Acadia and Bar Harbor are a green ecotourist destination! That’s right… if you are the environmentally conscious type — and many of us are these days, then an Acadia National Park vacation just might be the right choice for you. There are many examples of how “green” the area is these days…
Bar Harbor hosted the first national conference on ecotourism in 2005.
The Island Explorer shuttle bus line helps reduce traffic and pollution in the Park and surrounding areas by using clean, propane-powered buses.
The College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor was the named greenest college in the US in 2007.
Many restaurants in this area use locally grown produce, locally caught seafood, and organic foods.
Recycling is big, even in public areas too.
So, as you can see… it’s a very green vacation destination! To learn more about vacationing in Acadia National Park, visit Discover-Acadia.com.
I just recently read that Bar Harbor, the most well-known town on Mt. Desert Island near Acadia, was voted by TripAdvisor.com readers as their 92nd choice in the top 100 2008 “Traveler’s Choice Destinations Awards.” Now that’s impressive!
Oh, did I forget to mention that’s in the whole world… not just in the US? Woo hoo! I have to agree, not that I’ve been everywhere, but I have been many places in the US, Canada, and the UK. Anyway, they were 92nd out of the top 100 world destinations and 16 out of the top 25 US ones.
Experience Bar Harbor and Acadia through this great video:
On my Getting to Acadia page on my Discover-Acadia site, I talk about how easy it is to get to Acadia by hopping a shuttle flight from Boston’s Logan Airport to the little Bar Harbor-Hancock County Airport just off Mt. Desert Island in a little town called Trenton. But I just read today that that may change in the near future.
It seems that Colgan Air, which is a carrier for US Airways Express that uses 19-seaters to get people to Acadia, is upgrading its fleet of planes to all 34-seaters. That’s a problem for the Trenton Airport, because legally, it can only accommodate planes that seat 30 passengers or less. So the new Colgan Air planes won’t be able to land there.
The airport is left with the following choices:
look for a new commuter carrier that uses smaller planes
upgrade their facilities and licensing, which could cost as much as $2 million
go out of business
None of those avenues would be an easy road. Essential Air Service (EAS), a federal program enacted to guarantee commercial air service to small communities, could be asked to provide a new scheduled carrier. But, airport manager Bob Cossette points out that with the economic downturn in the US airline industry, a replacement may not be forthcoming. He goes on to point out that 14 EAS markets in the US have not found replacements after losing their original carriers.
I’ll try to keep my readers posted in this blog, as things develop. And of course, you’ll still be able to fly into Bangor and catch a bus, taxi or rental car to Mt. Desert Island. But getting to Acadia may just get harder in the near future.
