The essential guide to Maine's Acadia National Park

The Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse in Maine's Acadia National Park. Photo / 123RF

Hikers, horse riders and cyclists flock to this national park, which is home to the highest peak on the USA's Eastern Seaboard

As the USA's National Park Service celebrates its centenary, we're profiling the wilderness areas it manages.

Today: Maine's sole national park . . .

Acadia National Park

"The beauty of Maine is such that you can't really see it clearly while you live there. But now that I've moved away, with each return it all becomes almost hallucinatory. "
- Alexander Chee, novelist, in the 'New York Times'

Sunrise from Maine's Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. Photo / 123RF

The oldest national park east of the Mississippi is one of the first places in the country to see the sunrise (about 50 minutes before dawn in the D.C. area). Park visitors trek to Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak on the Eastern Seaboard, to greet the day.

Early visionaries who sought to protect this carved granite, coastal landscape included John D. Rockefeller Jr. He is responsible for carriage roads and trails that meander for use by hikers, horse riders and cyclists.

Acadia lies primarily on Mount Desert Island, which owes its name to explorer Samuel de Champlain, who called it "Isles des Monts Déserts" (island of barren mountains). Despite that early observation, the park's glacially carved landscape is quite rich in nature and scenic panoramas, with many pine forests, ocean views and nine birding areas. Avian occupants include peregrine falcons and sharp-shinned hawks.

Moviemakers have flocked here, as well. Scenes in The Cider House Rules and Pet Sematary (adapted by Maine native Stephen King from his own book) were filmed on park grounds.

This is a shoreline park next door to the seaside resort town of Bar Harbor. Two beaches (one ocean with water temperatures for thick-skinned swimmers and one warmer, freshwater site) are available.

Size: 49,055 acres

Founded: National monument, 1916; national park, 1919 (originally named Lafayette National Park)

Attendance: 2,811,184 (2015)