Category Archives: Centennial

News about Acadia National Park and National Park Service Centennial

Year of celebrating joyously with Acadia Centennial events

Acadia National Park’s 100th year has barely dawned, and already, more than 70 Acadia Centennial events are filling up the official calendar, featuring something for every month, and involving some of the more than 250 Centennial partners.

Centennial logo for Acadia National Park

The official Acadia Centennial logo

This week, a couple of Acadia Senior College courses begin: On Tuesday, Jan. 12, an 8-week series on the history of Acadia National Park, by Acadia Centennial Task Force co-chair Jack Russell; and on Wednesday, Jan. 13, a 6-week session on the geology of Mount Desert Island, by geologist Duane Braun.

Rounding out the Acadia Centennial events this month: A Jan. 23 Ellsworth Public Library presentation on Schoodic Point, by author Allen Workman; a Jan. 25 bean supper and Centennial kick-off event by the Mount Desert Island Historical Society; and a 1-week winter-in-Acadia photography retreat beginning Jan. 31, by photographer Colleen Miniuk-Sperry.

Among the other Acadia Centennial event highlights throughout the year, with some sure to fit into your plans and appeal to your interests:

Continue reading →

Acadia New Year’s resolutions with a Centennial twist

So you weren’t among the hardy souls who greeted the first sunrise of the Acadia Centennial year, either on top of Cadillac or along Otter Cliffs?

That’s OK, because there’s plenty of time to make your Acadia New Year’s resolutions, and to rededicate yourself to ones you’ve made before.

Here are some ideas, whether you want to give back, get more fit or otherwise make Acadia New Year’s resolutions worthy of marking the 100th anniversary of the park, and the National Park Service.

acadia sunrise

If you didn’t get up to Acadia to catch the first sunrise of 2016, don’t worry, Vincent Lawrence of Acadia Images Photography Workshops did. This dawn-of-the-Centennial photo was taken near Otter Cliffs, looking east. (Image courtesy of Acadia Images)

Continue reading →

Kurt Diederich’s Climb built in 1915 to pave way for Acadia

Another in a series of historic trail highlights leading up to the Acadia Centennial

If not for the building of Kurt Diederich’s Climb 100 years ago, there may not have been an Acadia Centennial to celebrate in 2016.

Kurt Diederich's Climb

Climb these stone steps to begin Kurt Diederich’s Climb, built 100 years ago in memory of a young man who loved these mountains of Mount Desert Island.

In the spring of 1914, George B. Dorr, the “father of Acadia,” failed in his initial attempt to get President Woodrow Wilson to create a national monument, to protect the mountains of Mount Desert Island that he and so many others loved.

The reason: Too many disconnected parcels of land, according to “Pathmakers: Cultural Landscape Report for the Historic Hiking Trail System of Mount Desert Island,” by the National Park Service’s Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, and Acadia National Park.

That spurred a campaign by Dorr and others to connect the land, by securing donation of more acreage to fill in the gaps, and building a network of trails like Kurt Diederich’s Climb, Kane Path, Precipice Trail, Beachcroft Path and Homans Path, according to “Pathmakers.” That finally created a cohesive whole worthy of federal protection. Acadia’s beginning was secured on July 8, 1916, with President Wilson’s designation of Sieur de Monts National Monument.

kurt diederich

Kurt Diederich’s daughter Elsa, who was about 6 when her father died, is seen here along some of the many steps on Kurt Diederich’s Climb, in a photo taken circa 1920. (NPS Archives)

As Acadia’s Centennial approaches, here’s an appreciation of Kurt Diederich’s Climb, and of the driving forces that helped build and maintain it. Like with so much of Acadia’s history, the story behind Kurt Diederich’s Climb highlights the love so many people have had for Mount Desert Island over the years, and the ongoing struggle to protect the landscape.

