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Friends of Acadia

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Friends of Acadia

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Friends of Acadia preserves and promotes stewardship of the natural beauty, ecological vitality, and cultural distinctiveness of Acadia National Park.

11/02/2026

“The trail system was in really sad shape. It was so dilapidated,” said Chris Barter, recently retired trail crew supervisor who started in Acadia National Park in 1989 as a seasonal trail worker. “It was kind of like visiting ruins. There was all this old stonework that had been built, some of it 100 years earlier, which was in varying states of falling apart.”

In 1999, Friends of Acadia and Acadia National Park undertook a $13 million campaign to restore Acadia’s trail system and establish an endowment that'd ensure those trails would be maintained in perpetuity. Acadia's was the first privately endowed trail system in national park history.

Learn more about this endowment, known as Acadia Trails Forever, in the latest issue of Acadia magazine, or on our website: https://friendsofacadia.org/trails-and-carriage-roads/acadia-trails-forever-restoring-acadias-trails/

Image: The Perpendicular Trail before (NPS photo) and after (Ashley L. Conti/FOA) renovation

10/31/2026

Our final drop-in stewardship day of the season brought together quite the cast of characters to rake leaves off the Stratheden Path!

Thank you to Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and everyone else who showed up yesterday, and thank you to all of our 2026 stewardship volunteers!

10/30/2026

From creeping slime molds to folklore-inspiring lichens, Acadia’s forest floors are teeming with enchanting life.

10/30/2026

Island Explorer is hiring drivers for the summer and fall of 2027! Visit the Downeast Transportation, Inc. website for more information and details on how to apply: https://www.exploreacadia.com/employment.html

They're seeking CDL Class B drivers with "P" endorsements and will train the right candidate to get their CDL starting in January.

Photo by Evie Linantud/FOA

10/28/2026

Mark Munsell, Jerry Hopcroft, Gary Stellpflug, Therese Miller, and Bill Shaw, known unofficially as the “Fab 5," a group retired volunteers with backgrounds in engineering, construction, carpentry, trail building, and education, teamed up with Acadia National Park’s Trail Crew to replace the iconic "Moongate" Bridge at the northern end of Jordan Pond this summer and fall.

The project required the bridge to first be constructed at park headquarters, then deconstructed, and all the materials were ferried by boat across the pond before the bridge was constructed again in its permanent location.

10/28/2026

Members of our Stewardship Crew just finished painting 30 park picnic tables! Their first stop will be the Hulls Cove Visitor Center parking lot to give hungry Take Pride in Acadia Day volunteers a place to eat their cornbread, chili, and cake. After that, they'll be spread across Acadia National Park.

Speaking of Take Pride in Acadia Day, there's still time to register! Join us on Saturday, November 7th to help put Acadia's carriage roads to bed for the winter. Learn more and sign up on our website: https://friendsofacadia.org/get-involved/events/take-pride-in-acadia/

Photos by Abbie Brown/FOA

10/27/2026

You’re never too old to dress up and do trail work! Join the Stewardship Volunteer Program on Thursday, Oct. 29, for Halloween fun at “Trick-or-Trails” as we celebrate the end of another successful drop-in volunteer season with one last project. Costumes aren’t required, but are highly encouraged!

Meet at the Hulls Cove Storage Facility, located near the Hulls Cove Visitor Center, Visitor Center Rd, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, at 8:15 AM.

10/26/2026

Friends of Acadia is pleased to welcome Julia Zell as the organization’s new Vice President of Advancement.

Zell brings more than a decade of nonprofit leadership and fundraising experience to the role, most recently serving as executive director of Island Heritage Trust, where she previously served as development director.

“We are thrilled to welcome Julia to the Friends of Acadia team,” said Eric Stiles, President and CEO of Friends of Acadia. “She brings an exceptional combination of strategic leadership, fundraising expertise, and a deep commitment to conservation."

As Vice President of Advancement, Zell will lead Friends of Acadia’s fundraising and donor engagement efforts, working closely with colleagues, donors, and partners to strengthen philanthropic support for Acadia National Park and advance the organization’s strategic priorities.

“I first visited Acadia with my parents when I was 11 years old, and a photograph of us at the top of Cadillac Mountain still hangs in their home today,” said Zell. “It’s such a unique and special place that has meant a great deal to me personally, and I’m incredibly excited to help ensure future generations have the same opportunity to build lasting connections with this extraordinary landscape.”

Zell will join Friends of Acadia on January 4, 2027. Read the full announcement on our website.

10/24/2026

Trail crews repaired and improved a 500 foot stretch of Ocean Path, which hugs the eastern edge of Mount Desert Island.

10/24/2026

We were honored to attend the grand opening of the Jesup Memorial Library's Archives and Special Collections! Located on the second level of the library's Thomas Lord expansion, the new space includes the George B. Dorr Instruction Room, the Deasy Room for Special Collections and Research, and the Ronald and Elizabeth Epp Archives.

Ron H. Epp, Ph.D., author of "Creating Acadia National Park: The Biography of George Bucknam Dorr," spent over a decade gathering 30,000 primary documents related to the creation of Acadia National Park. This collection features George B. Dorr, a key figure in the founding of Acadia National Park and its first superintendent. It also features other major figures, including Judge Luere B. Deasy, an incorporator of and legal counsel for the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations, the organization that began preserving the land that would eventually become Acadia National Park.

The new space will be home to the physical collection, which was donated to the Jesup Memorial Library by Dr. Epp. These documents are also available digitally through the History Trust online archive.

From left to right: Author and historian Ronald H. Epp Ph.D., former Jesup Director Ruth Eveland, local historian and former FOA Board member Jack Russell, and Mount Desert Island Historical Society Board member and great grandson of Judge Deasy, Bill Horner, M.D.

Photos by Julia Walker Thomas/FOA.

Address

43 Cottage Street
Bar Harbor, ME
04609

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+12072883340

Website

http://www.friendsofacadia.org/

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