Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park

Posted on Saturday, August 01, 2009

Once the summer playground of wealthy and famous Americans, Bar Harbor was celebrated as a quiet, beautiful resort village. Today visitors flock to this island paradise to experience the brilliant fall foliage and to explore Acadia National Park, the first national park established east of the Mississippi. The park encompasses over 47,000 acres (19,020 ha) of granite-domed mountains with woodlands, lakes, ponds and coastal seashore. Such diverse types of habitat make Acadia a haven for wildlife and plants. Entwined with the natural diversity of Acadia is the story of its people. Evidence suggests that native people first lived here at least 5,000 years ago. Subsequent centuries brought explorers from far lands, settlers of European descent, and arising directly from the beauty of the landscape, tourism and preservation.