Acadia
National Park is a place made up of dozens of beautiful natural locations each
worthy of its own article. I spent a day
there and only scratched the surface of what there was to see. If at all possible one should set aside
several days to truly experience this wonderful area. If that is not feasible there is one spot
that must be placed at the top of any visitor’s list: Cadillac Mountain.
The summit
is 1,528 feet making it the highest point within 25 miles of the water along
the U.S. East Coast. Needless to say the
views from the summit are some of the most incredible you will find in New
England and perhaps the country.
Originally
called Green Mountain it was renamed in 1918 after French explorer Antoine
Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac. He
was given the parcel of land consisting of Mount Desert Island in Maine when
the area was known as New France.
My time at
Acadia was planned around making it to the summit of Cadillac Mountain to watch
the sunset. I had stayed a week in Maine
in October and this particular day was warmest, nearly 70 degrees. It must have slipped my mind that I was
driving up a mountain and it might be cooler up there.
The 3 ½
mile long summit road is beautiful but also slightly dangerous. There are several points along the steep
incline where the only things between your vehicle and a sharp drop are well
placed boulders. As much as I enjoyed
taking a gander down toward the nearby town of Bar Harbor I knew that it would
be much smarter for me to keep my eyes on the road.
Though
technically not the summit I stopped and parked at the Blue Hill Overlook very
near the top. The first thing I noticed
was just how many other people had the same idea as me to go watch the sunset. The overlook is magnificent. It is a gently sloping smooth rockface. Obviously being up as high as it is there is
nothing blocking the view of the surroundings, and what a view it is.
There were
many people scattered along the rockface, some sitting on chairs, others on
blankets. Many more people were standing
at the edge of the parking lot with cameras and binoculars. The next thing I noticed after the people was
the cold. It had been in the upper-60’s
during the day at ground level, it was about 30 degrees on top of Cadillac
Mountain. I was not fully prepared; my
hands were freezing cold pretty quickly.
To keep my
mind off of the cold I focused on the vast expanse of scenery in all
directions. To my right was Bar Harbor
where I had spent the earlier part of the day.
I started taking photos of everything.
In a neat twist I kept trying to line up the horizon on my camera, to
keep it straight. It wouldn’t happen
since at that height I could actually make out the curve of the Earth. That was just another small part of a remarkable
sunset.
I was lucky
as well that it ended up being a partly cloudy evening, perfect for catching
colors. It would have been a shame to
scale the mountain only for the weather to get cloudy. It’s not as if I could simply drive up there
again night after night, this was a one shot deal.
It ended up
being a nearly perfect sunset, complete with lots of photos and a video. I stayed for a while after the sun went down
to enjoy the view of Bar Harbor’s lights and the unlimited number of stars
overhead. I would have stayed longer but
it was getting colder. I cannot recommend
spending an evening watching the sunset atop Cadillac Mountain. Of course, weather determines just what you
will see. Plan accordingly, but prepare
to be dazzled, it is worth the trip in almost any conditions. Have fun and happy traveling.
Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park: Cadillac Mountain Summit Road – Take I-295 N
to Exit 49, turn right onto Rt. 201 N. Follow
4.4 miles, turn left onto Brunswick Ave, continue onto Rt. 9 E, after ½ mile turn left to
stay onto Rt. 9 E. Follow to traffic
circle, continue straight onto Bangor Street, .6 miles turn right onto N
Belfast Ave. After a mile turn right
onto Rt. 3 E, follow it 100 miles into Bar Harbor. Turn right onto Eagle Lake Rd, follow a mile
turn right onto Paradise Hill Rd., take 1st left to stay on
road. Turn left onto Park Loop Rd.,
follow it a mile, turn left onto the mountain road.
