Thursday, July 2, 2015

Riding Acadia National Park's Carriage Roads

A perfect blend of loop roads, gradual inclines and descents, over and under beautiful old stone bridges, beside ponds. Safe, alluring, and teasing also. Do I have time to circle one more gravel path?

Making family memories. Bike dates. Pedaling into the park from Bar Harbor.

Taking pictures over my shoulder.

Everyone has big smiles.

Our GoPro loving son captures a descent.

Later, I ride solo on paved park roads, stop for expansive ocean views...

...admire an unusual dwelling, then return on public road to town.

There is so much more to do in the region, of course, other than cycling. We stayed in Bar Harbor, a very walkable city. Twice, we hoofed it to the "bar"—the "bar" that named Bar Harbor—where low tide reveals a half mile long sandy causeway, which now leads to a national park island.

A great place to visit tide pools.

I can't help but notice a bikey window display.

Acadia National Park in Maine deserves a week of exploration. There are numerous hiking trails, light houses, more carriage roads to pedal, test your lungs and legs on a ride up Cadillac Mountain, endless possibilities for a future vacation.

6 comments:

  1. Oh wow! I lived in Birch Harbour just up the coast from Acadia... in 1992, a whole previous lifetime ago. Stunning landscape.

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    1. Small world, eh Rebecca? Acadia's been on my radar for many years, but the 6.5 hour drive to get there makes it difficult to visit on a whim. Next time I'll devote a whole week to the area.

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  2. Do people yell "GoPro!" at your son? Ask him for me if you don't know.

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    1. They only stare and may point to the GoPro, but never yell.

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  3. I went to Acadia while touring the country in 1992 back before I rediscovered biking. I really loved it there and remember sitting by Jordan Pond in an adirondack chair sipping tea and eating a scone and thinking "life is pretty dang good". I can just imagine how wonderful it would be on a bike.

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