Acadia Carriage Roads

There's no 2 ways about it, one of the things that makes Acadia National Park so unique among national parks is its carriage roads. There are over 51 miles of one-lane gravel-covered roads that wind in and around Acadia. And no cars are allowed anywhere on these roads! Only bikes, horses and foot traffic are allowed (and skis in winter).

But where did the carriage roads come from? Their history and development is really quite interesting...

History of Acadia's Carriage Roads

At a point in U.S. history when motor vehicles were taking hold and traveling the byways around the country, one of the wealthy cottage owners who vacationed on Mount Desert Island realized the need to protect Acadia from encroachment by these motorized cars.

Up until 1913, cars were not even allowed on the island. But when they began to arrive in the area that previously had required a boat to get to, John D. Rockefeller Jr. spearheaded a movement to design and build a series of roads that would travel around the mountains and valleys and vistas of Acadia... that cars would never be allowed to travel on.

These roads would provide an opportunity for future generations of visitors to Acadia to experience the Park up close and personal with both the natural beauty and the man-made beauty of Acadia. You'll see mountain peaks, ocean overlooks, spruce-dense forests, bubbling streams and clear glacier-formed lakes and ponds everywhere you look from the carriage roads.

Photo credit: Tassadara/Flickr

Over 27 years, the junior Rockefeller built a state of the art carriage road system of his own in Acadia, complete with 17 beautiful and individually unique bridges that spanned motor roads, streams and more throughout Acadia.

The carriage roads, covered in broken stone, are 16 feet wide and were engineered to endure despite Maine's wet weather. Three layers of rock, stone culverts, wide ditches, and a substantial six to eight inch crown ensure good drainage, no matter what the weather.

When Rockefeller finally finished his road project, he presented it (and a third of the land within what constitutes Acadia today) as a gift for the people of America. What a legacy he left!

Today, 43 of the 51 miles are within park boundaries. The other miles lie on private land, but the roads themselves are still open to the public.

Features of the Acadia Carriage Roads

There are some standard features that can be found throughout the Acadia carriage roads system:

• Large blocks of granite, called coping stones, that line the roads. These stones are cut roughly for a rustic appearance. They are sometimes affectionately called "Rockefeller's teeth. "


• Cedar sign posts at every intersection. These hallmark signposts were originally erected where carriage roads cross to direct carriage drivers. Today, numbers are attached to the sign posts which match carriage road maps and guidebooks, and help carriage road users find their way around.


• Gatehouse lodges. Two gatehouse lodges were built, one at Jordan Pond and the other near Northeast Harbor. These gates serve as whimsical welcomes to the carriage roads system. A third gate was planned near Eagle Lake, but never built.


• Stone-faced bridges, each unique in design, that span streams, waterfalls, roads, and cliffsides. These bridges are made of steel reinforced concrete, but use native stone (granite) for a facing that gives them a natural appearance that blends in with their surroundings. I think these bridges are one of the unique pleasures of Acadia, finding each one's unique character, etc.

Click here for a photo gallery of some of the carriage road bridges in Acadia National Park

At over 50 miles of carriage roads, you're not going to cover the whole system in a day, but you can see a lot even on one bike trip. You can download a PDF map here that you can print and take with you on your bike or hike trip on the carriage roads.

You might also want to think about ordering one of the many handbooks on biking the Acadia carriage roads that you'll find at our Acadia bookstore (We can particularly recommend Diana Abrell's Pocket Guide to The Carriage Roads. It's small enough to fit in a pocket or bike bag, but detailed enough to provide tons of info.)

Just make sure you do make some time to explore the wonderful Acadia carriage roads... they're not to be missed!

Photo credit: criana/Flickr

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