Tag Archives: acadia-national-park

LEGO(R) Park Rangers help raise money, in search of home

LEGO(R) Park Rangers

LEGO(R)-style Park Rangers Steve and Anna, Acadia Centennial calendar and other gift ideas from eParks(R) help raise money for national parks. (See sidebar about eParks(R) links in this blog, as well as for 15% discount code where applicable.)

Look what came in the mail from eParks®, the online store of America’s National Parks:

Park Rangers Steve and Anna, made of LEGO® and LEGO®-compatible parts, an Acadia Centennial calendar, and a few other items, all of which we purchased, to help raise funds for Acadia and other national parks.

If you haven’t finished your holiday shopping yet, and have a national park fan on your list, there are plenty of ideas you can get from eParks®, Acadia Centennial Partners, or the National Park Foundation. Purchases made through any of those organizations, or of officially licensed Centennial products like the LEGO(R)-style Rangers or Acadia Centennial calendar, help support parks.

But one thing you can’t buy yet: A LEGO® National Park set for the 2016 National Park Service Centennial Limited Edition Park Rangers to call home.

LEGO(R) Park Rangers

No LEGO(R) set to call home for Park Rangers Steve and Anna yet. eParks(R) is offering a special price of $25 if you buy 2 Park Ranger minifigurines, and may also include a pair of miniature binoculars and flashlight that fit into the Ranger’s hands. While supplies last. Total of 6 minifigurines in the limited collection, but no Ranger Jan or Jim, or minicamera.

One real-life Park Ranger, going by the moniker of LegoRanger16, is trying to change that. In March, he launched a project on the LEGO® ideas site, and is trying to get 10,000 votes in favor of National Park Service Centennial vignettes he’s created. So far, he’s got just over 7,900 supporters.

Even though there’s no connection between the 2016 National Park Service Centennial Limited Edition Park Rangers, eParks® or LegoRanger16’s project, Rangers Steve and Anna came with a flyer asking for votes in favor of the National Park Service Centennial vignettes. The flyer even included the Web site for the proposed LEGO(R) project.
Continue reading →

Acadia and Baxter ties may provide lessons for proposed park

On the surface, the story of the Acadia and Baxter regions might seem a tale of two communities.

katahdin

Katahdin’s Baxter Peak is the highest point in Maine, at 5,268 feet. George B. Dorr, the “father of Acadia,” hiked Katahdin in 1925, before Baxter State Park came into being.

Baxter, a state park, is deep in Maine’s North Woods and distinguished by nearly mile-high Katahdin. Located more than 150 miles away, Acadia, the only national park in the Northeast, boasts much smaller mountains that hug the Atlantic Ocean.

Millinocket, the gateway to Baxter, faces double-digit unemployment with the closing of paper mills. Bar Harbor and other communities surrounding Acadia attract the well-known and wealthy.

But behind these seemingly different places are some historical and social ties that go back more than 100 years, and common challenges of balancing economic development, tourism and land preservation.

President Barack Obama hikes Acadia National Park

The beauty of Acadia has drawn generations of visitors, most notably President Barack Obama and family, seen here hiking the Cadillac Summit Loop in July 2010. (White House photo)

With the debate over a proposed new national park next to Baxter heating up, there may be lessons to be learned from the ties that bind Acadia and Baxter. Last month, a petition with 13,000 signatures in support of the national park proposal was delivered to Maine’s Congressional delegation. But facing opposition, backers are now trying the easier national monument designation, needing only presidential action.

First, the people connection between Acadia and Baxter. Over the years, area residents, visitors and park employees have made the trip from Mount Desert Island to the Katahdin region, or vice versa, hiking the trails, paddling the waters, supporting the economy, or otherwise giving back:

  • In 1925, George B. Dorr, the “father of Acadia” and its first superintendent, climbed Katahdin with then-Maine Gov. Ralph Owen Brewster, whose predecessor in office, Percival Baxter, later bought and donated the land for what became Baxter State Park.
  • During the late 1800s, a young Theodore Roosevelt climbed the hills of Mount Desert Island, and also ascended the heights of Katahdin in the company of Maine guide Bill Sewall, whose home in Island Falls near Baxter is now a yoga retreat run by his great granddaughter.
  • Charlie Jacobi, natural resource specialist at Acadia National Park, served as president of the Friends of Baxter State Park for three years, and continues to be involved with that non-profit.

