UPDATE: The summit road for Cadillac Mountain reopened to motorists on Friday, Oct. 3 and is scheduled to remain open through at least the end of the motor vehicle reservation system on Oct. 26. Also, the bathrooms and the Park Store at the Hulls Cove Visitor Center have opened for the first time during the shutdown.
UPDATE: The Friends of Acadia has a list of what is open and what is closed in Acadia National Park during the federal government shutdown. The list is updated when needed.
UPDATE: This story was updated on Thursday, Oct. 2 with the closure of Cadillac Mountain to motor vehicles, the closure of the Wild Gardens of Acadia and interviews and photos of several more visitors affected by the shutdown.
The government shutdown at Acadia National Park closed the park’s main visitor center, the Nature Center and a major fee station outside Sand Beach, on the first day of a federal government shutdown that left some visitors confused and frustrated.
No special sign about the government shutdown at Acadia, just a “Closed” sign that was easy to miss, as many visitors who climbed the 52 steps to the Hulls Cove Visitor Center found out on Oct. 1.
Acadia’s major campgrounds – Blackwoods and Seawall on Mount Desert Island and Schoodic Woods on the Schoodic peninsula – are open and are planned to remain open during the shutdown, according to rangers we interviewed and a federal Department of Interior (DOI) directive for managing National Park Service (NPS) campgrounds. The Park Loop Road, viewpoints, hiking trails, parking lots and the carriage roads are open during the shutdown at Acadia. The Island Explorer was operating as usual.
In a chaotic situation, the summit road to Cadillac Mountain was open on Wednesday, then barricaded on Thursday and then was scheduled to reopen on Friday to people with motor vehicle reservations. Although the summit road was barricaded on Thursday, hikers and bikers were using the road during another blue sky day. About two dozen vehicles were parked illegally along the Park Loop Road in between “no parking” signs near the summit road.
“It’s a bummer for sure — the government shutdown,” said Nathan Keever, a network engineer from Traverse City, MI, who rode his bike to the base of the summit road and was planning to bike to the summit.
He had a motor vehicle reservation for sunrise on Cadillac on Friday that he expected he could not use, but he said he was not concerned about that so much. He said he was mainly concerned with the park’s loss of entrance fees because of the closure of fee stations outside Sand Beach. Fees help pay for improvements at the park. “It could be bad for their future enhancements,” he said.
Nathan Keever, a network engineer from Traverse City, MI, on Thursday, Oct. 2 was at the base of Cadillac Mountain and was looking forward to biking on the summit road to Cadillac Mountain, saying he could zig-zag on the road with no cars allowed during the government shutdown. On the other hand, he had a motor vehicle reservation for sunrise on Friday that he can no longer use. “It’s a bummer for sure,” he said of the shutdown
Shutdown at Acadia disappoints visitors from across the country
In a little-noticed change, the Friends of Acadia said the Cadillac summit road would reopen on Friday for vehicles with reservations. The summit road requires a motor vehicle reservation from May to October and closes at 9 pm.
On the second day of the government shutdown, the summit road to Cadillac Mountain was barricaded to block motorists but was open to bicyclists and hikers.
Outside the closed Hulls Cove Visitor Center on Thursday, MJ and Jim Cuber of Brighton, MI said they visited Acadia to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary, but then they were caught in the shutdown chaos when Cadillac was closed to motor vehicles and then reopened again. MJ Cuber said they netted a daytime reservation for Thursday and a sunrise reservation for Friday to drive up Cadillac and then received an email from the park’s reservation system on Thursday saying that Cadillac would be closed to vehicles. “I was bummed,” MJ Cuber said of the government shutdown. “I had a feeling it was coming.”
Mike Adams of Oklahoma was on a tour that included the Wild Gardens of Acadia, which features plants native to the park. He found the attraction’s gates wired shut. He said it was “ridiculous” that Congress allowed the government shutdown by failing to pass a bill to pay for government services in the new fiscal year that started Oct. 1. “Get back to work,” he said of elected officials. “That’s what we are paying them for.”
