled to meet on Monday with leaders in Congress from both political parties in attempt to reach an agreement that would prevent a government shutdown at Acadia and much of the rest of the federal government.

How would Acadia be affected by a federal government shutdown?

Department of the Interior updating shutdown plan

A contingency plan for a shutdown, called operations in the absence of appropriations, remains on the Department of Interior web site from 2024.

“Congress is working through the appropriations process and we are hopeful that a lapse in appropriations will not occur,” Amanda Pollock, deputy chief of interpretation at Acadia National Park, stated in an email on Friday. “The plans on our website are from 2024. They are currently being reviewed and updated. Updated plans will be put online as soon as they’re finalized.”

The plan says there would be an orderly shutdown at national parks, with notification to the public to start on the first day.

“In general, national parks would be closed during a shutdown,” according to the plan. “Areas that by their nature are physically accessible to the public will face significantly reduced services. The public will be encouraged not to visit National Park sites during the period of lapse in appropriations.”

Parks would have access to some funds outside of annual appropriations to maintain restrooms, trash collection, campground operations and law enforcement emergency operations, the plan said.

For Acadia, the Interior Department’s 2024 shutdown plan, as described, could mean that most of the park loop road, hiking trails and most parking lots would remain open during a government shutdown since those facilities are generally open 24 hours to the public.

As a general rule, if a facility is locked or secured during non-business hours – the Hulls Cove Visitor Center and Cadillac Mountain, for example – it would be locked or secured during a
shutdown, the plan says. The Jordan Pond House restaurant, operated by a private company under a lease with the NPS, planned to be open during a 2023 shutdown that was averted at the last minute by Congress.

Cadillac road could close during government shutdown at Acadia

The summit road to Cadillac currently requires a motor vehicle reservation and the road closes at 9 pm to cars.  It’s currently unclear but without rangers to check permits, the summit road is likely to close during a government shutdown at Acadia.

Another sign that most space in national parks could remain open to the public during a shutdown came from Doug Borgum, the Secretary of the Department of Interior. Borgum issued an order in April that vowed the national parks shall remain “open and accessible” to the public to ensure visitor access and satisfaction despite any budget and staff cuts.

Borgum’s April order prompted 40 former national park superintendents to send him a letter on Sept. 25, asking that national parks be closed if a shutdown occurs. The letter to Borgum, signed by former Acadia Superintendent Sheridan Steele, said it would be reckless to leave visitors and park resources at risk with minimal or no staff during a shutdown.

Paul Murphy, executive director of Downeast Transportation, which operates the fare-free Island Explorer, said the Island Explorer would take its lead from Acadia National Park during a government shutdown at Acadia.  If the Park Loop Road is closed, then the Island Explorer cannot access it, he said.

Island Explorer will operate during government shutdown

Outside the park, the Island Explorer would also continue to serve anything that is open, including hotels, motels and private campgrounds, the Village Green and Bar Harbor Airport, during a government shutdown, he added. The shuttle is operating under a fall schedule. “Anything that is open, we’ll serve,” Murphy said.

The Acadia Gateway Center, a $32 million transit hub and information center, would be open during a federal government shutdown since it is owned by the state of Maine and partly operated by the Maine Office of Tourism and the Maine Tourism Association. The Gateway Center opened Sept. 3 off Route 3 in Trenton north of Acadia National Park. Island Explorer buses operate from the Gateway Center, but many visitors have not used the Gateway Center. That could change during a federal government shutdown if the Hulls Cove Visitor Center is closed. The NPS is likely to close its separate information desk at the Gateway Center during a shutdown.

The government shutdown at Acadia would be another blow to the National Park Service and Acadia National Park during the second Trump administration. A federal hiring freeze, which started on Jan. 20, has meant that Acadia cannot hire to fill about 60 vacant year-round positions, according to Todd Martin, northeast senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. Acadia also only employed 85 seasonal employees this year, according to Martin. That would be down from 115 seasonal employees hired in each of 2023 and 2024, largely because of a lack of affordable housing near the park, Pollock had told us previously. Overall, the park each year attempts to hire between 150 to 175 seasonal employees each year.