The elaborate stone-stepped trail begins at the outlet of the Tarn, and climbs swiftly up the east face of Dorr Mountain, along hundreds of stone steps. The words “Kurt Diederich’s Climb” are carved into one of the steps at the start. A plaque with the phrase “In memory of Kurt Diederich who loved these mountains” once graced the trail, and is now held at park headquarters, according to “The Memorials of Acadia National Park,” by Donald P. Lenahan, who also writes a blog of the same name. Continue reading →

2016 Acadia Centennial makes for special holiday gift ideas

For the Acadia National Park fan on your list, or for a year-end charitable donation, the 2016 Acadia Centennial offers a once-in-a-century set of holiday gift ideas.

Acadia Centennial

This Acadia Centennial calendar, by ranger naturalist Bob Thayer, can be purchased directly through his photography Web site, at local businesses such as Sherman’s, or online at eParks(R). At least 5% of gross proceeds will go to Centennial efforts and other Acadia projects. (Image courtesy of Bob Thayer)

How about an official Acadia Centennial calendar, fleece blanket, magnet, embroidered patch or baseball cap? A 0.75L Camelbak bottle to commemorate the 100th anniversary? A handcrafted glazed stoneware mug? A stemless wine glass? A massage for the outdoor enthusiast on your list?

These and other items are produced or sold by official Acadia Centennial partners, who’ve promised to donate at least 5% of gross proceeds to support Centennial projects and other Acadia National Park efforts. A central list of products and services is on the Acadia Centennial Partners Web site, which provides links to where you can make purchases, whether through a local business or online. Not all officially sanctioned products or services may be on that site yet.

Or perhaps you’d rather make a potentially tax-deductible gift to benefit Acadia in the name of family members or friends, as your way of marking the Acadia Centennial? Here are some ways to do that:

Centennial logo for Acadia National Park

The official Acadia Centennial logo

  • Gift membership to Friends of Acadia – On Giving Tuesday, Dec. 1, the nonprofit world’s counterpoint to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the Friends of Acadia hopes to add 100 new members. By giving a gift membership, you would not only help the nonprofit reach its 100-new-member goal, you’d also provide a year’s worth of membership benefits to a family member or friend, including a subscription to the Friends of Acadia Journal, six note cards depicting Acadia at night, and a window decal. A bargain with membership starting at $40.
  • A tribute gift to Friends of Acadia or Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park – Not limited to the holidays, such a gift can commemorate a birthday, anniversary or any other special occasion. Such a gift to the Friends of Acadia would be recognized in the Friends of Acadia Journal. The Schoodic Institute, which provides environmental research and education and such citizen science programs as HawkWatch, can notify the person you’re honoring with the gift.

Want more Centennial gift-giving options? 2016 is also the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, opening up other holiday gift ideas. Continue reading →

New Acadia wayside exhibits mark history, seasons at park

Under sunny skies during a Labor Day weekend visit, Smriti Rao and her daughter, Nandita Karthik, 8, stopped along Acadia National Park’s Loop Road to enjoy new wayside exhibits overlooking Frenchman Bay.

Acadia wayside exhibit

Just south of Hulls Cove Visitor Center, a pullout on the Park Loop Road overlooking Frenchman Bay features this wayside exhibit, providing the history of how Mount Desert Island, Cadillac, Pemetic and Acadia got their names.

“I think they are very helpful,” Rao said on Sunday after pausing to read an exhibit titled “The French Connection,” describing the role that Samuel Champlain and others from France and elsewhere played in the history of Mount Desert Island. “It reminded me of what the French contributed.”

Her daughter, a third-grader, pointed to a section of the exhibit about the Wabanaki Indians and said it was similar to what she learned at school about Native American history.

Visitors to Acadia National Park this year, such as Smriti, Nandita and 6 others in their family up over the Labor Day weekend, may be surprised to see new roadside and other exhibits, erected in time for the park’s Centennial next year.

acadia wayside exhibit

Another wayside exhibit overlooking Frenchman Bay describes the importance of the bay throughout history and how it got its name. It identifies the Porcupine Islands, and includes photos of a birch bark canoe, a square-rigger and a cruise ship. Don’t just drive by. Stop and learn.

