TRENTON, July 14, 2026 - My recent article last Thursday on the Acadia Gateway Center is close to receiving 10,000 views and probably will be my most read blog since I started writing this journal.
The park argues it is taking the long view and that visits to Ellsworth and Trenton will explode because the lodging is cheaper there. It is betting those people will hop on a bus for day visits to the park. Do you think people will do that? Park their cars at the Gateway and take bus instead for a day trip?
We tried. The island is too big to be able to day trip it on the bus. In a another city, where tons of buses run every 15/30 minutes, you can visit some place but on MDI, you hike, shop, dine, enjoy the views, on 108 square miles not including the topography you climb that a city like NYC does have.
Whatever the Gateway issues, I think people would benefit from acquainting themselves with both the Island Explorer and DownEast Transportation commuter routes.
DownEast Transportation runs buses M-F year round. ThankYou Jackson Laboratory for putting the Bar Harbor-Ellsworth route on the map - with morning, midday, and later afternoon options. Also M-F Bar Harbor-Bangor morning and late afternoon. This is a great service. I think perhaps people who drive and have cars may not understand how important this is for some of us.
Yes. I wish there were year round service around the island.
And even when you can get an Island Explorer to BH, synching with the commuter bus it would still be almost impossible to get any useful time in Ellsworth.
Went there today 7/13 plenty of parking. About as many staff members as visitors. Not one car on the charging stations. What a waste of money and effort. Should be repurposed as Park housing.
FYI - People don't use buses except in major metropolitan locations. No one is going to hop on a bus for the day to "Explore" Acadia. Busses move workers and people that have free time to take the day or no money. Vacations were 2 weeks when I was a kid. Now I see guests in the BnBs by me that are there for 2 days?!?! 2 days to see Acadia!!! (People's attention span is to narrow!)
It's laughable when people say,"I did Acadia", when what they actually did was drive part of the Loop Road. No hikes, no beaches, no anything but sit in a car, except they may have gotten out on Cadillac or at Thunder Hole, briefly. Sad.
Written from the heart: I used to feel the same way about the people who experience the Park and MDI as you describe. Over the past couple of years as I watch the Island look increasingly foot-trodden, vehicle worn, and generally “tired” from the massive numbers of visitors and the vehicle support system required to keep everyone comfortable and happy, I now embrace those who come and go quickly without walking trails and open land. It is all very sad to me.
60 years ago as a high school student, I took a summer job on Cape Cod. My impression of the Cape in 1966 was how worn down and tired the ground looked from all the visitors compared with the beautiful mountains, woods and green fields where I spent my first 15 years. Sadly, it is how MDI looks to me now. It is still beautiful and a generally peaceful place to know and embrace as “home”, but when I remember how pristine everything looked here in decades past, I know something truly remarkable is being lost. It is why I now thank those tourists who “do Acadia” as a “drive-by” experience.
All that said, I understand your sentiment very well.
You make a great point! You've given me a new way to look at those visitors which I hadn't considered. Thanks for your perspective.
I grew up in Bar Harbor in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, so you can imagine the changes I have seen in Bar Harbor. Some are wonderful, some not so much. My Higgins ancestors arrived in Cape Cod in the early 1600s and lived in Eastham, Cummaquid, and Barnstable before making it to MDI with the Richardson and Leland families near the time that Abraham Somes settled here. I made my first visit to the Cape about 15 years ago. It was in late October, so not many tourists, but one could see the impact the "love" of that place has had. I've still visited only in fall and winter, and not sure I want to go in spring or summer. The birding there was excellent, though, and gave me a few new ones to add to my list, so maybe some spring during migration.
Lol. That job I had in Eastham in 1966 was the job that taught me that a person can survive any job, regardless of how it feels at the time. I gleefully left the Cape at the end of summer and never went back. Lol.
My first MDI memory is from around 1955. My mother took a photo of me in a swim suit on Sand Beach. I remember standing knee-deep in the very cold water...briefly before being splashed by an ice cold wave. i also remember Mom buying me a small stuffed sheepskin lamb at a store in Bar Harbor and Dad buying some tackle, I think near the corner on West Street.
