Acadia, granite meets the Atlantic.

Field guide ◆ Acadia

Plan the trip.

Acadia is the only national park east of the Mississippi that meets the ocean — 49,000 acres on Mount Desert Island, Maine, where the pink Cadillac granite of the New England coast rises out of the Atlantic in a series of 200- and 1,500-foot bluffs. From October through March you can be the first place in the United States to see sunrise.

For a long weekend: Day 1, drive Park Loop Road, stop at Sand Beach and Thunder Hole, hike the Beehive (1.5 miles, but with iron rungs and exposed scrambling — earned). Day 2, sunrise at Cadillac Mountain (vehicle reservation required Memorial Day-Columbus Day), then bike the carriage roads. Day 3, the Schoodic Peninsula on the mainland — quieter, just as scenic, no shuttles.

Best window: June for lilacs and clear weather, September for fewer crowds and the start of leaf color. October weekends can be deeply crowded — go midweek.