On Mount Desert Island, 64 new Acadia wayside exhibits were installed last fall and winter, including some that replaced exhibits dating from the 1970s and 1980s, said Lynne Dominy, chief of interpretation and education at Acadia National Park.

“Over a couple of months, suddenly everything was replaced across MDI,” she said. The exhibits can be found along the Cadillac Summit Loop and parking lot, the Jordan Pond House observation deck, the Park Loop Road and other parts of the island. Continue reading →

The cairns of Acadia: Objects of wonder, subjects of vandals

One in a series on Acadia’s Bates cairns

The iconic Bates-style cairns of Acadia National Park, Zen-like in their simplicity and historic in nature, keep hikers from getting lost on the trails. But they also attract vandals and random rock-stacking visitors, making trail maintenance a nightmare.

bates cairn

Each Bates-style cairn is unique in coloring, size and shape, such as this one along the Dorr North Ridge Trail.

A couple of years ago, vandals knocked over nearly all the cairns on the Cadillac South Ridge Trail, even shattering some of the rocks. And every season, visitors pile rocks on ridgetops and cobblestone beaches, not knowing that violates Acadia park rules, or that it may offend others who come after.

Just last month, a reporter for The Spectrum & Daily News of St. George, Utah, wrote an article entitled “Stacking cairns to commune with nature,” about a family trip to Acadia, featuring pictures of his sons piling rocks on the beach along the Ship Harbor Trail. He reasoned that the next big storm would knock the rocks over, and that it’s not the same as graffiti or vandalism marring national parks.

For park resource specialist Charlie Jacobi, who’s been trying to educate the public for years about leaving Bates-style cairns and other rocks alone, it’s been so disheartening, he almost gave up last year. “I was ready to throw in the towel and say, ‘We can’t do it,’” Jacobi said in an interview. “It is a waste of our time when somebody is undoing the work that you do on a daily basis.”

cairn

Like a mini Stonehenge, this Bates-style cairn stands guard on the Pemetic South Ridge Trail.

It’s against park rules to randomly stack rocks, or to add to or dismantle Bates cairns. The issue of people messing around with cairns or building stone heaps of their own isn’t just dogging Acadia. Earlier this month, National Public Radio focused on the controversy in a piece entitled “Making Mountains Out of Trail Markers? Cairns Spark Debate in Southwest,” spurred by a column in the High Country News, “Stop the rock-stacking.”

Whether the issue is unofficial rock piles in the Southwest or in Acadia, vandalized Bates-style cairns or graffiti in national parks, said Jacobi: “There’s a larger issue here about stewardship of public lands and land trusts and places we love and go to.”

“Leave What You Find,” one of the seven principles developed by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, is the message people need to get, said Jacobi.

“Whether it is rocks or wildflowers or anything else, the little bit of restraint that is needed to share Acadia or any place with thousands and thousands of other people is tough to accept. But I think that is what we need to do,” said Jacobi.

Otherwise there could be rock stacks littering the landscape, or vandalized Bates-style cairns. “I’ve got photos ad nauseum. I’ve got pictures of different things that visitors have built. You could see holes in the soil where rocks have been removed,” said Jacobi. He’s also seen rock stacks piled on a boulder in the middle of Echo Lake, destruction of summit cairns and other random acts.

cairn

This photo of cairn vandalism and rock-stacking on the east face of Dorr Mountain along what is now known as Schiff Path was taken in the late 1990s. (NPS photo provided courtesy of Charlie Jacobi)

Continue reading →

Q&A with Charlie Jacobi of Acadia National Park

charlie jacobi

Charlie Jacobi is resource specialist at Acadia National Park. (Photo courtesy of Charlie Jacobi)

Charlie Jacobi started as a seasonal ranger at Acadia National Park in 1984 and is currently a resource specialist. Jacobi spoke with Acadia on My Mind  about a wide range of issues, including an effort to preserve historic cairns, the possible effects of global warming, big changes over the years and the chances that President Obama will return to the park. Edited responses:

There is a major planning process in Acadia to control traffic. What is this about and how can the public contribute?

