Maine’s Acadia National Park Scores a High Ranking From Popular Website
A popular travel site recently showered plenty of praise towards one of Maine's most cherished spots, Acadia National Park.
The Pine Tree State's golden child was recently named as one of America's best national parks by the site, The Discoverer. Acadia finished with an overall ranking of 12th out of the country's 63 national parks.
It's no surprise to see the high ranking for Acadia. Not only is the park beautiful, it's also unique. Acadia features Maine's amazing coastline and tremendous hiking and climbing trails. It's like the utility player of national parks. It's got a little of everything.
Don't just take my word for it, here's a little from The Discoverer of why it ranked Acadia 12th.
...Acadia National Park, aptly-nicknamed the crown jewel of the North Atlantic Coast, protects more than 47,000 acres of rocky headlands along the coast of Maine. While you won’t find towering alpine peaks in Acadia, you’ll experience what east coast leaf-peepers consider to be the best, most vibrant fall foliage in the region. And despite its nominal acreage relative to other parks on this list, Acadia offers some of the very best hiking trails on the East Coast.
While there is plenty of praise to heap on Acadia, The Discoverer does point out a few of Acadia's negative aspects. The major issue is the park's popularity. The website points out that annual guest number is usually over 3.5 million. That's a hefty number for a park that has a relatively small footprint. There is also a limitation of land and camping use, also due to the park's small footprint.
However, the positives heavily outweigh the negatives. And if you have ever been to Acadia, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It truly is one of the most spectacular places in this country.
As for the highest ranked national park on the list, that went to California's Yosemite. That's not a huge surprise considering its beauty, size, and popularity. Yosemite always seems to be the park that all others are compared to.
Dead last on the list was Alaska's Kobuk Valley National Park. While the beauty is nearly unmatched, its remoteness is quite insane.
You can see the entire list here.