Garden at Sieur de Monts Spring in Acadia National Park

Sieur de Monts Spring is an area within Acadia National Park that is located just south of Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island. It is reached via the Park Loop Road and is the first exit once you enter the one-way loop portion of the road. The freshwater spring was named after Frenchman Pierre du Gua de Monts, who in 1603 was given authority by the French government over an area that stretched from present-day Philadelphia all the way to Cape Breton.

Acadia National Park began as Sieur de Monts National Monument in 1916 after 5,000 acres in the Sieur de Monts Spring area were donated to the federal government. Two years later it became Lafayette National Park, and was renamed Acadia National Park in 1929. Today it is home to the Sieur du Monts Nature Center, the Wild Gardens of Acadia, and the original Abbe Museum, a museum dedicated to the native people of Maine. There is also a restroom facility on the grounds.

I arrived around 4 PM on the Thursday before Labor Day and the parking lot was near capacity, but I managed to get one of the last spots. Most people don’t stay very long, so there is a constant turnover of parking spaces. When I left a half hour later there were a handful available. To avoid the crowds and to keep from circling the parking lot while waiting for somebody to leave, use the free Island Explorer Shuttle Bus. It runs from late June through Columbus Day.

See the following web pages for more information:

Sieur de Monts Nature Center

Abbe Museum

Wild Gardens of Acadia

Additional points of interest at Sieur de Monts Spring include an octagonal gazebo called the Spring Canopy that was placed over the fresh water spring by George Dorr in 1909. Dorr was the driving force behind the conservation of Mount Desert Island and the creation of Acadia National Park.

The Spring Canopy at Sieur de Monts Spring in Acadia National Park

There is also a birchbark wigwam originally built by Penobscot Indian artist Barry Dana in 2011. It was damaged in a storm and rebuilt by Passamaquoddy Indian artist David Bridges. Both the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy are native people of Maine.