Im too blind now to do real birding, but I still love walking my Beagle and listening for birds with my very keen hearing. My first love is Rangeley, but MDI is home.
That type accounts for about 50% of visitors, down from the days of massive cruise ships when 75% were here to take a few pictures from the trolleys or rental golf carts
I grew up on the island. Moved away as a teen but have lifelong residents family there. I've stayed all Summer on the island last 6 years. Same place every year. I watched as the Gateway was being built. Thought, "Well that's nice but why here?" So far from the real island. I figured more intelligent people had explored, surveyed and vetted the location. Seemed to take FOREVER to be built! Then it opened and I didn't even know it had opened!?!? I stopped by in May or June. No one was there except the workers and a few other "tourists". The parking lot is not near the entrance to the building, even for handicap parking, so the walk for me was kind of tough. (Maybe I just didn't park in right area?) The park ticketing system was down so my friend could not get a park pass. Was told we had to go to Hulls Cove center to buy one?!?!? My friend was just there for the day so we had though about leaving the car and trying the bus around the island. Just didn't seem easy enough or comfortable enough. We decided to just go to Hulls Cove center and drive ourselves around like normal.
I see no reason for the Gateway. I'd anything, they should have torn down the old one and built something there (I know, "It will ruin the beauty as you get on the island." argument).
At least I would have "felt" like a Gateway to Acadia.
FOA has bought up tons of housing that used to be accommodations for travelers to use as workers housing but maybe they should turn the Gateway into housing like others have said. There's parking and busses to move workers around the island. That's what's needed. Off site temporary living spaces, not an empty staffed building in the middle of nowhere.
Tell that to the 75 year old with a flip phone that was with me. Why should a phone be required to visit a National Park for it's beauty, not it's cell towers.
As well as almost a dozen places around the park and town that sell passes... I almost wonder if it was July 4th and 5th when the park was free for everyone. Nobody said " required " dog
I have to eat a little crow today. My wife and I had been off island for a day and I wanted to show her the Gateway. Especially after telling her about the article and comments. That no one ever parked there. No one was ever in the Gateway.
Well......on Saturday, July 18th at 1 p.m. I took her there. To my amazement, there were at least 30 vehicles in the lot. Even one on a charger! There were 2 or 3 campers in the way back parking area (looked like they were actually camping).
Some of the vehicles had sun shades on them so at least plans for an extended parking period (day for work? Truly leaving there for extended stay?).
We didn't go into the building, just rode through the parking lots.
Some observations by spouse though:
Why is the building so secluded from the parking area with all that fancy stuff in front of it?
Why don't they use the rest of their land (369 total acres) and build tiny homes housing for the summer workers from away? Workers from other countries and away that don't have cars and that work on the island could ride the bus to work. How about like the converted storage containers into housing like we saw in Kansas City (a neat stacked, 4 story, studios with covered balcony arrangement)?
What about a seasonal Workampers sites for park employees, bus drivers and such?
Not sure who should receive attribution for "We met a veteran who had lived in one of the apartments and had no idea where he would go.", but it was not me.
Personally as a Mount Desert Island Resident, I want to encourage the park to enhance the gateway center by adding a quality theater where they could show videos of the the destinations. The visitors could stop, watch the videos and then GO HOME. I don't support anything that brings more tourists to MDI. I enjoy Acadia National Park, but not in the summer when the experience is destroyed by the crowds. Another improvement would be to turn the bridge to the island into a toll bridge, with a free lane for residents only.
Well Todd, we need there money though to. So, we put a food truck there, get $50 for a lobster roll. Sell them a "I did Acadia" bumper sticker for $15 and a $30 T-shirt after the movie.
The park argues it is taking the long view and that visits to Ellsworth and Trenton will explode because the lodging is cheaper there. It is betting those people will hop on a bus for day visits to the park. Do you think people will do that? Park their cars at the Gateway and take bus instead for a day trip?
We tried. The island is too big to be able to day trip it on the bus. In a another city, where tons of buses run every 15/30 minutes, you can visit some place but on MDI, you hike, shop, dine, enjoy the views, on 108 square miles not including the topography you climb that a city like NYC does have.
