Acadia officials are starting construction on a new trail that will prevent pedestrians from needing to walk on a busy roadway at the park’s highest peak.
The trail will give visitors a dedicated walkway between the east and west parking lots along Cadillac Summit Road, one of the Acadia National Park’s busiest roads.
That road to the top of Cadillac Mountain closed Thursday for all public use, including for walking and cycling, to begin the trail’s construction. The project will limit public access to Cadillac Summit Road until April 30. The road is closed to vehicles, but not to other uses, during the winter season.
The project is part of a broader push to invest more in pedestrian accessibility at Acadia, a national park that’s already renowned for its unique 45-mile network of accessible carriage roads.
The fine-crushed stone trail will allow visitors of all mobility needs — such as those with strollers, canes and wheelchairs — to fully explore Cadillac Mountain’s summit area.
The new trail will hug Cadillac Summit Road, separated from traffic by granite stones, linking the summit’s two parking lots with a pedestrian path. Previously, pedestrians had to walk along the congested road or forge their own trail, destroying native vegetation in the process.
Friends of Acadia, a local conservation group and the trail’s lead funder, contributed $450,000 to the project and has been involved in various other efforts to expand access to the park.
“If you think of national parks as America’s best idea, we want to make sure it’s available to everyone in America and that it’s a high quality experience: it’s welcoming, safe, you feel like you belong there,” Friends of Acadia President Eric Stiles said.
The group recently completed an “accessible boardwalk” along Hemlock Path at the park’s largest wetland, the Great Meadow, according to a Friends of Acadia March 17 press release.
“Whenever possible, Acadia National Park strives to create trails that can be explored by people with varying mobility needs,” said Amanda Pollock, a park spokesperson.
However, because of the road’s popularity, the trail will be completed in phases: Summit Road will reopen to the public during the summer and will close again come fall.
The trail is anticipated to be completed by fall, Stiles said.
“It’s making it a fundamentally better experience,” Stiles said. “When you get out of your car, you want to connect with nature, you want to be in communion with the beauty and wonder and majesty. You don’t want to dodge cars. You don’t want to trample endangered or rare habitats.”
Cadillac Summit Road is a three mile long drive, starting at Park Loop Road, and offers various scenic pullouts with sweeping views of the Cranberry Islands, Frenchman Bay and beyond.
“There is no place more iconic in this park than the summit of Cadillac Mountain,” Stiles said. “One of the most magical elements of Acadia is the accessibility of these tundra-like experiences.”