    Millinocket Marathon & Half

    Gary Allen, founder of Mount Desert Island Marathon, used this photo of Katahdin, as seen from Millinocket, on Facebook, to invite people to run the free inaugural Millinocket Marathon & Half, Dec. 12, at 10 a.m. (Image courtesy of Gary Allen)

  • This Saturday, Dec. 12, Gary Allen, founder and director of the Mount Desert Island Marathon, is hosting an impromptu free marathon and half marathon in Millinocket, requesting only that participants spend at least what they would have on race entry fees, at local businesses.

And here are some of the issues that have shaped Acadia and Baxter over the years, and that may still be relevant for today’s debate over Burt’s Bees founder Roxanne Quimby’s proposal, to donate what’s now known as Katahdin Woods & Water Recreation Area, as a new national park or national monument in Maine:  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 →

Good place for stargazing in Acadia? Ask Acadia on My Mind!

Bubble Rock in Acadia National Park helped prove the Ice Age

Ask Acadia on My Mind!

Another in a series of “Ask Acadia on My Mind!” Q&As

If you have a question about Acadia National Park on your mind, whether you’re a first-time visitor or long-time fan, leave a comment below, or contact us through the About us page. We may not be able to answer every question, or respond right away, but we’ll do our best. See our new page linking in one place all the Q&As.

I will be there in early November. Are there any specific areas to set up my telescope at night. Thank you. Les

Dear Les,

You must be an avid stargazer to come to Acadia National Park in November! While it’ll be chilly this time of year, there will be fewer people – but just as many constellations for stargazing in Acadia, and the possibility of even more special celestial events than usual when the Northern Lights are visible from about November to February.

stargazing in acadia

The aurorora borealis, or Northern Lights, may be visible in Acadia through Nov. 12, 2015, according to AccuWeather.

Through Nov. 12, it may be possible to see the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, in Acadia, although reports from last night, Nov. 3, suggest it’s not as brilliant a show as it was earlier in the year. The shimmering lights created by the geomagnetic storm may even be visible as far south as Virginia and West Virginia, in locations far away from city lights and under clear night skies, according to AccuWeather.

And if you don’t catch the Northern Lights, Les, tonight and tomorrow night, Nov. 4-5, should be peak viewing opportunities for the South Taurid meteor shower, according to EarthSky.org. The North Taurid meteor shower kicks in later this month, close to the new moon. While the Taurids aren’t known for a high number of meteors, they are well-known for fireballs, or unusually bright meteors. Continue reading →

A slideshow menagerie of wildlife in Acadia National Park

We dug deep into our archives of wildlife in Acadia photos, to add to the growing Anecdata.org citizen science database, “Wildlife Sightings in Acadia National Park.”

Here’s a  slideshow of the photos we’ve just uploaded, of Spruce grouse, Double-crested cormorants, loon, garter snake, Red Admiral butterfly, porcupine, turkey and deer.

wildlife in acadia wildlife in acadiawildlife in acadiawildlife in acadiawildlife in acadiaschoodic woods campgroundwildlife in acadiawildlife in acadiawildlife in acadia

We also uploaded some historic information for garter snakes, dating back to 1939, just as we did earlier for snapping turtles, so that the citizen database could perhaps serve as a baseline of wildlife in Acadia.

In 1939 and 1987, the common garter snake was considered “to be the most common and widespread snake on Mount Desert Island,” according to the 2005 National Park Service report, “Acadia National Park Amphibian and Reptile Inventory.” With 138 such snakes encountered during the course of the inventory, on Mount Desert Island and Isle au Haut, “it still appears to be so.” Continue reading →

Happy Halloween from Acadia on My Mind!

Here’s the 2015 edition of Acadia-o-lanterns, a great way to keep Acadia on our mind even during the off-season. Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween

Moose-o-lantern and Bear-o-lantern keep Acadia on our mind for Halloween.

We’ve had wildlife in Acadia on our mind, with recent blog posts about the topic, as well as a citizen science database we created on Anecdata.org, “Wildlife Sightings in Acadia National Park.” And we’ve also written about Bates-style cairns.

