Acadia National Park – Maine

The only designated National Park in the Northeast, Acadia National Park, is another spectacular place. There are sweeping ocean views and granite. Mountains rise from the sea, while waves crash against ancient rock.

Long before Acadia became a national park, the rugged coastline and granite mountains of Mount Desert Island drew wealthy summer residents and by the late 1800s, Bar Harbor had become a fashionable retreat.

The driving force behind Acadia’s creation was George Dorr, the Father of Acadia National Park. He devoted much of his personal fortune to protesting the landscape. He worked to convince landowners to donate property and advocated for permanent federal protection. 

In 1916, the area was first protected as Sieur De Monts National Monument, named for the French explorer who settled the region in the early 1600s. In 1919, Woodrow Wilson signed legislation to establish Lafayette National Park, making it the first national park east of the Mississippi River. In 1929, the park was renamed Acadia National Park, honoring the region’s earlier French roots. 

What makes Acadia especially moving is that it exists because people who could have kept this extraordinary land for themselves chose instead to give it away.