Acadia National Park in Maine is one of my favorite National Parks. It has great hikes like the Precipice Trail and the Beehive Trail, a fabulous gateway town in Bar Harbor, along with the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean on the iconic Maine black rocks. The lobster rolls are great too! rk
View from the summit of Cadillac Mountain
Sand Beach
Also Sand Beach
Schoodic Peninsula
View from the Beehive Trail (with Olivia)
Bass Harbor lighthouse in the fog
During my recent visit to Yellowstone NP, I was made aware that they had a half marathon weekend in the park planned for the following weekend. My wife is an avid runner (while I am more of a hiker), but we were shocked that we were not aware that this was a thing. After doing some more research, we found that there are races in many of the National Parks. Having said that, it is difficult to find information about National Park races online. The NPS website doesn’t even mention them unless you want to scroll through long lists of activities which could take a lot of time. No one organization seems to sponsor the races either, so there is not one central place to find out information about the races.
We are considering doing the Joshua Tree Half Marathon which is on November 4th 2017, and matches up well with our anniversary trip we do every year. Also, it is a night race so the opportunity to stargaze during this race will be incredible. If you’d like to join us at this race then check out: https://runsignup.com/Race/CA/JoshuaTree/JoshuaTreeHalfMarathon.
I will say that I am not familiar with runsignup or Vacation Races (which I am not sure if they are separate organizations or just link to each other). I will have to update you after I participate in one of their races with how they handle the logistics of the race. This group does offer a long list of half marathons that they sponsor in or near the National Parks (I noticed that some are not technically in the NP’s so check for that carefully). You can find more information here: http://vacationraces.com/.
Now some of the National Park’s seem to have locally sponsored races. For example, Acadia National Park in Maine just had their annual race sponsored by the Mount Desert Island YMCA: http://www.mdiymca.org/index.php?page=acadia-loop-half-mara. That looked to be a gorgeous race following the rocky coastline of the Park. Think of all the lobster rolls you could eat after burning off calories doing a 10K or half marathon!
Rocky Coastline in Acadia National Park
If you like to participate in these kind of events, then I encourage you to do some research online or reach out directly to the National Park you want to visit and run through. This does seem to be a great way to experience a National Park in a new way. As always, thank you for reading. rk
Coastline of Acadia National Park
Acadia is a gorgeous national park set on the coast of Maine. I think the best times to go are in the fall where you can see the leaves change color. That is also a popular time in the park so plan your travel arrangements ahead of time. There are several nice hotels in Bar Harbor, but if you want to stay in the park you will be camping. Blackwoods Campground is a nice convenient location and is where I stayed during my last visit. On previous visits, I had used hotel points to stay in Bar Harbor.
View from the top of the Precipice Trail
Start your day early with quick exhilarating hikes at Precipice Trail and Beehive Trail. They are both on the east side and more heavily traveled part of the island. The views from the tops of these trails are amazing. Go from there to see the waves crash at Thunder Hole (if you catch the tides right you will hear why it is called Thunder Hole) and then a short distance to the magnificent views from Otter Point.
Grab brunch and those delicious popovers and jam at Jordan Pond and then shoot over to the less traveled west side of the island. Go straight to the Perpendicular Trail to test your endurance and be rewarded with a bird’s eye view over the west side of the island. You can also see the Cranberry Islands off the coast. From there it is a quick drive to the Bass Harbor Lighthouse. By this time, you should be ready for a late lunch of lobster rolls at Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound. This is a road side shack between Bass Harbor and Seawall.
Bass Harbor Lighthouse
Drive back across the island now to Bar Harbor and at low tide cross over to Bar Island. During low tide a path to this island emerges from the ocean. A quick hike to the peak of Bar Island overlooks the town of Bar Harbor where you can try and spot where you want to get dinner that night. You have only about a 3-hour window to get across and back, but that is plenty of time. Finish the afternoon with some shopping in Bar Harbor and dinner at Paddy’s Irish Pub or one of the other great restaurants in town. Finish the day with a couple Mexican Hot Chocolate’s to go from Choco-Latte and a drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain to see the stars come out.
View of Bar Harbor from Bar Island at Low Tide
You should sleep well and probably late after that busy day. Before leaving Acadia the next morning, grab a late breakfast at Two Cats. I recommend the lobster omelet there. I hope you enjoy your trip.
rk
Acadia National Park near Thunder Hole
Since we are at the beginning of the year, I thought it would be a good idea to list which National Park would be the best to visit during each month of this year. Of course, at Bighorntravelblog we believe it is always a good time to visit a National Park, but there are some compelling reasons to visit these parks in the month indicated. I hope that this inspires you to consider visiting National Parks when planning your vacation time in 2017.
January – Rocky Mountain National Park. Colorado is known for its great skiing in places like Breckenridge, Vail, and many others. Why not combine a ski trip with a visit to beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park. Rocky Mountain National Park has plenty of winter activities including ice climbing, mountaineering, snowshoeing and skiing. This is also one of the few national parks that allows backcountry camping in the winter.
February – Bryce Canyon National Park. If you think the orange-red hoodoos look amazing in the summer, then you should see them in February when the rock spires are coated with snow. It is very beautiful and the clear cold skies should make for some great stargazing as well.
March – Death Valley National Park. Despite the name, in the spring flowers bloom throughout Death Valley. Perhaps you will get lucky and during a March visit get to see the Superbloom which happens about once a decade (which is about how often they get any substantial rain in the park).
April – Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Late April after Spring Break is usually one of the more inexpensive times of year to fly to Hawaii. The weather here is always perfect plus you could tack on a visit to Haleakala National Park as well.