So why not a couple of Acadia-o-lanterns that incorporate those themes? Continue reading →

Fall foliage in Acadia tops things to see and do in October

Spectacular fall foliage in Acadia National Park is a leaf peeper’s delight, at or near the top of the list for everyone from professional photographers to Martha Stewart, travel writers to cruise ship passengers.

fall foliage in acadia

Colors such as these can be found in Acadia National Park and surrounding communities in autumn All rights reserved, Brent L. Ander Photography.

But enjoying the autumn colors is just one of the many things to see and do in Acadia in October, an increasingly popular time to visit, when the reds, golds, yellows and browns of fall’s turning leaves complement the year-round pink of the park’s granite.

Fall foliage in the Acadia region is at high to peak generally in mid-October, according to an Acadia foliage report by the NPS. It could be a brilliant color show for those racing or watching the Mount Desert Island Marathon and Half Marathon, an annual October event canceled by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 but back on for Oct. 16 in 2022.

Check back here regularly for Maine current condition reports on an Acadia foliage report, or link to some of the live webcams in area communities.

Here’s a list of top things to see and do in and around Acadia in October:

Fall foliage in Acadia

Official state of Maine foliage report declares high to peak foliage in Acadia region on Oct. 14, 2015. If you’ve never seen peak in Acadia, this is what it looks like, as captured by Vincent Lawrence of Acadia Images. All rights reserved, Acadia Images.

Continue reading →

Camping or cruise ship question? Ask Acadia on My Mind!

Bubble Rock in Acadia National Park helped prove the Ice Age

Ask Acadia on My Mind!

Another in a series of “Ask Acadia on My Mind!” Q&As

If you have a question about Acadia National Park on your mind, whether you’re a first-time visitor or long-time fan, leave a comment below, or contact us through the About us page. We may not be able to answer every question, or respond right away, but we’ll do our best. See our new page linking in one place all the Q&As.

1) So I am planning on visiting Acadia the weekend of Oct. 24th this year. I am coming from Boston so leaving Friday afternoon and camping Friday and Saturday night. How crowded do you think the campsite will be? I was going to stay at Blackwoods and I hear that it’s pretty tightly packed with not much room between tents. I was hoping since I am going pretty late in the year that it won’t be very crowded and I can get some quiet time to relax by the fire. I am not much of a hiker, just like to take pictures and enjoy the quiet. Any advice you can give would be great. Thanks. – Robert F. of Boston

Blackwoods campground

Blackwoods Campground is open year-round, with 214 tent sites and 61 RV sites. (NPS photo)

2) We are arriving on Holland America and will be in Bar Harbor from 7am – 3 pm. 7 adults (good shape) would like to do some hiking in Acadia – an hour or so hike. We would like to take the public bus as transportation round trip. Can you suggest which bus to take from near the pier and trails to hike? Thank you! – Lynn M.

Dear Robert and Lynn,

Your questions are good ones, and illustrate the broad appeal that Acadia has, whether to campers looking to rough it a couple of nights, or cruise ship passengers getting off in Bar Harbor for a few hours. Thanks for asking them! Continue reading →

New Schoodic Woods Campground in Acadia offers plenty

Update: See new story on Schoodic Woods Campground including shower facilities offered by local businesses and extensive photo display of sites.

Bar Harbor retiree Alice Long was so excited about the new Schoodic Woods Campground in Acadia, she set up a lawn chair in front of the gate at 7 a.m. on opening day, and couldn’t wait to become the first happy camper.

Schoodic woods

Campers, hikers and bicyclists can find out more information about Schoodic Woods at this new ranger station.

“After months of waiting for the campground to open, I was thrilled to arrive there and get a tent site,” said Long in an e-mail, recalling the fun atmosphere on Sept. 1, chatting with others in line behind her, and earning a little notoriety while she was at it.

When park officials finally let her and other early-bird campers into the new Schoodic Woods Ranger Station to register, “they kept telling everyone that ‘the lady in the green chair was number one’ – from then on, that’s what everyone called me,” said Long, who is also a park volunteer.

It’s not only Long who’s excited about the opening of Schoodic Woods Campground in Acadia, which will feature 94 RV and tent sites once it’s fully completed next year, and already boasts 8.3 miles of bike paths and 4.7 miles of hiking trails for campers and day trippers.

schoodic woods

Explore Schoodic Woods by bike or on foot.