Charlie Jacobi: We do have a transportation plan. We are developing it. We are encouraging the public to participate as much as possible.

We certainly welcome anybody who is visiting the park to participate.

acadia national park traffic

Acadia National Park wants your input on how to reduce traffic jams, like this one on top of Cadillac Mountain. (NPS photo)

It is all an effort to deal with how we manage both the vehicular traffic and the numbers of visitors to the park. It is a big challenge. For folks who aren’t able to be here for the public meetings, there is a newsletter that is available to explain the whole process. You can find that information online on the park’s web site and also find  on the park’s web site  a way to participate. We are looking for public comments – both positive and negative – about how people visit the park and use the roads and trails and the carriage roads. Those are all transportation networks and they are all interlinked. We want you to tell us about your experiences, the good and the bad , and even to the point of what you think we should do about it.

It’s clear it is becoming harder and harder to accommodate all the vehicles in the park, for sure, and perhaps in some places and times, all the people who want to enjoy the park. Continue reading →

New way to track sightings of wildlife in Acadia National Park

If you’ve ever taken photos of wildlife in Acadia National Park – whether of turkeys, a barred owl, a butterfly, a porcupine or a snapping turtle – and wanted to share it with the world, not just with family and friends, there’s a new online citizen science project to allow you to do just that.

wild turkeys

When we saw this flock of wild turkeys near Acadia National Park’s Sieur de Monts entrance, we had to stop and take a photo. We just uploaded this photo to Anecdata.org. (C) MDIBL, Anecdata and contributors

“Wildlife Sightings in Acadia National Park” is the name of the project, which we here at Acadia on My Mind just created on Anecdata.org, the online citizen science portal by the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory’s Community Environmental Health Lab.

While there have been ways to upload sightings in Acadia of birds like Snowy owls, to the online database eBird, we haven’t found a way to keep track of other Acadia wildlife sightings. That’s why we decided to start this wildlife sightings project. Continue reading →

Of diversity, Acadia and the National Park Service

When President Barack Obama hiked Cadillac Mountain with his family in 2010, he made news not only because he was the first sitting president to visit Acadia National Park, but also because it’s uncommon to see African Americans and other minorities in this country’s national parks.

President Barack Obama hikes Acadia National Park

President Barack Obama and family hiked Cadillac Mountain in July 2010 (White House photo)

When Dr. Amanda McCoy, 29, and Dr. Kristin Alves, 28, both orthopedic residents at Harvard, took a trip to Acadia for the first time last month, they caught the sunrise over Cadillac and hiked the Beehive, Gorham, South Bubble and the Ladder Trail, but they also noticed the lack of diversity in other visitors to the park.

acadia national park

Dr. Amanda McCoy, left, and Dr. Kristin Alves, on their way to South Bubble. McCoy, an African American who grew up outside Pittsburgh, and Alves, a Scottish American who hails from North Carolina, both noticed the lack of diversity while hiking in Acadia.

When Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe columnist and co-author of a new book,
“Project Puffin”, and his wife honeymooned in Acadia more than 30 years ago, and went there on 2 other vacations, they enjoyed the challenging hikes and bird watching, but also lamented not seeing other African Americans on the trails.

“The thing my wife and I wish we would see more of” is African-American families “truly hiking, truly backpacking. That part is really, really white,” said Jackson, who’s also hit the trails in Yosemite, Death Valley, Great Smoky Mountains and other national parks, and written about them.

The lack of diversity in Acadia and elsewhere in the national park system, both in visitors and employees, has been a persistent issue, prompting studies to understand why, and initiatives to bring more people of color into the 59 national parks and nearly 350 other national park system units, from seashores to historic sites.

