News Release

Emergencies and Congestion Swamped Acadia National Park During Record Setting July 4th Holiday Weekend

Date: July 12, 2019
Contact: Laura Cohen, 207-288-8802

BAR HARBOR, ME – While July 4^th was comparably quiet at Acadia National Park, Friday July 5^th and the following weekend saw park staff swamped with calls for assistance and closing roads due to traffic congestion. According to Acadia National Park Social Scientist Adam Gibson, July 5, 2019 was the busiest day in Acadia National Park’s history with visitation exceeding 35,000 visits for the day, an estimated 15% increase of the prior record set on July 3, 2017 and a 33% increase over the average busiest day for the last 8 years. 

Calls for Assistance

On July 5^th alone, the park dispatch center fielded 755 radio calls and twenty 9-1-1 emergency calls. During this unprecedented call volume, the park staff responded to four simultaneous rescue calls that tapped nearly all rescue resources. 

• At 9:44 AM, a 24-year-old male from Connecticut lost his footing hiking down the Cadillac West Face Trail to Bubble Pond, sliding over 40 feet down a sloped rock before falling off a 15-20 foot cliff. He fortunately sustained no life-threatening injuries and was able to call for help on his phone. After a patient assessment, a total of 12 rangers and Mount Desert Island Search and Rescue members (MDI SAR) assisted in the rescue, which concluded at 3:00 PM.
• At 11:49 AM, the park received a 9-1-1 call about a 58-year old female with an injured ankle on the Cadillac North Ridge Trail. She was located one mile from the trailhead. This rescue, which involved two rangers, concluded at 2:00 PM.
• At 12:12 PM, park dispatch fielded a 9-1-1 call about a 69-year-old female on the Dorr South Ridge Trail losing consciousness from heat stroke. With no park rangers left to respond, Town of Bar Harbor Paramedics hiked two miles up the trail with a park firefighter and determined a helicopter rescue was needed. Due to the terrain and lack of a landing zone, only the Maine Forest Service helicopter with short haul capabilities was available to make the rescue. The helicopter arrived on scene approximately 1.5 hours later and the rescue was complete by 5:00 PM. That rescue involved eight rangers, MDI SAR members, and Friends of Acadia (FOA) Summit Stewards.
• At 1:10PM, the park received a report of a 51-year-old male with muscle cramps on Acadia Mountain.   An FOA Summit Steward contacted the patient on behalf of the park. The patient was able to self-administer electrolytes and slowly walk off the mountain without additional assistance.
• At 3:46 PM, a ranger responded to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse for a young child locked inside of a hot car. The parents were present, but the ranger had to break out a window using his baton in order to unlock the vehicle and get the child out quickly. The child was okay. Southwest Harbor/Tremont Ambulance had been dispatched prior to the ranger's arrival, but though the ranger was on scene, the ambulance was delayed by another 2 minutes because they couldn't get through the traffic congestion. This delay did not affect the outcome of this particular call, but demonstrates the challenges traffic congestion presents to emergency responders.

Congestion and Road Closures

During this unprecedented frequency of incidents and emergencies, park staff were also fielding near constant closures of roads and parking lots due to congestion. At one point in time, as many as 420 cars an hour were passing through Sand Beach Entrance Station. As many park rangers were working on rescue operations, illegal and obstructive parking led to sharp increases in traffic congestion, above and beyond Acadia’s normal struggles with overflowing parking lots. 

·         Cadillac Summit Road closed three times including at sunset, a normally busy time on Cadillac Mountain. On July 5^th, the summit broke its own visitation with a record 600 cars competing for one of the only 157 parking spots at the summit. An additional 364 cars were turned away by park staff who closed the steep mountain road for safety.

·         The Park Loop Road was backed up from Otter Cliffs to the Precipice parking area.

·         Ocean Drive was closed for 2 hours and then again closed for 30 minutes and Sieur de Monts was closed twice for an hour each time.

·         Hulls Cove Visitor Center parking lot was closed for 45 minutes to attempt to clear enough space for Island Explorer buses to enter the parking lot.

·         Jordan Pond North Lot was closed for an hour.

·         Obstructive and illegal parking on both sides of the Schooner Head Road blocked the exit route for cars stopped at the Sand Beach Entrance Station.

·         Both sides of Stanley Brook Road were filled with cars blocking the Island Explorer bus from using the road.

·         Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse access road was closed twice in the afternoon and sunset hour. Each closure was for 30 minutes.

Proper footwear and hydration, among other safety tips, are key to a safe and enjoyable visit to Acadia National Park in the summer time. As the park staff continues to work toward implementing its Transportation Plan to ease future congestion, visitors are reminded to park only in designated spaces, use the Island Explorer, and consider walking or biking into the park whenever possible. Find additional tips for avoiding crowds at Acadia National Park on the park website at www.nps.gov/acad/traffic. We would also like to thank our partners at MDISAR, FOA, Town of Bar Harbor Fire Department, and the Maine Forest Service for their assistance during this busy holiday weekend.