In the Sieur de Monts section of Acadia, the Wild Gardens of Acadia, which features native plant species found in the national park, is closed during the government shutdown. It was open on the first day of the shutdown.
Fee stations at Sand Beach closed in the shutdown at Acadia
At the Sand Beach fee stations, cars and trucks drove through, raising concerns that the shutdown at Acadia was causing a loss of fees. The windows were closed at each of the three fee stations and each had signs that said, “Entrance Station Closed.” Cars stopped at the windows to read the signs and then entered the park. Normally, rangers would check entrance passes and require purchases if people were without passes.
The Sand Beach entrance station was closed, giving the green light for cars and other vehicles to enter the Park Loop Road without having entrance passes checked during the government shutdown at Acadia.
The park’s two biggest parking lots – at the Jordan Pond north lot and at the Hulls Cove Visitor Center – were open during the shutdown at Acadia, though the visitor center itself was shuttered. The Hulls Cove lot had some spaces open, but the 270-space Jordan Pond north lot was jam packed and cars were lined up attempting to enter and exit.
The Jordan Pond House, run by a concessionaire, was open when we visited on Wednesday and is set to be open until Oct. 26, according to the restaurant’s web site.
The Wildwood Stables, also run by a concessionaire, will be open.
Rockefeller Hall, a welcome center in the Schoodic section of Acadia, was closed.
All volunteer activities in the park ceased starting on Wednesday with a few exceptions, such as campground hosts and assistant volunteers, and search and rescue volunteers.
The federal government shut down at 12:01 am on Wednesday after Congress failed to pass a bill to extend appropriations into the new fiscal year. Some services during the shutdown at Acadia, including campgrounds, trash removal, emergency and law enforcement and cleaning of restrooms, are operating with “retained recreation fees balances,” according to the DOI document.
“All systems go” for the Island Explorer during shutdown at Acadia
The Island Explorer, the park’s fare-free shuttle, was operating under “business as usual, until we hear otherwise,” said Paul Murphy, executive director of Downeast Transportation, a nonprofit that runs the Island Explorer. “All systems go.”
As some visitors milled around along the edge of the Hulls Cove Visitor Center parking lot wondering what to do during the Acadia shutdown, others knew to get on board the fare-free Island Explorer, as the Park Loop Road remains open. The shuttle was operating business as usual.
The shuttle was serving all stops in Acadia under a fall schedule, including campgrounds, the Park Loop Road, Jordan Pond and Sand Beach, Murphy said. It is set to run through Oct. 13.
Murphy said he felt for his friends at Acadia and he hopes they get back to work soon. Most National Park Service employees were placed on furlough without pay during the shutdown at Acadia, the first since the winter of 2019.
At the Hulls Cove Visitor Center, Ann Marie Feather and her husband, Jim Feather, of Elizabethtown, Pa. said it was frustrating to find the visitor center closed since, for example, they wanted to buy a paper map and there was nothing on Acadia’s web site on Wednesday morning to publicize the closure of the visitor center. There was only one small sign at the visitor center, saying it was closed and no reason was provided.
Ann Marie Feather, left, and her husband, Jim Feather, stand outside the Hulls Cove Visitor Center after finding it closed on Wednesday morning.
Some visitors confused and disappointed during shutdown at Acadia
“I definitely feel it is a little chaotic,” said Jim Feather, who works in software. “Nobody seems to know what is going on.”
“It’s frustrating,” he added. “They are playing politics in DC and not doing their job in making sure the government runs.”
Many visitors declined to be interviewed or declined to provide their names but some said they were upset or confused. A few said they did not even know about the government shutdown.
Dan Keesler, a retiree from Anderson, SC, also interviewed after being turned away at Hulls Cove, said he wanted to spend money at the visitor center. But he said he was pleased that the hiking trails and carriage roads are open.
