Acadia in Autumn

One year ago, my family visited Acadia National Park for a long holiday weekend. The gorgeous yellow, orange, and red foliage dazzled us. It was just hitting its peak during that brief window of time.

Of course, I brought my cameras, and now a year later it is time to share the images in a photo essay. Given the difficulties of travel in the coronavirus era, I hope these will help folks imagine a gorgeous autumn wonderland.

Autumn Foliage on the Carriage Roads

Acadia has marquee destinations like Cadillac Mountain and Jordan Pond, but the secondary sights deliver great beauty, too.  You can access many of those sites through the carriage roads built by the Rockefellers last century.

The opening wasp shot and the photos in this subsection were all taken on the Witch Hole carriage road.

I walked the 5+ mile gravel road with Caitlin and Soleil on a super pleasant afternoon. The path delivered autumn glory turn after turn.

One site in particular really grabbed me, which was Duck Brook and its carriage road bridge. The delightful small maple leaves were filled with vibrant color, delivering perhaps the best shot I took during the short weekend.

Of course, if you just want pure foliage, you can find it everywhere on the island.

An Aerial View

One of the cooler things to do during peak foliage in Acadia is to take a plane or helicopter ride. Because we had Soleil we kept the doors on, but I still got a few good shots.

You can see the whole island and wide swaths of peak foliage on its mountainscapes.

Of course, my daughter Soleil was absolutely delighted to take her first helicopter ride.

From the Big Sites to the Marinas

It wouldn’t be Acadia if you didn’t visit Cadillac Mountain, Jordan Pond, and Thunder Hole.

Of course, we did most of those things, but having gone to Acadia numerous times, we chose to do some of the scenes featured above in the post over Jordan Pond.

I recommend any visitor to Mount Desert take a brief tour of a marina.

All of the marinas have active lobster fishing operations, and these real-life sites are just as delightful in autumn as they are in summer.

I hope you enjoyed this little photo tour.

And, I hope you get to go outside and see some autumn glory yourself over the next couple of weeks.