Fall and Winter in Acadia National Park - Wabanaki Homeland

Here in Acadia National Park on Wabanaki Homeland, the summer season is rounding out. Fall is in the air. We noticed the other day while driving from our home in Bass Harbor, things are getting pretty quiet again. Acadia National Park is unique in that park and private land border each other frequently. You might be hiking on the Ship Harbor or Precipice Trails while often just across the street, through the woods, or around the bend is someone’s home, a local business, or Land and Garden Preserve.

We who live on the island year-round get to see the grandeur each of the seasons offers. The change brings about crisp fall air, vibrant foliage, and many other spectacular natural displays. The days are getting shorter, sun is setting earlier, and parking areas are thinning out. It is both a welcomed reprieve and a reality check. In some ways it is a sobering reminder that winter is coming, things will get dormant rather soon, and it is time to start tuning up the cross country skis and snowshoes. While these truths are necessary to acknowledge and accept, they should be welcomed with open arms!

Acadia National Park is a special place. Most of you reading this know that either from first hand experience or through word-of-mouth legend. With over 3.5 million yearly visitors and steadily rising, Acadia National Park is one of the most popular national parks in the country. Add that it is one of the smallest in terms of land area at roughly 50,000 acres and the ratio of visitors to space is quite dramatic, especially during high season in the summer. This makes Acadia National Park that much more alluring during the “off season” when the air cools, leaves turn with fall foliage, snow falls, ice builds around the rugged coast, and frost glasses over the barren summits. Trails empty, and one can often experience even the most popular paths like Cadillac North Ridge in relative solitude, lending to the moment a particular sense of wildness, timelessness, wonder, and allure.

We are glad to have the ebb and flow of the rhythms of the seasons here on Mount Desert Island, and we are also often quite surprised at the stark contrasts between peak and off-season visitor numbers. As you change gears and distant thoughts enter your space while considering fall and winter plans, you might be feeling attracted to seeking out solace in raw, quiet wilderness and vast trail networks with nearly no human encounters ahead. Acadia National Park typically would fall pretty low on that list of potential places to fit the bill, but you would be remiss to overlook it during these off-season months. Sure, the bustling Bar Harbor downtown shops and restaurants are largely shut down. A little more advanced planning and preparation around provisions for your stay will be required. But, doesn’t that only stand to increase your sense of adventure and exploration? Two descriptors many of us deeply yearn for in a modern society most often void of mystery, wildness, and natural connection.