National Park Guide: Maine's Acadia

— -- One of the best reasons to visit Acadia National Park is the sight of sunrise from Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak on the Eastern Seaboard. But sheer beauty is not necessarily what gets people up two hours before dawn for the drive to the mountain's summit.

Many visitors believe the 1,532-foot peak on Mount Desert Island offers the first sight of sunrisein the continental United States. And they're right — some of the time.

For about half the year — roughly from the second week in October through the first week of March — Cadillac's height and coastal perch make it the first place in the easternmost state where the sun appears.

For most of the rest of the year, the spectacular Cadillac sunrise is not the first. That honor goes, from about the last week in March through mid-September, to Mars Hill (actually a 1,748-foot mountain) near Maine's border with Canada.

That's because in winter, the sun rises farther to the south. Sunrise moves north along the horizon during the warmer months.

So those coming to Acadia for that first sunrise should check the calendar; the road to the top of Cadillac Mountain isn't even open in winter.

But even if a visitor's timing isn't right for a first sunrise, Acadia has many other distinctions: It's the second-most-visited national park; it was the first east of the Mississippi River; and it's the only one to boast miles of carriage trails fit for — and built by — a Rockefeller.

That would be John D. Jr., one of those who helped found the park in 1919, when it was called Lafayette National Park. He personally donated about 11,000 acres. His son David, 96, still has a summer home on Mount Desert Island.

Today, Acadia's landscape features the elements that have made Maine's coastline world-famous, including rocky shores, secluded coves, roaring surf and tree-topped peaks.

Among the park's highlights:

•The 20-mile Park Loop Road starts near the Hulls Cove Visitor Center, runs along ridges overlooking the tourist town of Bar Harbor, drops down to the rocky coast, passes several coves, and loops back inland along Jordan Pond and Eagle Lake. It also takes motorists to the top of Cadillac Mountain.

•The 57 miles of carriage roads, built about 100 years ago, were Rockefeller's response to what he regarded as the automobile's unfortunate invasion of Mount Desert Island. Today, the roads are used by pedestrians, runners, equestrians and carriages.

•Bass Harbor Head Light, built in 1858 to mark the entrance to Bass Harbor and Blue Hill Bay, is one of the most photographed lighthouses on the Maine coast.

•Jordan Pond House is a restaurant that dates to the mid-19th century. Its popovers, filled with strawberry jam, are Mount Desert Island's most famous culinary treat.

To see the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain, visitors are urged to arrive at the summit about a half-hour early to allow an appreciation of the colors of the pre-dawn sky. In mid-June, the sun rises around 4:40; temperatures can dip near 40. "You have to be — what's the word? — dedicated," says Charles Jacobi, a park natural resources specialist.

But if the weather is clear, from 100 to 200 people are usually there. It's easy to see why: the surrounding ring of barren peaks; views of island chains such as the Porcupines and Cranberries, emeralds that dot Frenchman Bay and the Gulf of Maine; the Atlantic, stretching to the horizon.

And the summit may not even be the best place in the park to view sunrise. Jacobi says his favorite spot is down on Ocean Drive, where, he says, "the pink granite glows beautifully in that first light."