Acadia National Park - Part I

After leaving Fort Knox we drove towards the coast and Mount Desert Island.  Our next destination was Acadia National Park where we planned to camp for three nights while enjoying what we hoped would be beautiful scenery.  We were certainly not disappointed!

Our first stop in the park was at the Blackwoods Campground where we'd made our reservations a while before to make sure that we would be able to find space.  We knew that Acadia could get quite busy and while we were visiting before the start of the summer season we didn't want to take a chance.

The drive across the island felt long and we were going in and out of the park areas.  The park covers a patchwork of land on the island.  The campground is on the southern end of the island, but not connected to the loop road, so we saved that drive for the next day.

The campground is beautiful and fairly heavily wooded.  We also had no cell signal there, so it was nice to not have to worry about being able to check in on things online.

Our campsite was a great place to spend several days.  I wish we could have spent a whole week there.  Instead we ended up using it as a base camp as we explored the rest of the park.  Though at one point I was there for several hours while Amy drove to a laundromat in Bar Harbor.

The next morning we headed to the Hulls Cove Visitor Center at the northeast section of the park so that we could start our drive around the loop road.

From the parking lot we walked up a short path towards the visitor center.

We saw an example of a Bates cairn along the path.  This one was built as an example to show people what they look like and to help caution people to not disturb them and to not make new ones.

We looked over some of our route on the visitor center maps.

Normally I wouldn't use displays like this, but when you're in a place with little cell phone coverage you have a new appreciation for the supply of information like this that you can't just look up for yourself.

 We started driving along the loop road and stopped at a pullout where we had a good view of Frenchman Bay where this sign showed what the various spots are named.

 Most of the islands are named after different porcupines including Sheep Porcupine Island, Burnt Porcupine Island, Long Porcupine Island, and Bald Porcupine Island.

The stonework throughout the park is beautiful.

Our next stop was a spot where we could see Cadillac Mountain, the highest point along much of the Atlantic seaboard.  Later we'd drive to the top.

I really appreciated this sign that not only labeled the mountains but showed what the landscape looks like in each season.

While Acadia is especially known for the beauty of its shorelines there are many gorgeous interior views as well.

When I saw a large patch of lupine flowers I simply had to stop.

Thankfully some of my closeup shots turned out, despite the flowers moving in pretty much any breeze that wafted by.

 Okay, I can't resist one more lupine picture.

We next entered the Sieur de Monts area and stopped by the Nature Center.  You can read about our walk through the Wild Gardens of Acadia in a separate post going up tomorrow.

The nature center has a few exhibits inside.

This display about seabirds and their eggs was fascinating.

This area served as the core of the land that was donated to the government to form what would one day become Acadia National Park.  It was first named Sieur de Monts National Monument in 1916 (named after a French explorer who visited the area in the 1600s) and then became Lafayette National Park in 1919.  Finally it was renamed Acadia in 1929.  This canopy over the Sieur de Monts spring was built by George Dorr, the individual often considered the father of Acadia National Park.

We decided to walk along the Jessup Path for a while.

The walk was especially beautiful with lush green grasses and so many trees.

We walked along a boardwalk and every so often were signs to explain the surrounding area and things that you might see.

 There were also plenty of open meadow areas.

 We eventually had to turn back (I think it might have been for a bathroom break for a kid) before we got to the end of the trail.

The next post will cover the Wild Gardens of Acadia, located right next to the nature center.

~Matt