Acadia National Park, in Bar Harbor, Maine, boasts 45 miles of carriage roads. These motor vehicle-free roads offer outdoor enthusiasts a host of recreational choices, like bicycling and walking from spring to fall, and snowmobiling, cross country skiing and snowshoeing in winter. You can even go horseback riding on some trails. Privately-owned carriage and hiking trails do not allow bicyclists.
Some trails begin at the visitor's center, though many loop trails do not. The nearly six-mile Eagle Lake trail, one of Acadia's most popular, does not allow horses. The three-and-a-half mile Little Long Pond Loop is also heavily trekked.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and his family donated the money to build the 16-foot-wide carriage trails. The crushed rock roads, built along the natural contours of the land, use three layers of rock, plus ditches and culverts for drainage. The trails were built from 1913 to 1940 and rehabilitated from 1992 to 1995. Rockefeller also paid for 16 of the 17 stone bridges along the trails, which flow over streams and waterfalls.
Acadia National Park is open year round, as are the carriage trails. Bathrooms, however, are open seasonally, and water fountains may be scarce, so carry in your own water and note that you may not be able to relieve yourself indoors. Between May 1 and October 31, visitors are required to pay an entrance fee. You pay a separate vehicle entrance fee, unless you ride in or take the free Island Explorer buses to the carriage roads.
Bicyclists must yield to all users, and everyone must yield to horses. Bikers must wear helmets and ride slowly, on the right, on carriage roads. If you are hiking or walking a dog, it must be on a leash of 6 feet or less. Snowmobiles can use the carriage road on the east side of Eagle Lake. Groomed cross country ski tracks are for skiers only; no snowshoeing or walking, and no dogs or horses.
