Exploring New England's National Parks: Maine
This weekend marked the beginning of National Park Week - a week-long celebration of our countries most sacred and beautiful places...America's best idea. As of 2015, there were 407 units within the National Park System, 59 protected areas deemed National Parks and countless opportunities to explore America.
We may not have easy access to viewing California's towering Redwoods or Yosemite's Old Faithful, but we have access to some incredible parks, monuments and landmarks right here in New England. Take advantage of what New England has to offer and explore some of your parks this week!
Maine:
Maine is the northernmost and easternmost portion of New England and is best known for it's rugged beauty, jagged & rocky coastline and picturesque scenery. Explore some of Maine's parks below!
Acadia National Park
Located just outside of Bar Harbor, Maine, Acadia National Park preserves much of Mount Desert Island and many surrounding smaller islands just off the coast. Acadia consists of more than 47,000 acres, and is home to miles of hiking trails, beaches and rugged coastal beauty. Visitors can catch the "nation's first sunrise" from the top of Cadillac Mountain during most of the fall and winter months (during the summer and spring months, the nation's first sunrise is actually spotted at Mars Hill, 150 miles to the northeast). The oldest national park east of the Mississippi River, Acadia National Park was originally created and named Lafayette National Park in 1919 - it was renamed Acadia in 1929.
Appalachian National scenic trail
(CT,GA,MA,MD,ME,NC,NH,NJ,NY,PA,TN,VA,VT,WV)
The Appalachian Trail is a 2,185 mile long public footpath extending between Spring Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. The trail passes through 14 states and is one of three trails that make up America's Triple Crown of long-distance hiking. Maine comprises 281 miles of the AT, with the northern terminus being on Mount Katahdin's Baxter Peak.
Roosevelt Campobello International park
Situated in New Brunswick off the coast of Maine, Campobello International Park is maintained by both the US Park's System and Parks Canada. Campobello Island was the family summer retreat of Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was at the island that Roosevelt was stricken with polio. Franklin rarely returned to the island, but his wife Eleanor visited often. After Eleanor Roosevelt's death in 1962, the family deeded the property to the US & Canadian governments, and in 1964 the 2,800 acre international park was established.
Saint Croix Island International Historic Site
In 1984, the US Congress designated Saint Croix Island as an International Historic Site. St. Croix Island is a small, uninhabited island off the coast of Maine, bordering New Brunswick. In 1604, the island was the site of an early attempt at French colonization by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons - a French merchant, explorer and colonizer. In 1604, Du Gua organized an expedition and left France with 79 settlers. That June, the expedition entered the Bay of Fundy and settled at St. Croix Island. Their is no public access to the island, however viewers can observe the site from visitor's sites established on both the U.S. and Canadian mainland.