Good ideas but not really feasible on MDI.
NYC doesn't have. Sorry for the typo.
Whatever the Gateway issues, I think people would benefit from acquainting themselves with both the Island Explorer and DownEast Transportation commuter routes.
DownEast Transportation runs buses M-F year round. ThankYou Jackson Laboratory for putting the Bar Harbor-Ellsworth route on the map - with morning, midday, and later afternoon options. Also M-F Bar Harbor-Bangor morning and late afternoon. This is a great service. I think perhaps people who drive and have cars may not understand how important this is for some of us.
Island Explorer and Commuter info here.
Downeast Transportation Home
.https://www.downeasttrans.org/.
I live in Bass Harbor, so I have to drive to Bar Harbor to take the bus off the island. Where am I going to park in Bar Harbor?
Yes. I wish there were year round service around the island.
And even when you can get an Island Explorer to BH, synching with the commuter bus it would still be almost impossible to get any useful time in Ellsworth.
Parking in BH? Ha!
Good you have a car.
You can't live in Bass Harbor without a car unless you have given up food. Remember that small part of the year when the Island Explorer doesn't run.
Went there today 7/13 plenty of parking. About as many staff members as visitors. Not one car on the charging stations. What a waste of money and effort. Should be repurposed as Park housing.
Those charging stations are the closest L3 (DC fast charging) to MDI
MDI only has L2 chargers, which take many hours (often overnight) to fully charge.
The inclusion of L3 charging is about the only thing I think is a good idea about the gateway center
We want to be certain that Martha Higgins receives credit for the 6th comment you quoted rather than me. Thank you.
Thank you, Jill.
FYI - People don't use buses except in major metropolitan locations. No one is going to hop on a bus for the day to "Explore" Acadia. Busses move workers and people that have free time to take the day or no money. Vacations were 2 weeks when I was a kid. Now I see guests in the BnBs by me that are there for 2 days?!?! 2 days to see Acadia!!! (People's attention span is to narrow!)
It's laughable when people say,"I did Acadia", when what they actually did was drive part of the Loop Road. No hikes, no beaches, no anything but sit in a car, except they may have gotten out on Cadillac or at Thunder Hole, briefly. Sad.
Written from the heart: I used to feel the same way about the people who experience the Park and MDI as you describe. Over the past couple of years as I watch the Island look increasingly foot-trodden, vehicle worn, and generally “tired” from the massive numbers of visitors and the vehicle support system required to keep everyone comfortable and happy, I now embrace those who come and go quickly without walking trails and open land. It is all very sad to me.
60 years ago as a high school student, I took a summer job on Cape Cod. My impression of the Cape in 1966 was how worn down and tired the ground looked from all the visitors compared with the beautiful mountains, woods and green fields where I spent my first 15 years. Sadly, it is how MDI looks to me now. It is still beautiful and a generally peaceful place to know and embrace as “home”, but when I remember how pristine everything looked here in decades past, I know something truly remarkable is being lost. It is why I now thank those tourists who “do Acadia” as a “drive-by” experience.
All that said, I understand your sentiment very well.
You make a great point! You've given me a new way to look at those visitors which I hadn't considered. Thanks for your perspective.
I grew up in Bar Harbor in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, so you can imagine the changes I have seen in Bar Harbor. Some are wonderful, some not so much. My Higgins ancestors arrived in Cape Cod in the early 1600s and lived in Eastham, Cummaquid, and Barnstable before making it to MDI with the Richardson and Leland families near the time that Abraham Somes settled here. I made my first visit to the Cape about 15 years ago. It was in late October, so not many tourists, but one could see the impact the "love" of that place has had. I've still visited only in fall and winter, and not sure I want to go in spring or summer. The birding there was excellent, though, and gave me a few new ones to add to my list, so maybe some spring during migration.
Lol. That job I had in Eastham in 1966 was the job that taught me that a person can survive any job, regardless of how it feels at the time. I gleefully left the Cape at the end of summer and never went back. Lol.