Park officials had Long sign a dollar bill, to be framed and hung in the new ranger station. US Sen. Angus S. King, Jr., camped with his RV at site B12 after he helped cut the ribbon. And so many other campers have wanted to be part of the inaugural season at Schoodic Woods, the limited number of available RV and tent sites have been filled up on a first-come, first-served basis several nights this month already.

Other reasons Schoodic Woods has been long awaited: The land that the campground and hiking and biking trails are on had been threatened by a proposal to develop a resort with hotel, golf course, sports center and luxury villas, until a change of ownership in 2011 led to a change in fortunes, so that Schoodic Woods is now part of Acadia National Park. Plus area businesses have been looking forward to a much-needed boost to the Schoodic Peninsula economy.

The campground was made possible by an anonymous buyer who purchased the property and donated 1,400 acres south of Route 186 in 2011.  The donor also paid for planning and design, construction and furnishing of the beautiful Schoodic Woods Campground, 100-seat amphitheater, ranger station and visitor center, maintenance building, multipurpose paths styled after the park’s carriage roads, new hiking trails, an underground utility line along the main road and a causeway bike lane and bridge.

Here are some of the highlights of Schoodic Woods Campground in Acadia and the area, to help you plan a camping or day trip to Schoodic Peninsula. The campground was open on a first-come, first-served basis through Columbus Day in the inaugural year. Going forward, it will be open late May through Columbus Day, with reservations recommended through www.recreation.gov.

The hiking trails and bike paths are open year-round, weather and conditions permitting, according to John Kelly, park management specialist. A 100-space day-use parking lot, a seasonal Island Explorer bus stop, and two sets of restrooms, one open in season and another open year-round, help complete the picture. Continue reading →

Top platform at Beech Mountain fire tower open in Acadia

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

Most people who hike Beech Mountain in Acadia National Park may not be aware of a rare opportunity that could await them at the peak.

Beech Mountain fire tower

Only during a fire tower open house can you get the topmost views from Beech Mountain in Acadia National Park.

The National Park Service has begun opening the top platform of the steel fire tower on the peak of Beech Mountain, giving people spectacular, unfettered 360-degree views of landmarks such as Echo Lake and the Cranberry Isles. Previously, only a lower platform was open for viewing. The park service calls the opening of the top platform an open house at the fire tower.

During a recent visit on a clear day, we enjoyed the views from the tower’s top platform for the first time, even though we have been hiking in Acadia for nearly 20 years including many trips up Beech.

In an interview, Gary Stellpflug, trails foreman at Acadia National Park, said he is pleased to see the top catwalk open.

“It should be,” he said. “It is a wonderful place. Everyone wants to go up there. It’s just cool. You see fewer and fewer fire towers that you can safely go up and down.”

The top platform of the fire tower will be open from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays, through the end of August, according to the park’s online calendar.

beech mountain fire tower

On a clear day, you can see forever – or at least to the Cranberry Isles – from the Beech Mountain fire tower in Acadia National Park.

The fire tower’s cabin, however, remains closed. The cabin has a wooden floor, unlike the steel grating on the platforms.

Mary Downey, a ranger who was staffing the fire tower during our recent visit, said she didn’t believe most hikers were aware it was unusual for the top platform to be open.

Beech is a popular hike. Many people likely put it on their agenda without checking the park’s calendar for the open house or even realizing that the top platform is normally closed.

“On a clear day, it’s great,” Downey said. 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 →

Where’s bus to Jordan Pond House? Ask Acadia on My Mind!

Bubble Rock in Acadia National Park helped prove the Ice Age

Ask Acadia on My Mind!

Another in a series of “Ask Acadia on My Mind!” Q&As

If you have a question about Acadia National Park on your mind, whether you’re a first-time visitor or long-time fan, leave a comment below, or contact us through the About us page. We may not be able to answer every question, or respond right away, but we’ll do our best. See our new page linking in one place all the Q&As.

Wondering about taking the L.L. Bean bus to Jordan Pond House. Do we book ahead? We will be there on 9/21/15. Fees for seniors and where would we board the bus? Thank you. – Nancy Murphy

Dear Nancy,

Thank you for your question, and for visiting Acadia National Park car-free!

The good news is that the Island Explorer – as the bus partly funded by L.L. Bean is known as – is fare-free and requires no reservation, although visitors should pay for a park pass to help defray costs.

