Visitors can enjoy free guided hikes and transport soil to Acadia’s fragile peaks, helping restore damaged ecosystems.
Video of Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, October 8, 2021.
This video was shot by Erie Times-News editorial writer Lisa Thompson Sayers on October 8, 2021, atop Cadillac Mountain.
Lisa Thompson, Erie Times-News
- The high number of tourists to Acadia National Park has caused erosion and damage to the unique vegetation on the mountain peaks.
- A program called Save Our Summits allows volunteers to take guided hikes to transport dirt and help restore ecosystems.
- Free guided hikes are held on Wednesdays and Fridays from late June to late September.
Acadia National Park is one of the most visited national parks in the United States, with more than 4 million visitors last year, each visit impacting the park.
Many travelers are drawn to the peak of Mount Desert Island, which offers panoramic views of the ocean. Cadillac Mountain is so popular that reservations are required to drive up the summit road each summer. But all those visitors can and often do unwittingly damage what makes the experience so special.
“(The summit) has a very unique low-lying vegetation community that provides beautiful ocean views,” said Dr. Chris Nadeau, a climate change adaptation scientist at the Schudic Institute, a nonprofit scientific organization affiliated with the park. “When a bunch of people come up there and want to take a unique view, like a sunset, they often step on that plant…and before they take that many steps, that plant starts to die. And when the plant dies, there’s a big rainstorm or a big windstorm that washes away or blows away the soil on the mountain. And once the soil is gone, it’s really, really hard to get the plant back in that spot.”
More than half of 2,500 global respondents say immersive travel is more important today than it was five years ago, according to a recent Expedia Group survey. Additionally, over 90% say participating in local activities contributes to a more immersive travel experience.
This summer, visitors can help reverse Acadia’s erosion while enjoying free guided hikes in the park. Here’s how:
save the summit
From late June to late September, the nonprofit conservation organization Friends of Acadia will partner with the Schoodic Institute and Parks for the Save Our Summit program.
Volunteers can take guided hikes on either Penobscot Mountain or Sargent Mountain twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays. I carry a backpack full of dirt and leave it on the summit for a fall restoration project.
“The soil is the secret sauce,” Nadeau said. “If you can get the soil back there, the plants will naturally recolonize that soil.”
Unlike Cadillac Mountain, which is accessible by dump truck, the only way to get dirt to Sargent and Penobscot is by hiking. Since Save Our Summit began in 2023, nearly 800 volunteers have brought in more than 13,000 pounds of soil, Nadeau said.
“We were able to restore many areas of the mountaintop,” he said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done, so we still need people to move the dirt up there.”
what to expect
The Save Our Summit hike is approximately 6 miles round trip, has a capacity of 20 volunteers, and is typically attended by local residents and tourists.
Registration begins June 8th on the Friends of Acadia website. Slots open two weeks before each hike, with the first slot starting on June 24th.
Volunteers must bring their own backpacks to carry soil and water for hydration and wear appropriate footwear. On the day of the hike, they meet at the Parkman Mountain Carriage Road trailhead off Route 3 in the park.
“We walk about a mile along the bridleway, which is a very easy, flat walk, and we hit the dirt mound, which is a huge mound of dirt, and we measure the weight and volume of the dirt and bag it up for people to put in their backpacks,” said Lauren Knirim, a community volunteer ambassador who supports Friends of Acadia and Schoodic Institute programs. “I’ll tell you that it gets heavier when you walk.”
She said volunteers typically carry between 5 and 25 pounds of dirt depending on their personal comfort level, but they are also welcome to carry less or none at all if they simply want to participate in the hike.
From there, they climb the Hadlock Brook Trail, which Knirim described as quite steep, and branch off to Mount Penobscot or Mount Sargent, depending on their destination for the day. “This is definitely a near-summit challenge,” she said, noting that she’s heard this hike is said to be nature’s most beautiful Stairmaster. “Sometimes we have to crawl up really flat granite surfaces, but the volunteers work really hard. I’m always the one who’s tired.”
The whole group climbs together.
“You’re only as fast as the slowest person, really,” said Lauren Gibson, who coordinates Friends of Acadia’s Wild Acadia program, which focuses on restoring the park. Although Save Our Summit hikes are primarily about summit restoration, they also build community, she noted. “This is a participatory event that people feel very comfortable attending.”
“People start out as strangers at the bottom of the mountain, but at the top they become best friends,” Kunirim says.
When Save Our Summits volunteers reach the top, they dump dirt, take a group photo, and have a little celebration. And Gibson said volunteers can choose their own adventures. “They can hike back the way they came at their own pace, visit Sargent or Penobscot (another nearby mountain they couldn’t get to), or go down another trail.”
Most people spend about 4 hours total on the experience.
Acadia National Park Visit
Although the hike is free and optional, there is an entrance fee to Acadia National Park for most visitors who do not have an America the Beautiful Public Lands Pass.
Standard admission fees are $35 per private vehicle, $30 per motorcycle, and $20 per person ages 16 and older entering the park without a vehicle.
Admission fees are waived for U.S. residents on certain free days throughout the year. Additionally, veterans, active duty military, Gold Star families, fourth graders, and U.S. residents with disabilities have a special America the Beautiful Pass, which is waived year-round.
However, new this year, non-U.S. residents ages 16 and older must pay an additional $100 per person to enter Acadia and several other popular national parks. This fee is in addition to the regular admission fee. Non-residents can also purchase an annual pass to America the Beautiful, but it costs $250, compared to $80 for U.S. residents.
