The Discover Acadia Blog

I remember the day on our vacation in Acadia in June/July 1998 when we first spotted the CAT steaming across Frenchman’s Bay. It was thrilling to see this jet black ship speeding across the bay. I remember the girls and I spotting it from one of the lookouts high above the bay along the Park Loop Road and going, “Wow! What’s that?”

We were well used to the familiar site of the aging Bluenose Ferry and had thought about taking it sometime to visit Nova Scotia while we were there. But, since the Bluenose took a good 6 hours one way to get there, it necessitated an overnight stay in Nova Scotia, if you were going to have time to do anything once you got there. We could never conceive of giving up that much time in our magical Acadia, but it was still something that intrigued us.

So, when we spotted the CAT, we had to find out about it. Turns out, it could make the same trip in less than half the time! The CAT travels at 55 MPH and is what’s known as a catamaran ferry, meaning it kind of skims the surface of the water, which I think is what makes it so fast.

We’ve still never taken the ferry… what can I say? We love Acadia! But I was amazed to read a story in the Ellsworth American this morning that the CAT is celebrating its 10th anniversary of doing the Bar Harbor to Yarmouth route. I couldn’t believe it had been that long since we first saw it. Time flies.

Anyway, the article is pretty interesting… I also didn’t realize the CAT had such a rich history. Check it out…

I’m afraid winter still has its grip on the Northeastern US, certainly Maine. But spring will be coming, and with it another great vacation season at Acadia National Park. I’d sure like to be planning a vacation there myself, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to swing it this year, as I’m living far away in western Idaho.

If you go, though, be prepared for crowds… at least in the easy to get to areas. According to a news report on the WMTW website, visitation was up 6% last year in Acadia over 2006 numbers. There were 2.2 million visitors in 2007, up 120,000. Wow! That’s a pretty big increase in such a small park, one of the smallest US national parks.

That’s actually good news for Acadia itself, as visits had been on the decline for a few years. But, for the past 2 years, visits have been rising. Which means more and more people are discovering the magic of Acadia for themselves.

If you want to use the data to help plan your visit, visits showed the least growth in July. June, August and September enjoyed the most growth. So plan a visit in July and you’ll be less likely to hit huge crowds. But I have an even better tip…

As busy as the Park Loop Road, Cadillac Mountain’s peak, and Visitor Centers might be, I have never had to contend with crowds anywhere on the hiking trails. It’s unusual to meet more than 1o to 20 people at a time on any of the hiking trails, even on the South Bubble Trail, one of the shortest and most popular trails in the park. So, get out into the wilderness of Acadia and do yourself a favor by escaping the crowds. And work your body too!

Till next time,
Kathi

Spring is coming, and with it another wonderful season of hiking, biking, canoeing, and more at Acadia National Park. In honor of that, we’ve launched this new Discover Acadia blog. We hope you enjoy it and check back often to see what’s new on our site and at Acadia and the surrounding area.