From: misterl@athena.mit.edu (Lawrence P Lubowsky)
Subject: Acadia Report & A Controversial Issue (somewhat long)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 03:02:08 GMT


I'd like to thank everyone who took a minute to reply to my request
for information about Acadia NP in Maine.  It was the first time I was
there, and I really enjoyed the trip.  I have to admit that, after
travelling out West and seeing many of the National Parks out there,
Acadia was completely different that what I had expected.

I took everyone's advice and planned to arrive at the park at 7AM.
This meant leaving Boston at 2AM, which I did.  I'm glad, too.  We got
to the entrance of Seawall Campground at 7:30, and we were 11th in the
line of cars.  Thirty minutes later, the size of the line had doubled.
We managed to get a site.  I don't know if everyone in line did, but I
doubt it.  This was the first time that I saw the option of "walk-in"
sites for tent camping.  You park your car in a central parking lot,
and you carry all of your stuff a little bit away to your campsite.
This was nice, since cars weren't driving by your tent in the middle
of the night.

In two days, we hiked a couple of the "moderate" trails.  The views
from the tops of the mountains are just beautiful.  This is especially
true if you manage to get there when the sky is clear.  The old saying
"If you don't like the weather in Maine, just wait a minute" really
held true for both days that we were there.  As is true of most tall
mountains with roads going to the top, the view from the top of
Cadillac Mountain didn't seem as nice as the views from some of the
smaller peaks which required hiking to reach the summit.  Also, the
blueberries are much more abundant along the trails than along the
roads.  :^)

If you want to rent a canoe, then you'll have to get to the rental
place early when the weather is nice.  We missed the last canoe by
about fifteen minutes.  If you feel like planning out your time, then
you can reserve one.  We didn't want to feel tied down.

If you just want to see the main section of the park, then don't go
through the effort of getting to Seawall at 7AM.  Seawall is probably
the furthest campsite from the actual park.  Let me explain.  Mt.
Desert Island (which houses Acadia) is "forked."  On one fork is most
of the Park along with Blackwoods Campground.  On the other fork, all
the way at the bottom, is Seawall Campground.  After spending a couple
of days there, we realized that almost all of the private campgrounds
(many of which were exactly like the NPS ones) were much closer to the
park than Seawall.  Blackwoods requires reservations during peak
summer months.  When I called them at the end of July, they were
booked until August 26.  The ranger at Seawall said that they usually
don't fill up at Seawall except for the first three weeks of August.
It seems like that is when everyone takes their vacations, and he
wakes up to lines of cars waiting for sites.

Here's the controversial part of this post:  In Bar Harbor, the
largest town near the park, many of the stores had little information
sheets printed up next to the cash register.  They begin with "Please
Don't Buy Souvenirs In The Park!" and continue on to explain how the
money from sales made within the park don't go to Acadia.  "These
shops are operated by a slick business corporation, and millions of
dollars spent there primarily enrich a few corporate shareholders."
This little info. sheet then goes on to claim that by buying
merchandise in Acadia, you are actually hurting the park "by
aggravating its most severe problem: congestion."  It then goes on to
state how the same corporation has stores in Bar Harbor, and that you
should save your shopping for the town.  It concludes with "Acadia is
a haven from daily, commercial life; it is not a shopping mall.  There
is no honor to shopping in Acadia National Park."  

Now I recognize the fact that the stores in the park steal business
from the stores in Bar Harbor, but is it right for the town stores to
urge visitors to avoid buying goods in the park?  Personally, I don't
see the need for the stores to be in Acadia when the stores in Bar
Harbor are equally accessible.  This is unlike most other national
parks, where the closest towns are hours away OUTSIDE the park.  Bar
Harbor is practically in the middle of Acadia.  

However, I don't think it's right for the stores in Bar Harbor to
bad-mouth the stores in the park simply because some businessmen
managed to get a contract from the NPS.  I don't think that getting
rid of the shops and restaurants in Acadia will have any effect on the
road congestion in the park.  People don't drive through Acadia to
shop, they drive through in order to see the park.  I think that this
is a slightly unfair piece of propaganda.

Any opinions?

Larry
--
  Larry Lubowsky         | I'm looking for a job in the Boston area.
  misterl@athena.mit.edu | Computers, Bio-electrical Eng., Medicine
			 | MIT Graduate.  Ask me for my resume.