Planned Trip to Acadia on Friday - Quick Gov't Shutdown Question

[Jim Cole]

Good timing here on our trip this Friday for 12 days to Cape Cod and Acadia. Never having been there before, I'm curious if Acadia is one of those National Parks that can actually block access by car and it is truly shut down, or if it's still open to drive thru, just without facilities during these gov't shutdowns. I'm hoping for the later.

I know I can spend my time outside the park if I have to, but we now have noncancelable reservations at a B&B in Bar Harbor. Everything was based on quick access to great areas, and now, looking at the map of the area, we may be subject to long driving times to get to and from our B&B if we are blocked from driving thru the park.

Thanks for any insights.

[Bodyslam]

Good question. The NPS FAQ states that any roads which function as thru-ways will remain open. This implies that the entrance stations will be staffed with rangers who will only let you in if you can convince them that you're driving straight through.

[redshift]

I don't recall there being any gates that actually close. I've been to the top of the mountain for the sunrise. No rangers on duty and nothing to prevent entry.

[jp]

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/10/0...relatedSidebar

Sounds like the visitor center is closed... No big loss; never been in it. I'm sure more commenters will chime in to the news article with local knowledge.

One commenter added some clue:
mlkrgr • 3 hours ago −
You can still enjoy a good chunk of the park without going onto park owned roads. It's a good time to go and see the other side of Acadia in SW Harbor. Many nice trails down there; and you can't forget the roads around Cadillac SR and Brown Mountain Gatehouse are still opened. You just have to have some good intelligence to improvise what you're doing.


itwasntmyidea tag
• 18 minutes ago − All park entrances are barricaded, the park is closed. Take it from someone that works on MDI, it's as closed as it gets.

[Jim Cole]

Thanks for the comments and helps so far. I have been Googling, trying to find out which roads on Mount Desert Island are actually closed. The Acadia NP Website is actually shut down instead of providing useful information about the closure.

I'd like to plan some alternate places to photograph, but I cannot figure out where I can and cannot go from Bar Harbor. MountDesertIsland.net only has a quick statement about the shutdown with no further details. Maybe more will become available in the next day or two.

I assume Hwy 233 and Hwy 3 south are barricaded. If I want to get to SW Harbor, it looks like I have to loop north on Hwy 3 and south on 198. The question is, is Hwy 102 open all the way around, or barricaded where it makes short hops across the National Park boundaries? Hwy 102 looks like it provides good access to smaller roads running along the west coast of the island, if one can cross the park boundaries.

I would regroup and do this some other time, but the time and money has been allotted and we have to make the best of it. I just wish more info was available.

[Michael Alpert]

Jim,

I am not exactly sure what is closed and what isn't, but I have heard on the local public radio that the main access roads to the Loop Road will be closed. You know, this might be a blessing instead of a problem. Acadia has been photographed to death. There are wildlife preserves, state parks, local accessible shore areas (in Millbridge and elsewhere) and lovely islands (for instance, Deer Isle) that are within an hour of Mt. Desert. Schoodic Peninsula is also part of the Acadia National Park, but the road along the shore might be open. Further east along the coast, there is much to see and photograph. It is stunningly beautiful here right now, with good weather and vibrant fall foliage, so I don't think your Maine visit will be disappointing. I am sure that your B&B will have more specific information about where to go and what to see.

[Jim Cole]

Michael,

Thanks for the helpful reply. My main concern with our base of operations in Bar Harbor is adding two hours of round trip driving every day. It may well end up that we will have to do so, but I would really like to find out what I can actually access on Mt. Desert Island.

I may have to wait until we arrive in Bar Harbor to know what's going on.

[jp]

Use the wayback machine to get an archive of the acadia website. Your b&b should be helpful too

[Jim Cole]

Use the wayback machine to get an archive of the acadia website. Your b&b should be helpful too

Thanks JP. I've emailed the B&B.

[michael2123]

It is really just the park loop road that is shut down which makes a lot of the most popular features of Acadia relatively difficult to access that would otherwise be easy to do so. The only other gated section of the park is Echo Lake. Rte 3 leading from Bar Harbor passing by the tarn and leading to Seal Harbor is still open along with a good chunk of Southwest Harbor. There's a lot entrances to the park that it should still be easy enough to do something. Of course, if you wanted tea and popovers at JP House, you'd be out of luck, or you'd be in for quite a good 1.5-2 mile walk to get to the Thunder Hole if you want to see it while it'd be something you can easily park and see otherwise. If you want to go biking, it might be a great time to bike the park loop rd (just don't overextend yourself) and access from Eagle Lake & Brown Mtn should still be open. Best way up Cadillac would be to park right outside of the Blackwoods CG entrance if you don't want to miss that but bring plenty of food and water w/ you as of course you might not be able to refill your bottles up top and of course you wouldn't have the gift shop. If you're in for a drive, exploring Southwest and Bass aren't bad ideas. You should still be able to easily access Acadia Mtn and it should be a nice, short, and doable hike (they mark it as strenuous but it is rather easy). If you want to see Bubble Pond, you can still hike in from Eagle Lake (go clockwise around the lake and take a left at the first intersection; it's an easy walk that I like to do when I walk to hike after a good round of rain).

People will try to use the scare tactic as there isn't any search and rescue if you want to go hiking or biking, but it shouldn't be any worse than what the White Mountains are by any means of the imagination, and many other more involved, longer trails out west. It's dampered down from normal levels (second to none vs most other backcountry spots).

I wouldn't be worried with having enough to do.