Acadia National Park Closed – Now What?

President Obama and his family visited Acadia National Park in 2010. Now, neither Obama nor anyone else can visit the park, which was closed Tuesday because of the government shutdown. Here are some suggestions from the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce for some things to do outside the park.

And if hiking is your style, here's an easy guide to trails and carriage roads outside Acadia National Park that can easily be accessed

Bar Harbor:

• Bar Island - in town of of West Street and accessible when it is low tide, check local papers and information centers for tide charts.
• Compass Harbor: 1 mile from downtown, heading to Jackson Lab.
• Great Meadow Loop

From Route 3 these will take you into Acadia National Park

• Tarn Trail - moderate hike, will take you to several trails
• Dorr Mountain
• Beachcroft Path and West Face Champlain
• Day Mountain (1.3 miles south of Blackwoods Campground entrance)
• Cadillac South Ridge (parking is across from Black Woods Campground)
• Little Harbor Brook (parking is 1.3 miles past Seal Harbor)
• Eliot Mountain (parking is the same as Little Harbor Brook)

Carriage Trails are accessible from Hulls Cove entrance off Route 3 and Eagle Lake Road on Route 233

Off of Route 3/198 Northeast Harbor

• Norumbega Mountian
• Parkman and Bald (Norumbega Mountain Parking lot on 198/3)
• Giant Slide (on 198 just past Sargent Drive Intersection)
• Asticou Terraces parking at the Terraces, just before the Asticou Inn
• Sargent Mountain
• Hadlock Pond Trails (Upper Hadlock Parking Route 198)

Carriage Trails on this side can be accessed from the Hadlock Pond Parking area, up from the Brown Mountain Gate House on Route 198, 1 mile north of the intersection with Route 3

102 Long Pond/ Seal Cove

• Great Pond Trail (Long Pond Parking on 102 South of Echo Lake (past the grocery store)
• Western Mountain Hike (Parking same as above)
• Bernard West Ledge (Western Mountain Road - On Seal Cove Road)
• Valley Trail (Long Pond Parking on Route 102)
• Beech Cliffs Ladder (Echo Lake Beach Off Route 102)

Route 102 towards Southwest Harbor

• Acadia & St., Sauveur Mountain (Parking on Route 102)
• Wonderalnd (102A Parking)
• Ship Harbor (102A Parking)
• Valley Cove & Peak (Valley Cove Parking is off Route 102 on Fernald Point Road)
• Flying Mountain (Valley Cove Parking is off Route 102 on Fernald Point Road)