Along Park Loop Road, large stone blocks border a pull-off area, where visitors can park their vehicles and enjoy a view of the valley before them, and mountains in the distance. A wayside exhibit entitled "Signs of the Seasons" features an informational panel angled atop one of the stones.
The exhibit's title appears above the same view of Mount Desert's landscape as it changes from spring to summer, fall, and winter. With Champlain, Dorr, and Cadillac mountains in the distance, budding trees transform to a dense green forest, followed by glorious fall colors, and then a coating of frost.
Text notes that as Acadia's seasons change, so does the view. "Spring signals tightly wound ferns to unfurl their feathery foliage. Warming weather teases luna moths from their cocoons. As long summer days approach, bright green leaves of the birch trees blanket the forest. Fall's chilly temperatures force the leaves of sugar maples and mountain ash to turn orange, red, and yellow. Migrating raptors sweep the mountaintops announcing winter's approach. As frigid weather returns, snowy hillsides hide snowshoe hares and snowy owls moving across the landscape. Look for the diversity of life each season brings to Acadia."
Six images appear beneath the scenic view: -a black-throated green warbler. -an unfurled cinnamon fern, its green feathery leaves curled over in a small knot. -a Luna moth with pale green wings. -a Northern goshawk, its belly and wings patterned with fine streaks. -a red maple leaf. -and a white Snowshoe hare.
A quote: "I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines." - Henry David Thoreau.
