Instagram story viewer> @friendsofacadia> Posts

Friends Of Acadia

@friendsofacadia

24.7K

followers

520

following

Preserving and protecting @acadianps since 1986.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Join us on Saturday, Nov. 7, for Friends of Acadia's 34th annual Take Pride in Acadia Day! This longstanding fall tradition combines hands-on stewardship with a celebration of the community that cares for Acadia.

Each year, volunteers fan out along Acadia’s historic carriage roads to rake leaves and clear drainage features, helping prevent erosion and washouts during winter storms.

Sign up with friends, family, neighbors, a school group, or on your own! Please register by October 30th on our website via the link in our bio. by @friendsofacadia

19

0

2 hours ago

From green alders and gray birch to bearberry, sheep laurel, and boreal blueberry, there's an array of plant life growing on Acadia’s summits. But trampling and erosion have damaged these tough yet fragile plant communities.

@schoodicinst, @acadianps, and @friendsofacadia are working together to help restore these splendid summit ecosystems.

Find out which Acadia mountain plant you most identify with by taking the quiz linked in our bio! by @friendsofacadia

142

2

3 days ago

Earlier this summer, @acadianps installed a new culvert in Great Meadow designed to improve passage for both water and wildlife through the wetland. This project is part of a collaboration between the park, @friendsofacadia, and @schoodicinst to restore and monitor Great Meadow, Acadia’s largest freshwater wetland.

Now that the new culvert is in place and construction is winding down, it’s exciting to see revegetation happening. Planting native species that mimic this wetland environment will help keep invasive species from establishing themselves while supporting a native wildlife community. Huge thanks to @frostfarmsgardencenter for working so hard to make it look great!

Click the link in our bio to explore an interactive StoryMap outlining the larger initiative.

Photos and videos by Abbie Brown/FOA taken in Acadia National Park by @friendsofacadia

158

3

4 days ago

You’d be hard-pressed to imagine it today, but a generation ago, with limited funds and staff, Acadia’s carriage road system faced significant maintenance hurdles.

“They were in such poor condition; they were rutted and there were washouts and rockslides,” said now-retired Roads Foreman Merle Cousins, who first arrived in Acadia in 1972. Vegetation stretched wildly into the carriage roads and crowded out Rockefeller’s diligently curated vistas.

Today’s well-traveled and marvelously maintained carriage roads are a testament to the power of community support, public-private partnerships, and a multi-year restoration effort. Read the full story in the fall issue of Acadia magazine, or on our website (link in bio).

Image 1: Undated NPS photo shows the condition of the carriage road before rehabilitation (courtesy of NPS)
Image 2: An archival photos of the carriage roads shows overgrowth crowding the road (NPS archives)
Image 3: Acadia National Park staff Don Beal and Keith Johnston facilitate training on dry stone masonry with the trails and carriage roads crews while restoring a retaining wall along a carriage road in the 1990s (FOA photo)
Image 4: A biker enjoys a ride on the Witch Hole Pond Carriage Road. (Rhiannon Johnston/FOA) by @friendsofacadia

276

6

5 days ago

Some Friends of Acadia seasonal teams work hand-in-hand with the National Park Service staff and rangers. One of these teams is the Summit Stewards, a group of roving educators who serve as important ambassadors in the field for Acadia National Park. The primary goal of a Summit Steward like Molly Bogner is to support the park staff in any way that they can, from fixing Bates cairns, to clearing trails, to ensuring visitors are prepared to safely enjoy Acadia.

In this video, join Molly for a day of postering at the Beehive trailhead, and be sure to say “hi” if you run across a Summit Steward the next time you’re out in the park! by @friendsofacadia

616

11

6 days ago

Hawk Watch is in full swing! Each year, thousands of raptors and other types of birds migrate south for the winter, some even as far as South America! In this part of the world, migratory birds (and butterflies!) tend to follow the Atlantic Flyway, which acts as a highway following the east coast of North and South America. This path allows for easy travel, good food sources, and places to rest on their long journey south.

There are over 70 stations on the Atlantic Flyway that monitor and document the yearly migration numbers, including Cadillac Mountain! Every weekday starting at 9am, Schoodic Institute volunteers, Acadia's Raptor Intern (funded by Friends of Acadia), and National Park Service rangers scan the horizon for hawks, falcons, ospreys, eagles and more, documenting their daily numbers and uploading them to an international database. As only the second monitoring station along the Atlantic Flyway, all the stations south of Acadia watch the Cadillac Mountain data closely to anticipate and compare their own observations.