Left to right, Roberta and Kyle Palanzi,of Amelia Island, Fla. said they did not know the Hulls Cove Visitor Center was closed when they drove there on Thursday to use the restrooms at Acadia National Park. “I just feel sad for the people who work here – the rangers and others,” said Kyle Palanzi, an operating engineer. “They keep the national parks clean and safe for us and for the wildlife.”
“That’s exactly right,” he said. “That is something to be thankful for.”
Kyle and Roberta Palanzi of Amelia Island, Fla. said they did not know the Hulls Cove Visitor Center was closed when they drove there on Thursday to use the restrooms. “I just feel sad for the people who work here – the rangers and others,” said Kyle Palanzi, an operating engineer. “They keep the national parks clean and safe for us and for the wildlife.”
At the Sieur de Monts section of Acadia, Tina Kalien, and her husband, Ken Kalien, were visiting Acadia for the first time in about 20 years, this time with their dog, Makeda. They said they were hoping to visit Cadillac but did not know if it was possible.
Tina Kalien, left, and Ken Kalien, right, of Haverhill, MA, visited Acadia for the first time in about 20 years, with their dog Makeda. Ken Kalien said he was very disappointed to find the Nature Center closed during the shutdown at Acadia.
Visitors find Nature Center locked and closed
Ken Kalien said he was “very disappointed” to find the Nature Center closed. He said the government is obligated to keep open some services. The Kaliens visited the Wild Gardens of Acadia, which was open on Wednesday but was set to be closed during the shutdown, the NPS said. Ranger programs were also cancelled.
“I’m not going to be back here for years,” he said. “I’m not going to live forever.”
Tina Kalien said she understood the reasons the shutdown at Acadia was occurring. She said she was neutral on the shutdown.
“They need to work it out,” she said of politicians in Washington. “If this is what they need to do, then so be it.”
Two people found the doors locked at the Hulls Cove Visitor Center in Acadia National Park on Thursday, the second day of a federal government shutdown.
The shutdown started on Wednesday after Democrats in the US Senate on Tuesday night defeated a bill to pay mostly for stop-gap spending until Nov. 21. The bill had been approved in the Republican-controlled US House. Democrats in both the House and Senate are pushing to restore Medicaid cuts and to extend tax credits under Obamacare, but the bill did not include those measures. It’s unknown how long the shutdown will last.
The Senate voted 55-45 in support of the House bill to extend spending into the new fiscal starting on Oct. 1. Republicans in the Senate hold a 53-47 majority but most bills need 60 votes for Senate approval. That means at least some Democrats would have needed to vote with Republicans on legislation to approve spending for the new fiscal year and avoid a shutdown. Only two Democrats and one independent, Angus King of Maine, voted in support. One Republican voted in opposition.
The shutdown came during one of the park’s busiest months and during sunny weather that drew crowds to downtown Bar Harbor and the park. The Friends of Acadia issued a release saying the park generated $1.5 million in fee revenue last year in October. “During the shutdown, fee collectors and visitor center staff, who usually aid visitors with park pass purchases, will be furloughed,” Friends of Acadia said. “This puts significant park revenue, needed for next year’s operations, at risk.”
Until a resolution is reached in Washington, DC, visitors during the shutdown at Acadia National Park may continue to be confused and frustrated.
Scenes from the government shutdown at Acadia National Park
The gate to the Wild Gardens of Acadia was open on Day 1 of the government shutdown, but not on Day 2.
No sign here at the Hulls Cove Visitor Center to let people know of the government shutdown. A small sign was at the base of the 52 steps to the top, but many people missed it and climbed the stairs before finding out the doors were locked.
This driver was lucky to have a vehicle reservation for Cadillac on the first day of the government shutdown at Acadia, as the summit road was open. But on the second day, the road was barricaded and no vehicles were allowed.
Thanks for including the reactions of real visitors.
Hi Jim, yes, it was important to get the views of visitors in the park, and to go to some of the most-visited sites, during the first day of the shutdown – hiking boots on the ground, so to speak! – even if it took more time than we anticipated to put together the story. Thanks again!