Lifetime Senior Pass Acadia National Park

US citizens or permanent residents age 62 or over can get a lifetime Senior Pass for $10. (NPS photo)

Even better news for you: There’s a lifetime $10 Senior Pass for US citizens and permanent residents age 62 and older, giving free entrance for the pass holder and a limited number of companions, to more than 2,000 federal recreation areas, including Acadia National Park.

So if you already have the Senior Pass, there’s no need to get a separate Acadia park pass. And if you don’t have one yet, it’s easy to get one before you leave home. Or once you’ve arrived at Acadia, it can be purchased either at the main Hulls Cove Visitor Center, the Village Green Information Center or the park headquarters on ME 233.

Taking the bus to Jordan Pond House is easy, too: There are two bus lines that go there, the Loop Road route that originates at the Hulls Cove Visitor Center, and the Jordan Pond route that goes between Bar Harbor Village Green and Northeast Harbor. You can hop on and off either bus at any of the stops, and you can even ask the bus driver to make a special stop along the way, if it is safe to do so. 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 →

Tales of beaver in Acadia National Park, and other wildlife stories

Whether it’s moose or beaver in Acadia National Park, rare and unusual wildlife sightings can sometimes become the talk of the town, the chatter on Facebook, and the lore of the islands.

Take the cases of beaver on Isle au Haut, or the young bull moose that once wandered all over that remote island outpost of Acadia, and then the moose that followed hikers in the woods of Mount Desert Island.

Are there beaver on Isle au Haut? A management plan by the National Park Service says that beaver are absent from the Maine island, but a newly-released photo and recent sightings suggest otherwise.

One island resident says he has long seen beaver activity on the island, half of which is included in Acadia National Park.

beaver on isle au haut in acadia national park

A lone beaver, thought to be absent according to Acadia National Park’s recent management plan for Isle au Haut, was caught on camera in July 2014, apparently wary of Eli’s Creek, swollen by rains that month. (NPS photo taken by Ana Casillas and  provided by Ranger Alison Richardson)

Other compelling evidence includes a recent photo of  a beaver on the banks of Eli’s Creek on the southwest side of Isle au Haut.

The photo of the beaver was taken during a rain storm in July 2014 near a work cabin for Acadia rangers, said Acadia National Park Ranger Alison Richardson, who provided a copy of the photo.

Isle au Haut is in Penobscot Bay in the Gulf of Maine, about 7 miles south of Stonington. Richardson said she did not know how the lone beaver made it to the island.

“I don’t know if I would say beaver live on Isle au Haut,” but the single beaver was on the island somehow, she said. Fellow Ranger Nick Freedman said he thought it might be a transient.
Continue reading →

Where to stay, eat in fall in Acadia? Ask Acadia on My Mind!

Bubble Rock in Acadia National Park helped prove the Ice Age

Ask Acadia on My Mind!

Another in a series of “Ask Acadia on My Mind!” Q&As

If you have a question about Acadia National Park on your mind, whether you’re a first-time visitor or long-time fan, leave a comment below, or contact us through the About us page. We may not be able to answer every question, or respond right away, but we’ll do our best. See our new page linking in one place all the Q&As.

1) Love your Facebook page. We are going up to Acadia/Bar Harbor for the first time at the end of September, could you recommend any restaurants for us to try 🙂 Thanks for any help. – Nancy from Tyngsboro, MA

2) Hello. I will be visiting for the 1st time in October to run the MDI Half Marathon and am looking for some help with locale for lodging. I would like to use my car as little as possible but also be within walking distance and central to the race & Acadia. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, I am considering bringing my dog. Thank you. – Jessica, from Southern NJ

Dear Nancy and Jessica,

MDI Half Marathon lobster claw finisher's medal

The reward for running 13.1 miles. (Photo courtesy of MDI Half Marathon)

You’re both picking a good time of year to visit Acadia National Park for the first time. Fall in Acadia can be less crowded and the weather can still be spectacular, even if peak fall foliage may not fall exactly when you’ll be be there.

With summer already half over, it’ll be fall in Acadia before you know it.

While we’re neither restaurant critics nor fast runners, we have eaten out enough in Bar Harbor and surrounding communities, and jogged the trails or read up enough on some of Acadia area races and restaurants to have some opinions. Thanks for asking! Continue reading →