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(EDITOR’S NOTE: Sun-Gazette photographer Mark Nance has hiked and photographed 23 or more of the nation’s 58 national parks, monuments and seashores. This being the 100th anniversary of the National Park system, the Sun-Gazette today continues a weekly series showcasing Nance’s artwork and highlighting the parks he’s visited.)
By MARK NANCE
Acadia National Park in Maine has been described as “where the mountains meet the sea.” It is that and much more. Acadia National Park is a 47,000-acre Atlantic coast recreation area primarily on Maine’s Mount Desert Island.
Its landscape is marked by woodland, rocky beaches and glacier-scoured granite peaks like Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the United States East Coast. Among the wildlife are moose, bear, whales and seabirds.
The bayside town of Bar Harbor, with restaurants and shops, is a popular gateway.
The park first was established by President Woodrow Wilson as the Sieur de Monts National Monument in 1916.
In 1919, Wilson signed the act establishing it as the Lafayette National Park, the first national park east of the Mississippi River. Then, 10 years later in 1929, the name was changed to Acadia National Park, meaning “idyllic place,” or “land of plenty.”
Acadia refers the former French colony of eastern Canada, chiefly in Nova Scotia but also including Prince Edward Island and the coastal area from the St. Lawrence River south into Maine. The national park includes most of Desert Island surrounded by Mount Desert Narrows and Frenchmen’s Bay.