BIKING IN ACADIA NATIONAL PARK
In addition to city streets and highways, bikes are allowed on the Mount Desert Island Park Loop Road, the Schoodic Peninsula Loop Road, Cadillac Mountain Road, designated bike trails on the Schoodic Peninsula, and all Mount Desert Island carriage roads within the park. There are also carriage roads on private property that are open to the public, but only to those on horse or foot. Signs indicate which roads are open to bikes. Class 1 electric bikes are allowed anywhere traditional bikes are allowed, including on the carriage roads. However, other classes of electric bikes, Segways, and hoverboards are not allowed (exceptions are made for disabled visitors). If caught using such vehicles, fines starting at $130 will be assessed.
The Park Loop Road may be fine for biking in the off season, but during the summer it is packed with cars, and there is no road shoulder or designated bike lane. The road is certainly safer than riding on city streets since speed limits are low, especially on a busy day, and chances of getting killed are slim. However, with drivers looking at the passing scenery combined with the sheer number of cars on the road, getting bumped or knocked to the ground is a definite possibility. Same goes for Cadillac Mountain Road, which is even more dangerous due to its steep and winding path. These roads may be fine for adults and experienced bikers, but I wouldn’t want my young children riding on them.
In my opinion, the carriage roads are the best biking option at Mount Desert Island. There are forty-five miles of them, they are wide and vehicle-free, and there aren’t that many people on them at one time. Of course people get injured on the carriage roads as well, but that is due to their own carelessness, not the carelessness of others. I came up with a nice 13-mile bike ride along the carriage roads, and you can read about it on the Carriage Road Bike Ride web page here on National Park Planner.
The carriage roads are quite hilly, so don’t expect a leisurely ride. Furthermore, the roads have a very fine gravel surface and are more appropriate for mountain or hybrid bikes. You might be able to use a road bike, but you may be pushing your luck in some places, particularly when riding downhill on some of the steeper slopes. Bike shops in the area always rent hybrids for use on the carriage roads.
The Schoodic Peninsula Loop Road is far less traveled, and thus far less dangerous. However, to make a loop out of the ride you must bike a stretch of Highway 186, and while it is out in the middle of nowhere, cars on the road still travel at high speeds.
I did not bike any of the trails at Schoodic, so I can’t comment on them other than to say they are gravel roads similar to the carriage roads on Mount Desert Island. Per the National Park Service web site:
Enjoy the 16 foot wide packed gravel bike trails at Schoodic. Ranging from easy trails near the campground section to steep grades near Frasier Point and on the northeastern trails. These trails are easily accessible from the campground and provide moderate amounts of tree cover. Limited water views from between the trees and at the terminus of the hills.
MOUNT DESERT ISLAND CARRIAGE ROAD HISTORY
As automobiles grew in popularity in the early 1900s, a debate on whether to allow them on Mount Desert Island sparked what was called the Mount Desert Island Auto War. Summer residents, including wealthy families such as the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Kennedys, did not want automobiles because they came to the island to escape progress. Full-time residents, on the other hand, wanted them because they would make life easier. From 1903 through 1911, various laws were passed that barred automobiles on all but a few roads on the west side of the island. It wasn’t until 1915 that these laws were repealed and automobiles were allowed on all roads.
Determined to preserve the era of the horse-drawn carriage, in 1913 John D. Rockefeller, Jr. began building a system of carriage roads on his property in Seal Harbor. After Sieur de Monts National Monument was created 1916, he purchased additional property connected to his Seal Harbor residence so that he could extend the road system. When done, he donated everything to the park, then went on to purchase more land on which to build more roads. This went on for twenty-seven years, resulting in forty-five miles of carriage roads, seventeen bridges, and two gate lodges.
The gate lodges were designed to keep automobiles off the carriage roads. They consisted of an actual entrance gate, a carriage house, and a house where the gatekeeper and his family lived. When carriages arrived, a coachman would ring a bell and the gatekeeper or his wife would open the gates. Today the lodges are used to house National Park Service employees and are not open to the public except on special occasions a few times each year.
Brown Mountain gate, the western gate for the carriage roads on Mount Desert Island, Acadia National Park
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Last updated on August 11, 2023