On a carriage road leading past a nearby gate lodge, a wayside exhibit features an informational panel angled atop a stone pedestal. Brick and granite layers form colorful horizontal stripes on the sprawling structure. Also on the path, a kiosk displays a map of trails and carriage roads and offers advice for exploring the park. Another path leads through the woods.
The exhibit's title, "Roads to Discoveries," appears over a view of a family strolling along a narrow gravel carriage road through a dense forest.
Introductory text reads: "Acadia's carriage roads invite you to explore nature without the distraction of motor vehicles. John D. Rockefeller Jr. purposefully designed these broken-stone roads to reveal a sequence of scenic views and allow visitors of all physical abilities to discover Acadia's remote splendor. The roads today provide access to sweeping mountain landscapes, pockets of lush forest, and gurgling brooks - whether you travel on foot, bicycle, or horse-drawn carriage."
A quote: "I think perhaps I have always had an eye for nature... Every time I ride through the woods today, the smell of the trees... takes me back to my early impressions in the woods." - John D. Rockefeller Jr. in Mr. Rockefeller's Roads by Ann Rockefeller Roberts.
An inset features six images showing the "delightful surprises" that can be found along the carriage roads:
-a downy woodpecker, with checkered black and white feathers.
-a mourning cloak butterfly spreading its brown wings edged with a cream color and a line of blue dots.
-a clump of springy, pale-green reindeer moss.
-a mushroom with a dotted bowl-shaped cap.
-a cluster of blueberries.
-and a furry red fox peeking out from behind a rock.
A section called Plan Your Trip offers this advice:
-Carry a Carriage Road Users Map. -Carriage roads are not flat. Expect both steep and gradual hills. -Take plenty of water and snacks.
Note: Behind you is one of two gate lodges that John D. Rockefeller Jr. had built to keep automobiles off the carriage roads and out of Acadia's interior. "Please respect the privacy of current residents."