May – Grand Canyon National Park. The Grand Canyon is always a great place to visit. In May you can beat the summer crowds and heat and dodge the snow that is here in the winter.
June – Great Basin National Park. Summertime is when the crowds really come out to the National Parks. Why not take this time to visit one of the least visited National Parks in the lower 48. This is one the best places to see the stars in the lower 48. Summers are the one time a year you can see the yellow bellied rock marmot. The yellow bellied rock marmot hibernates for 9 months a year and is usually only seen in mid summer as they sunbathe on the rocks.
July – Zion National Park. Now I know, Zion is a zoo with crowds in July. But July is the best time to hike the Narrows or the Subway. Wading through the cold water of the Virgin River feels great when it is over 100*F and the risk of flash floods washing you out of the canyon is minimized.
August – Olympic National Park. Olympic is normally very rainy and wet, but in August you have your best shot of sunny skies and relatively warm weather. The clear skies are also make this a great time for a side trip to the Space Needle in Seattle to get great views of Olympic and Mt Ranier National Parks.
September – Yosemite National Park. Yosemite is another park that in the summer months is difficult to traverse due to crowds. But visiting in the winter isn’t great because many of the roads are closed and huge portions of the park aren’t accessible. September is a great time to visit as school is in session so the crowds are down and all of the park is open for business.
October – Acadia National Park. Acadia in October is stunning. The New England foliage is showing their full color and the weather is perfect. Add in some lobster rolls was watching the ocean crash on the black rocks and I can’t think of a better place to be in October.
November – Biscayne National Park. Visiting this park in South Florida in the summer is like giving yourself over to the mosquitoes as a human sacrifice, but the bugs die down in late fall but the weather is still nice. This is the best time of year to visit this park.
December – Yellowstone National Park. Snowmobiling through Yellowstone is one of my bucket list items. Wildlife is easy to spot in the snow and the cold air really shows off the steam rising from the hot springs and geysers.
rk
The best bargain in travel is the United States National Park Pass. The cost is negligible really. We purchased an annual family Interagency National Park Pass last June for $80. If you are a senior, it is only $10 for a lifetime pass and the US Military get in free always.
Having the National Park Pass gets you into all National Parks, Monuments, and Federal Recreation sites at no additional cost with no limitations on visits. Before I had the National Park Pass I had been to 6 National Parks in 43 years. Since June, I have been to 9 National Parks with 7 of them new. In addition, my adult children have used the pass to visit 3 other National Parks and between all of us have scheduled trips this winter and spring to at least 7 more. The National Parks are spread all over the country so while some of our trips have been based around the Parks, others have been because we have been in the area. Work trip to New Hampshire, then drive up to Acadia in Maine. Weekend getaway to Seattle, lets squeeze in Mt Ranier etc.
The United States National Park system represents all that is great about America. To quote writer and historian, Wallace Stegner, national parks are “the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” The National Park system preserves the most beautiful, special, and culturally important places in our country. To visit them widens your view of the world and fills you with awe to the beauty created by God.
Parks visited so far this year by our family include Acadia NP, Congaree NP, Cuyahoga NP, Zion NP, Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, Capitol Reef NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Grand Canyon NP, Saguaro NP, Mt Ranier NP, Olympic NP, Shenandoah NP, and the Great Smoky Mountains NP. Scheduled trips over the next six months include Joshua Tree NP, Yellowstone NP, Grand Tetons NP, Badlands NP, Big Bend NP, Guadalupe NP, and Carlsbad Caverns NP. I’m sure we will sneak in a few more as well!
rk
The Precipice Trail in Acadia National Park in Maine is really more of a non-technical climb than a hike. I was emboldened to hike this trail with Josh since I had managed to survive Angel’s Landing in Utah earlier this year. If you haven’t read my and Josh’s version of events on that hike, then I encourage you to go back and read them. Precipice is a one-way trail only .9 miles long. You return via one of several other trail options.
We had camped in the Blackwoods Campground near the trailhead for the Precipice Trail. The trailhead is off of the Park Loop Road. We were up at daylight and quickly drove over and parked on the side of the road and began the ascent. After entering the woods, we hit a first “test” of a few iron rungs and a climb up onto a big rock. It wasn’t a big deal, but you could imagine how it could be scary it when you are much higher up. We then quickly entered a rock scramble where we had to go over, under, and between giant boulders. This was fun, but not a traditional trail. We followed the blazes painted on the rocks.
As we negotiated some minor iron rungs and cliff faces, I remarked to Josh that this trail wasn’t nearly as scary as I feared. Unfortunately, I had just spoken too soon as we hit a rock face with a vertical ascent. Josh quickly climbed to the top and encouraged me to follow. I slowly went up the rungs and counted them as I went as a distraction. 26 iron rungs straight up. I took a deep breath and pulled myself up onto the ledge. That took a massive effort. Now I had a two foot wide ledge with a rock face on one side and a plummet on the other. As I navigated this, I came to an obstruction. There was a large rounded rock with the trail wrapped around it. The ledge was about six inches wide. There were grooved places in the round rock to place your hands as you go around it. I sat there for awhile flummoxed. This is a one-way trail so you can’t go back and I couldn’t go forward without risking certain death. Finally, I just plunged ahead and wiggled around the rock and continued on.
After that tight spot, the rest of the ladders didn’t seem so bad and we quickly ascended the summit of Champlain Mountain. The view was awe inspiring. You can see the Atlantic and various islands off of the coast. After a snack and several minutes soaking in the view. We took the Champlain North Ridge Trail back down.
The bang for your buck on this trail is huge. It’s a quick hike with gorgeous views. If you are at Acadia National Park, I recommend this hike.
rk
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