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Acadia National Park preserves nearly 50,000 acres along the central coast of Maine.
It was the first national park created from private lands that were gifted to the public
through the efforts of conservation-minded citizens in the surrounding communities.
These efforts led to Acadia becoming the first national park in the eastern United States.
The park protects the ecological integrity, cultural history, scenic beauty, and scientific
values within the Acadia archipelago and the Schoodic Peninsula,
and offers visitors a broad range of inspiring experiences.
In addition to protecting about half of Mount Desert Island, the park includes more than
100 coastal islands and 3,000 acres on the mainland at Schoodic Peninsula.
Acadiaâs highest peak, Cadillac Mountain is also the tallest mountain on the eastern
seaboard of the United States.
From Cadillac and many other summits, visitors enjoy panoramic views of the Acadia archipelago,
diverse habitats, glacially sculpted mountains, and Maineâs rocky coastline.
Acadia National Park is one of 413 national parks across the United States
and this place was established to protect this iconic coast of Maine,
the spectacular rocky cliffs,
the high mountains,
the spectacular forests
and really it's one of the premiere national parks within the United States.
Acadia's nationally significant historic resources include the finest example of a carriage road
system in the United States and structures that showcase the picturesque and rustic architecture
of the National Park Service.
The park is geographically, socially, and economically integrated with the local communities.
Acadia is really interwoven into the communities that surround it.
The park is part of these communities and the communities are part of the park as well.
The same roads that connect the towns and villages of Mount Desert Island connect park lands
Nearby residents enjoy the many recreational opportunities it offers year-round.
People come to Acadia National Park for so many reasons.
Visitors like to hike here,
they like to spend time by the ocean.
Many people just like to spend time with their family and have really high quality time together.
The park also provides jobsâboth directly at the park and as an anchor for local tourism.
The park's visitation in 2017 was 3.5 million. Which is a 59% increase from 10 years ago.
Managing the transportation system is especially challenging.
Large numbers of visitors and vehicles entering the park during the summer season and, increasingly
during the fall, cause congestion on the roads and create more demand for parking than
the lots are designed to accommodate.
Many visitors get frustrated by trying to find a parking space. Our trails are also very busy.
There are hundreds and hundreds of hikers a day on some of those trails.
It's creating situations where people get stuck in traffic, so they're not getting the experience that we hope
for them to get, when they come to visit the park.
This congestion often occurs in specific locations and at specific times, and can lead to safety problems.
For example, Cadillac Summit Road was closed more than 70 times in 2017, when backed-up traffic
frustrated visitors and impeded emergency vehicle access.
It's unsafe. The parking lots and the road can't handle that number of cars traveling to the summit.
During these busy times, the demand for parking spaces and seats on the Island Explorer bus
exceeds capacity.
The Park Loop Road was designed for motorists to enjoy the park
at a leisurely pace.
Acadiaâs narrow, winding roads, while beautiful, limit the space available for cars, buses,
bikes, and RVs to safely share the road, so conflicts and congestion often occur.
The National Park Service is developing a transportation plan to improve safety, reduce
congestion and conflicts among people traveling on park roads, and protect park resources and values.
Here are the goals of the plan:
First, to provide for a range of opportunities.
To experience the landscape that provides high quality, resource-related visitor experiences
while ensuring a safe and positive social environment.
Second, to protect and preserve the park's natural resources
giving priority to those that are exceptionally fragile or significant.
And third, to protect the aesthetic and historic values of historic roads,
bridges and other features in the park.
Ultimately, we need to make sure that this transportation plan protects this spectacular place
for another hundred years
and still continues to provide these inspirational, transformational experiences to our visitors.
To learn more and provide comments on Acadia's Transportation Plan
please visit the National Park Service website at http://go.nps.gov/AcadiaPlan