Acadia
Acadia National Park is nearly the eastern most point in the United States. It sits on Maine's rocky, sea battered coast. Mount Desert Island is the largest part of the park. Mount Desert Island was anemd for its barren hilltops.
Glaciers, grinding southward, have carved parallel valleys into Mount Desert Island. Somes Sound is the largest of these valleys. It is a sea filled gorge, or fjord, that nearly cuts the island in two. Somes Sound is the only fjord on the east coast.
The rocks of the cliffs and slopes have been smoothed and creased by the pressure of the glaciers grinding over them.
Hardy pine trees hug the the often fog shrouded hills.
From Cadillac Mtn a viewpoint offers a panoramic view of the island and the coast behind it. From here you can watch the first sunrise in the United States.
Unlike western parks this park was created after settlement and is a hodge-podge of private and park lands.
The park roads roam through small towns and fisherman ply the coast.
All images © John Donohue, 1995,1996