Review of Discover Acadia National Park, 2nd: AMC Guide to the Best Hiking, Biking, and Paddling (AMC Discover Series)

Discover Acadia National Park, 2nd: AMC Guide to the Best Hiking, Biking, and Paddling (AMC Discover Series)
Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 7
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Ideal guide book!

On: 2008-10-30

Just returned from our 2nd Annual Bar Harbor trip. This book is extremely helpful and accurate. Weve used the majority of hiking and biking trails with this book, but no kayak trips yet. Totally recommend!

Best Guide for Hiking and Bicycling

On: 2008-09-06

Because our trip focused on hiking and bicycling, this book was perfect. We didnt paddle, but the hikes and bike rides were well-described. Because this is not a general guide like the Moon book, more space can be dedicated to these activities. The appendices and index were a nice touch. Although the book comes with the paper version of the wonderful AMC Hiking, Biking and Paddling Map, Id highly recommend buying the separate tyvec version, as it is more durable. Youll use the AMC map almost exclusively because it has all the hiking trails, the carriage roads, the regular roads, and the shuttle bus stops.

Highly Recommended for all but the most casual visitors

On: 2008-09-05

Unless youre just there for a day or two to do the driving tour, youll find good use for this guide and map. In fact, the map alone is worth the price. For example, youll find parking areas that arent indicated on the NPS map; no small advantage for visitors to this often crowded park. Another plus, the book has well organized trail charts to use in choosing your outing. And finally, there are descriptions of natural history to help you appreciate the ecology of the park. We found nothing inaccurate in the map or trail descriptions, but it must be noted that we sampled only a small portion of the trips described in the book. And I must add, if you are planning a trip to Acadia and have two reasonably well-functioning legs, make sure you get yourself out on a bike on the carriage paths. I dont know that you can get a cycling experience like that anywhere else.

You Are Not a Typical National Park Tourist

On: 2008-08-22

You are not going to Acadia to bag another national park; you are not driving hundreds of miles just to drive up another mile to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, or to take a tour bus to the popover capital of the universe, Jordan Pond House. No. You are going there to bike your buns off. Youre taking your kayak to feel the salty Atlantic spray in your face. You are going to bag Acadias peaks the old fashioned way, by hiking up. You are going to need the Appalachian Mountain Clubs book, "Discover Acadia National Park, Second Edition." You are going to need the pocket-sized map inside the back cover, and when your trip is over and you put it back in its sleeve, its going to be dog-eared and wet. Your souvenir will be your sunburn; youll do Acadia your way.

Cycling
Most of you will bike, its the national sport here. The carriage paths (so called because John D. Rockefeller Jr. had them constructed for horse-drawn carriages), criss-cross the entire park, including the high elevation parts with the best views. When the AMC classifies the "Around The Mountain Loop" as "Difficult," you can expect to perspire a little. But honestly, the AMC tends to exaggerate a little. That "Around the Mountain Loop" isnt going to take you anything like 4 hours; its going to take 2.5 hours at most. That 4 hour estimate is going to give you time to change a flat tire. And the Eagle Lake Loop will take a fit novice 50 minutes, not 2 hours.

Kayaking
The freshwater kayak excursions are very popular, but you didnt drive hundreds of miles to the Maine coast to paddle in ponds. Okay, loosen up in Eagle Lake, but eventually youre going to want to paddle Frenchmans Bay, The Porcupine Islands, or Somes Sound. Look a seal in the eye; photograph a humpback whale surfacing nearby for air. The seals are locals (notice their distinctive pronunciation), but the whales are tourists like you; say "Hi," and ask `em where theyre from.

Hiking
Many of the hiking trails described in this book are fabulous, but some are forgettable. On a nice day there are literally a thousand people on Cadillac Mountains one acre summit, half of them jockeying for parking spaces. The National Park Service needs to close the summit road so that the only access is by hiking or biking. Unfortunately this book doesnt indicate which destinations are accssible only with perspiration. Do try the Penobscot and Sergeant Mountain Trail, The Western Mountains - Mansell and Bernard, and The Peak Baggers Delight. Actually any part of the Western Peninsula is going to be better hiking than the Eastern Peninsula; its simply less explored.

Nor should you neglect the books shaded boxes on topics like whales, lichens, the boreal forest, moose, and loons. You are there to take it all in, not to speed past things youll seldom be able cozy up to again.

And take a little zip lock freezer bag to keep that little map dry. Its extremely helpful to gain access to the parks attractions, but its a little fragile, and youre going to want it to stay intact in order to find your way out.

A general guide to outdoor activities in Acadia

On: 2008-08-12

Good book, but very general in nature. We didnt paddle or bike. We only hiked. The included, weatherproof map is a great asset. The hiking descriptions were brief, but accurate. I would recommend this book to anyone who is new to Acadia and wants to explore with a minimum of guidance. If you are specifically going to hike and do some very fun peak bagging, buy the Acadia Trail map in Bar Harbor.

Good book to plan hikes

On: 2007-09-05

We liked this book and did three hikes out of it. Overall the book was accurate. Probably next time wed buy a pocket-size book, however, it was nice to read some of the detail and history about the areas we were hiking through. One item we suggest in the future is some drawing of the route. Although the book comes with a map and that worked (if we had it with us or handy).

My wife and I just returned from our first trip to Acadia

On: 2005-08-01

and we were sure glad we bought this book. The map that comes with the book is five stars for sure. There were countless times we used the map to find out where we exactly were. The map was used to help people on the trail know exactly where they were. The book itself was a helpful planning tool for our hiking and biking times. I didnt get to spend as much time before the trip in it as I would have liked. It could be a five star book, but I havent read enough of the book to feel comfortable giving it that rating; however, I do know that what I did read was accurate and helpful. It will certainly be an excellent resource for our next trip to Acadia.