A 2011 report, “The National Park Service Comprehensive Survey of the American Public,” found African Americans the most “under-represented” visitor group, with Hispanic Americans not too far behind. The “2014 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government®” survey ranks the National Park Service 261st out of 314 agencies when it comes to support for diversity.

Derrick Jackson

Boston Globe columnist Derrick Z. Jackson on the hiking trail in New Mexico. (Photo courtesy of Derrick Z. Jackson)

With the Centennial year coming up in 2016 for both Acadia and the National Park Service, and America’s population and workforce more diverse than ever, those aren’t exactly welcome statistics. Efforts to address the glaring disparity have stepped up.

This weekend, coinciding with National Trails Day(R), marks the 3rd annual African American National Parks Event, to encourage African Americans and other minorities to visit a national park unit, take a photo and post it on Facebook or other social media. Last month, the Acadia National Parks Community Facebook page posted a series of articles about the need to diversify both national park visitors and employees. Continue reading →

Reopened historic vistas in Acadia provide new perspectives

Jeff Grey usually expresses his creativity through sculpture and drawing, but as arborist for Acadia National Park, he’s found a different outlet: Restoring historic vistas, like the one opened up this week along the Park Loop Road.

Park Loop Road

Newly reopened Park Loop Road vista reveals Eagle Lake, Conners Nubble and Sargent Mountain, with the remaining trees kept as part of the landscaped picture.

“This is my new palette,” he said, as he scanned the horizon with the newly reopened views of Eagle Lake, Conners Nubble and Sargent Mountain. After a park environmental assessment to confirm no rare plants or animal habitat would be affected, Grey helped pick what trees to remove with the help of a tree removal service, what to leave, using both his arborist training, and his artistic eye. If you are interested in getting your own arborist to help you with trees in your garden, then it you can easily check out a website like treesurvey.com.au to give you a better idea of what can be offered to you.

The major operation, involving overhead cables, heavy equipment and more than a dozen crew from the park and the University of Maine Forestry Department, is part of a grand plan to rehabilitate 30 historic vistas along the Park Loop Road, existing pull-outs and parking lots. The vista reopened this week is the second pull-out south of the Cadillac Mountain Road, on the 2-way section of the Park Loop Road. Continue reading →

To be footloose and fancy-free, car-free and carefree in Acadia

Imagine being able to walk or run the Park Loop Road of Acadia National Park, or bike the Cadillac Mountain Road, and take in the magnificent scenery without worrying about watching out for cars.

cadillac mountain road

Cars ride off into the sunset on Cadillac Mountain Road. They won’t be allowed on the road on a couple of car-free Saturday mornings, in an Acadia National Park experiment to encourage bikers, hikers and others enjoying non-motorized activities.

Visitors can do just that on the mornings of Saturday, May 16, and Sept. 26, up until noon, in an experiment by the park service to encourage more people to experience Acadia on foot, bikes, roller blades or skateboards, as well as to help inform development of a transportation plan to ease park congestion.

Another added enticement: No park entrance fee will be charged the morning of May 16, and the whole day of Sept. 26, National Public Lands Day, will be free.

While the concept of experiencing Acadia car-free seems foreign in today’s car-dominated society, in the days of old, rusticators – or summer residents, tourists and artists – would think nothing of walking 5, 10 or 15 miles in a day, from village to mountains to shore and back.

In fact, many of Acadia’s footpaths were built in the late 1800s, early 1900s, with connector trails linking to the villages of Bar Harbor, Seal Harbor and Northeast Harbor. Experiencing Mount Desert Island on foot was such a part of the lifestyle then, that some summer residents actually opposed construction of the Park Loop Road for automobiles. John D. Rockefeller Jr. helped fund construction of the Park Loop Road to keep automobiles off the carriage roads, which he’d built for horse and carriage use.