“Originally, the hiring freeze issued in January included seasonals, but after an outcry, seasonal staff were exempted from the hiring freeze about six weeks later in March. Acadia and all parks lost about 6 weeks during the critical seasonal hiring period. Combined with the lack of workforce housing, uncompetitive pay, and the chilling effect the Trump Administration has had on the park service, it was a difficult year for parks to hire seasonals, including Acadia. DOI set a goal for NPS to hire 7,700 seasonals, but parks were only able to hire about 4,500 seasonals this year,” Martin wrote.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration fired probationary employees in the federal government including eight at Acadia who were among 1,000 NPS probationary employees let go.  A federal judge later ruled the firings were illegal and the Interior Department said it was reinstating these employees while appeals are pending.

“Congress must come to an agreement to keep the government and our parks open, staffed and protected,” Martin told us in an email. “Members of Congress must come together, do their job and pass a short-term funding bill to get parks and communities the support they need.”

Michael J. Good, owner of Down East Nature Tours in Bar Harbor and founder of the Acadia Birding Festival, said a shutdown this week would not greatly affect his business but would be terrible for the local economy and would add to economic hardship being inflicted on the country during the second Trump administration.

“No one in Congress or, especially, in the White House, understands how local businesses who
depend on the fall income will be devastated if this goes on through October,” Good wrote in an email. “My God, when will the madness stop?”

Past government shutdowns have hurt Acadia

Two major government shutdowns during the 2010s affected Acadia in different ways.

A 16-day shutdown that started Oct. 1, 2013 dramatically cut visits to the park during the busy month and hurt sales at hotels, restaurants and other businesses in Bar Harbor. The National Park Service closed all national park units during the shutdown. In a follow-up report, the National Park Service estimated that visits to Acadia fell by 192,000, or 67 percent, from the average for the month for the three prior years and visitor spending plummeted to $8 million from an average $24.1 million, even accounting for a possible rescheduling of visits to the final two weeks of October or a shifting of spending to other non-NPS sites.

During the 2013 shutdown, all park roads — including the Park Loop and the road to the summit of Cadillac Mountain — were shut to traffic. Hiking trails and carriage roads were also closed during 2013. Hikers and bike riders entered the park around barricades but at one point rangers fined people who used scooters or mopeds.

It’s unclear whether the same closures would happen if there is a government shutdown in Acadia on Oct. 1, 2025.

Past shutdown delayed start of motor vehicle reservations

A second shutdown started on Dec. 22, 2018 and lasted 35 days. It had little economic impact on surrounding communities because it came during the slowest time of year for Acadia and Bar Harbor. During the partial government shutdown at Acadia, certain gates at Acadia and many other national parks were kept open for visitors, but most staff were put on furlough. Fortunately, Acadia escaped the vandalism that occurred at some big parks in the West. The shutdown did postpone the start of a vehicle reservation system on Cadillac Mountain for a year, because almost all of the park’s 80-90 full-time staff, including Superintendent Kevin Schneider, were put on furlough and finalization of the transportation plan was delayed.

In the past, furloughed government employees received back pay after they returned to work.

A government shutdown at Acadia and other federal services looms because of a dispute in Congress. The Republican-controlled House passed a bill that would fund the government at current levels through Nov. 21 and the bill is now in the Senate. Democrats in the House and Senate are pressing for a bill that would extend tax credits approved in 2021 for people on the Affordable Care Act health insurance and restore cuts in Medicaid approved by Republicans. Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, but most bills need 60 votes to pass in the Senate. That means at least some Democrats would need to vote with Republicans on a bill to approve spending for the new fiscal year.

Essential services like Social Security, Medicare, public safety and national security would continue to operate during a shutdown.