My first MDI memory is from around 1955. My mother took a photo of me in a swim suit on Sand Beach. I remember standing knee-deep in the very cold water...briefly before being splashed by an ice cold wave. i also remember Mom buying me a small stuffed sheepskin lamb at a store in Bar Harbor and Dad buying some tackle, I think near the corner on West Street.
Im too blind now to do real birding, but I still love walking my Beagle and listening for birds with my very keen hearing. My first love is Rangeley, but MDI is home.
That type accounts for about 50% of visitors, down from the days of massive cruise ships when 75% were here to take a few pictures from the trolleys or rental golf carts
I grew up on the island. Moved away as a teen but have lifelong residents family there. I've stayed all Summer on the island last 6 years. Same place every year. I watched as the Gateway was being built. Thought, "Well that's nice but why here?" So far from the real island. I figured more intelligent people had explored, surveyed and vetted the location. Seemed to take FOREVER to be built! Then it opened and I didn't even know it had opened!?!? I stopped by in May or June. No one was there except the workers and a few other "tourists". The parking lot is not near the entrance to the building, even for handicap parking, so the walk for me was kind of tough. (Maybe I just didn't park in right area?) The park ticketing system was down so my friend could not get a park pass. Was told we had to go to Hulls Cove center to buy one?!?!? My friend was just there for the day so we had though about leaving the car and trying the bus around the island. Just didn't seem easy enough or comfortable enough. We decided to just go to Hulls Cove center and drive ourselves around like normal.
I see no reason for the Gateway. I'd anything, they should have torn down the old one and built something there (I know, "It will ruin the beauty as you get on the island." argument).
At least I would have "felt" like a Gateway to Acadia.
FOA has bought up tons of housing that used to be accommodations for travelers to use as workers housing but maybe they should turn the Gateway into housing like others have said. There's parking and busses to move workers around the island. That's what's needed. Off site temporary living spaces, not an empty staffed building in the middle of nowhere.
The phone everyone carries can buy park passes FYI...
Tell that to the 75 year old with a flip phone that was with me. Why should a phone be required to visit a National Park for it's beauty, not it's cell towers.
How's that for an answer Mich?
As well as almost a dozen places around the park and town that sell passes... I almost wonder if it was July 4th and 5th when the park was free for everyone. Nobody said " required " dog
I have to eat a little crow today. My wife and I had been off island for a day and I wanted to show her the Gateway. Especially after telling her about the article and comments. That no one ever parked there. No one was ever in the Gateway.
Well......on Saturday, July 18th at 1 p.m. I took her there. To my amazement, there were at least 30 vehicles in the lot. Even one on a charger! There were 2 or 3 campers in the way back parking area (looked like they were actually camping).
Some of the vehicles had sun shades on them so at least plans for an extended parking period (day for work? Truly leaving there for extended stay?).
We didn't go into the building, just rode through the parking lots.
Some observations by spouse though:
Why is the building so secluded from the parking area with all that fancy stuff in front of it?
Why don't they use the rest of their land (369 total acres) and build tiny homes housing for the summer workers from away? Workers from other countries and away that don't have cars and that work on the island could ride the bus to work. How about like the converted storage containers into housing like we saw in Kansas City (a neat stacked, 4 story, studios with covered balcony arrangement)?
What about a seasonal Workampers sites for park employees, bus drivers and such?
Not sure who should receive attribution for "We met a veteran who had lived in one of the apartments and had no idea where he would go.", but it was not me.
Personally as a Mount Desert Island Resident, I want to encourage the park to enhance the gateway center by adding a quality theater where they could show videos of the the destinations. The visitors could stop, watch the videos and then GO HOME. I don't support anything that brings more tourists to MDI. I enjoy Acadia National Park, but not in the summer when the experience is destroyed by the crowds. Another improvement would be to turn the bridge to the island into a toll bridge, with a free lane for residents only.
Well Todd, we need there money though to. So, we put a food truck there, get $50 for a lobster roll. Sell them a "I did Acadia" bumper sticker for $15 and a $30 T-shirt after the movie.
This car climbed mount Cadillac
Their. Sorry for the typos! (I'm old, yeah that's my excuse)