



As a recent transplant to Maine, I decided to check out the site, just a two-hour drive away from my place in Alexander near the coast. We loaded up the camping gear, the dog and the road atlas and were on our way — but, as we discovered upon reaching the entrance, this is not Acadia National Park.
Choosing a part of this large park to explore felt daunting, so after some research of the area, we decided on Loop Road.
Just reaching the entrance of the monument required driving on an active logging dirt road for about half an hour. Every so often, we saw signs reading “This Road Owner Says National Park No!” indicating the decade-long controversy surrounding this land, which was donated by Roxanne Quimby, the co-founder of Burt’s Bees personal care products, on Aug. 23, 2016, to the U.S. Department of the Interior.For our first adventure, we hiked Barnard Mountain, a 7-kilometer round-trip trek to the summit. The trail begins on a section of the International Appalachian Trail — an extension of the Appalachian Trail from its terminus in Maine that continues 3,000 kilometers to Newfoundland, Canada. We walked uphill along a gravel logging road for 2.4 kilometers, crossed Katahdin Brook, and saw plenty of signs of moose, including prints and scat. This region is one of the best for finding the elusive Maine moose.
When we finally reached the trailhead, which turned into the woods, we started zigzagging up the mountain on switchbacks, surrounded by maple and birch trees, and the occasional large boulder — one you can even walk through. Surprisingly, the trail has no markers. Though we could easily follow the narrow path now, in a few weeks after the leaves fall, it could be difficult.
Although we saw few people all day, I was surprised to find a large group of hikers also at the summit, and even more so when we realized who it was. Sally Jewell, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, was out exploring the park with Lucas St. Clair, Quimby’s son.
For more information about the new park, go to: www.nps.gov/kaww/index.htm.
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