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Acadia National Park - Schoodic
Peninsula |
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Welcome to Acadia National Park's Schoodic Area in
Winter Harbor, Maine.
This part of Acadia National Park covers 2366
acres. It is the only part of Acadia on the mainland not severed
from the mainland as the island was during the ice age millions of years
ago. You are just a stone's throw away across the water from
Cadillac Mountain. This shoreline is bold and beautiful with pink
and gray granite rock. You can park at 3 major areas in this
Schoodic area or find a private pull over. There are restrooms and
picnic tables in the park. This is a park that allows you to
literally drive along the crashing surf with many opportunities to pull
over and enjoy. There is no charge to enter the park where
you can hike, cycle, have cookouts, watch sail boats and lobster boats,
or just sit back and relax. It is quiet and unprentious.
It is comprised of fishing villages, many still in tact with
historical buildings and quaint cottages along the sea.
You may feel as if you have stepped back in
time as you drive through them, many with mom and pop
convenience stores which are really neat to grab a bite to
eat. At Schoodic, in Prospect
Harbor, you'll find Stinsons Seafood, the only fishing
cannery that exists in Maine, which was bought by Bumble Bee Tuna.
The ancestral lineages of family is strong in this part of the Maine
coast. Visitors can enjoy a sense of true freedom, seemingly a world
away, but not. There is an easiness about being Downeast as it is free from the hustle and bustle, yet there are
shops, restaurants, arts and social clubs in the villages.
In Winter Harbor, you'll find mansions that indulge the waterfront,
just across the waters from friends in Bar Harbor. You are not far
from Ellsworth where all major amenities can be found and less than hour
from Bangor. An 8 mile drive off of route 1 (The Downeast Highway)
takes you to Acadia's Schoodic Peninsula. To get there,
headed Downeast from Ellsworth on High Street where all the major shops
and food chains are located bear left at the Y to go onto Route 1 and
head toward Schoodic. Once you reach the Schoodic National
Scenic Byway about 15 minutes through small towns and fishing villages,
you'll see the signs for Gouldsboro and Winter Harbor. Take a
right onto Route 186 and follow it to Winter Harbor to the Park
entrance. The park is free of charge and provides a 7.2 mile
drive along the Ocean's edge providing spectacular views of crashing
surf, lobsters boats and shorebirds. There are also many trails to
hike. From Bar Harbor, you can take the Acadia
Free Shuttles on the Island Explorer Bus that serves the Acadia
Schoodic Peninsula which stops in Winter Harbor, Prospect Harbor and
Birch Harbor. It connects with the Bar Harbor-Winter
Harbor Ferry from June - October. You can also hop on one of these
shuttles on Mount Desert Island as well.
Looking for a place to stay in the Schoodic
Peninsula area? See VIRTUAL TOURS inside the best Schoodic
Peninsula Lodging options of Bed and Breakfasts, Vacation
Rentals..cottages and cabins in Directories below.
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