Island Explorer bus in Acadia National Park

While the Island Explorer bus is fare-free, be sure to get an Acadia National Park visitor pass to help support that and other park services. (NPS photo)

With the Acadia Centennial in 2016, perhaps these new car-free mornings, along with the fare-free Island Explorer bus, refurbished village connector trails and other initiatives, can be viewed as part of a larger plan to reconnect visitors and area residents to a simpler, less traffic-congested time, and more directly with nature and the beauty of Mount Desert Island.

In that spirit, here’s a roundup of some of the many ways to experience Acadia car-free, whether in getting to Acadia via public transportation, going by foot from village to shore, or creating unique trips using the Island Explorer bus, among other options. You don’t need to rely on a special car-free Saturday during the shoulder season to harken back to less hectic times. Continue reading →

Partners to help celebrate Acadia National Park Centennial

From historians to artists, garden societies to museums, businesses to nonprofit agencies, more than 100 Acadia Centennial Partners have already signed on to mark Acadia National Park’s 100th anniversary in 2016, according to a new Web site launched last month.

Partners are planning events, developing Centennial-themed products for sale, or making tax-deductible donations tied to the anniversary.

Even though the planning process is early, about 1/3 of current Centennial Partners have already described their intentions on www.acadiacentennial2016.org, a project of the Acadia Centennial Task Force, made up of representatives from Acadia National Park, the non-profit Friends of Acadia, and other members of the community.

George B. Dorr and Charles W. Eliot and Acadia National Park

George B. Dorr, left, and Charles W. Eliot began the fight to preserve what became Acadia National Park through the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations. They’re pictured here along Jordan Pond. (NPS photo)

Some of the events being planned for the year-long, Maine-wide celebration so far:

  • The Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations – founded in 1901 by George B. Dorr, the “father of Acadia,” Charles W. Eliot and others, to save land that eventually became Acadia – plans to donate its last remaining land holding near the park, a parcel next to Seawall Campground. A public ceremony to mark the donation to the park, possibly combined with a reunion of trustees and descendants of trustees, is in the works.

Continue reading →

2014 top 5 blog posts about Acadia National Park, 2015 ideas

Since we began this blog about Acadia National Park last year, we’ve seen the top 5 posts draw thousands of Facebook likes, had visitors from more than 80 countries, and started a series of historic hiking trail highlights leading up to the Acadia Centennial.

Atlantic puffins are listed as threatened in Maine

The 2014 annual report from the Audubon Society’s Project Puffin had some good news about the seabird’s breeding success last year. (US Fish and Wildlife Service photo)

We’ve written about puffins, peregrine falcons and wild turkeys, and how pet-friendly Acadia is. We had fun carving Acadia-o-lanterns and sharing a Smokey Bear pumpkin carving pattern for Halloween. And we learned some of the stories to be told about Otter Creek and Isle au Haut, and the connection between a young Theodore Roosevelt and the trails of Mount Desert Island.

Who knew there could be so much to discover and write about Acadia National Park, even after all the times we’ve visited, miles we’ve hiked and guides we’ve written?

For 2015, we plan on adding more hike descriptions, news and features. And we may expand the blog to offer reviews or listings of products, services, restaurants and lodging that may be of interest to visitors to Acadia, Bar Harbor and surrounding communities.

Let us know if there are topics you would like us to cover, through either a comment at the bottom of this post, or in a private message in the contact form in the About us page.

Subscribe to blog to enter giveaway of autographed hiking books

Best Easy Day Hikes Acadia cover

Subscribe to blog to be eligible for free copy

To mark Acadia on My Mind’s first year, and as a thank you to subscribers to this blog, we’re giving away some autographed copies of the 2nd edition of our “Best Easy Day Hikes, Acadia National Park.” (The 3rd edition is coming out in April, but the only difference is the addition of a couple of new hikes and updated descriptions.)

If you’re already a subscriber, you’re automatically entered into the giveaway. New subscribers have until Feb. 28 to sign up (enter email address at top of sidebar). Followers of our Facebook page or followers of the blog through WordPress, bloglovin’ or any other source can also enter into the giveaway by subscribing directly to the blog by Feb. 28. Winners will be notified by email. Continue reading →

Year in review: Top 10 Acadia National Park stories in 2014

From being named America’s favorite place to hosting US Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell, from setting record visitation numbers to launching Centennial celebration plans, Acadia National Park made news in 2014.

South Bubble Acadia National Park

Some of the visitors who contributed to a record-breaking October 2014 in Acadia National Park take in the great weather and views from South Bubble. (Photo courtesy of Greg Saulmon, www.gregsaulmon.com)

Here are the top 10 stories in Acadia on My Mind’s opinion:

1. Acadia No. 1 – Viewers of “Good Morning America” named Acadia as their favorite place in July, while USA Today readers voted Acadia as the top national park, ahead of Glacier and Yellowstone, earlier that same month.

2. Record-breaking October – With more than 313,000 visitors that month, Acadia recorded its highest ever October visitation. Park officials attributed the bump up to good weather, peak foliage, increasing cruise ship traffic and national media attention.

Island Explorer bus in Acadia National Park

Park fees help pay for the Island Explorer. (NPS photo)

3. Island Explorer sets records – For the first time, more than 500,000 passengers took the popular fare-free shuttle bus during a season, as we reported first in this blog on Oct. 29. The bus system marked another milestone on June 30, when it carried its 5 millionth passenger, an Otter Creek high school student commuting to her summer job in Bar Harbor. Continue reading →

The gift of Acadia National Park for the holidays

For the fan of Acadia National Park on your holiday shopping list: How about a membership to Friends of Acadia; a purchase from eParks®, The Official Online Store of America’s National Parks®; an annual park pass; or any number of other Acadia- or national-park-themed gifts?

Acadia National Park annual pass

Acadia National Park annual pass is $20, half off this year’s price, if purchased in December. The pass, good for 12 months from date of purchase, is proposed to go to $50 in 2015. (NPS photo)

There’s no need to fight the crowds at a shopping mall with any of these ideas for the holidays, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Plus you get the convenience of our doing some of the legwork for you with our research and links, and the satisfaction of knowing that some of your purchases may help support the park, certain non-profits and area businesses.

Here are gift ideas broken down by category:

Support the park directly or indirectly
– Annual Acadia National Park pass – If you buy the pass in December, the cost is $20, or half off this year’s price. The discounted annual pass is available at the park headquarters and winter visitor center on Eagle Lake Road, open daily in December from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The discounted pass is also available Friday Dec. 5 at the Village Green park information center, during the Bar Harbor Midnight Madness Sale, from 8 p.m. until midnight. The fee for the annual pass is proposed to go up to $50 in 2015, while the 7-day pass is proposed to increase from $20 to $25. A public meeting to discuss these and other proposed fee increases, the first since 2004, was held Nov. 12. The park is taking public comments on the proposed fee increases via e-mail or US mail through Dec. 8. The increased revenue would allow the park to enhance services for the upcoming Acadia Centennial in 2016, according to the park service.

Acadia magnet

Part of the America’s National Park Series, this comes as either a pin or a magnet in this design, at eParks(R). See holiday sale details in sidebar. (Photo courtesy of eParks(R))

– Shop at eParks® – The online store for Eastern National, a nonprofit founded by park rangers to help support national parks, is offering special holiday discounts of 25% to 35%, plus free shipping on orders of $25 and up. Eastern National runs the bookstore at the seasonal Hulls Cove Visitor Center at Acadia, and also offers a virtual Acadia shop at eParks®. See sale details and links to eParks® in the sidebar and throughout this blog post. eParks® is an affiliated partner of Acadia on My Mind. A certain percentage of some purchases made via click-throughs from this Web site helps cover costs of this blog, but prices are no more than if you went directly to eParks®, and possibly less with special affiliated partner codes. Since 1947, Eastern National has donated more than $107 million to national parks and other federal sites, from Maine to South Dakota.

Continue reading →