Hawk Watch is open to everyone! Any visitor interested in helping track this year's migration numbers is welcome to join, no sign-up required. Follow the Cadillac North Ridge trail down from the summit about 200 yards to find the monitoring station. Remember to get your vehicle reservation in advance! by @friendsofacadia

123

0

11 days ago

Friends of Acadia and Acadia National Park invite volunteers to come together Saturday, Nov. 7, for the 34th annual Take Pride in Acadia Day, a longstanding fall tradition that combines hands-on stewardship with a celebration of the community that cares for Acadia.

Each year, volunteers fan out along Acadia National Park’s historic carriage roads to rake leaves and clear drainage features before winter.

While raking leaves may seem like a simple task, the work plays an important role in protecting the carriage road system. Fallen leaves can clog ditches, culverts, and other drainage features designed to move rainwater and snowmelt away from the roads. When those channels become blocked, water can flow across the road surface instead, eroding the finely graded material and contributing to washouts and other damage.

The event will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 7, and lunch will be served at noon. Please register by Friday, Oct. 30, at friendsofacadia.org/takepride. Volunteers will receive their assigned meet-up locations along the carriage roads before the event.

Photo by Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia Group of ten people outdoors holding rakes, gathered around a large pile of fallen leaves on a forest path. by @friendsofacadia

401

1

11 days ago

Welcome back to our “Day In The Life” series featuring Friends of Acadia seasonal staff! To help stave off the cold weather, take a special behind-the-scenes tour of the Wild Gardens of Acadia with the 2026 Wild Gardens intern, Mikkie.

Mikkie, along with a dedicated team of volunteers, spent her time this season caring for hundreds of plants that call the Wild Gardens home. The gardens provide a unique resource for Acadia by cultivating native plants that are usually found across different biomes into one location for visitors to explore.

Follow along as Mikkie gives us a unique look at the Wild Gardens and what it's like to be part of the team. And keep an eye open for more “Day In The Life” content as we continue to spotlight the amazing seasonal workers who choose to spend their summers supporting Acadia. by @friendsofacadia

91

4

19 days ago

We did it! Thanks to 157 donors, we raised $30,966 during our Fall 2026 E-Challenge!

Combined with the match from Priscilla and Jack Hirschenhofer, Yardly and Scott Jenkins, Carol Levin, Mark and Georgia Munsell, and anonymous donors, that's a total of $55,966 for Acadia! A huge thank you to all who gave.

Image: A hiker takes in the sunrise views looking towards Cadillac Mountain as seen from the summit of Beehive Mountain. (Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia) by @friendsofacadia

122

0

21 days ago

It’s officially fall! And though the sun might be setting earlier every day, our Stewardship Crew is still hard at work helping to keep Acadia's trails and carriage roads looking their best.

This team of seasonal staff, full-time Friends of Acadia employees, and countless dedicated volunteers works tirelessly building bogwalk, clearing drainage ditches, and numerous other projects that help keep the park in tip-top condition.

Join one of our FOA seasonals, Katie Chinn, as she shows us what being part of the Stewardship Crew really looks like. And keep an eye open for more “Day In The Life” content as we continue to spotlight the amazing seasonal staff who choose to spend their summers supporting Acadia.

Go Stew Crew!

Learn more about the Stewardship Crew and related volunteer opportunities via the link in our bio. by @friendsofacadia

161

8

a month ago

Choose your trail! Why do Acadia hikers have the opportunity to follow interesting, well-blazed routes? The park’s trails have a rich history, and they are still evolving. Whether to accommodate increased visitation or adapt to hiker habits that threaten ecosystems, Schoodic Institute, Friends of Acadia, and the National Park Service implement various restoration methods and draw on social science to ensure that visitors continue enjoying and coexisting with Acadia’s wildlife and vegetation.

Schoodic Institute Communications & Outreach Assistant Grace Upham explores these methods and the role of trails in conservation. Read about the "Roots of Routes" at our link in bio.

📸by Grace Upham
1. Pemetic Mountain's Northwest Trail lets hikers choose their route via a Ravine or Ledge
2. Restoration plot near the Sargent Mountain South Ridge Trail A trail marker shows two options "ravine" or "ridge". A trail continues to the right up over roots and bedrock by @friendsofacadia

82

0

a month ago

Over the past year, your support has helped make an incredible range of projects and programs possible. And now, you have an opportunity to help keep that momentum going during our Fall E-Challenge, where every gift will be matched.

Thanks to the generosity of our lead donors, Priscilla and Jack Hirschenhofer, Carol Levin, Mark and Georgia Munsell, and anonymous donors, every dollar you give will be matched, up to $25,000! That means your gift can go twice as far for Acadia.

Click the link in our bio to make a gift today and help us reach our Fall E-Challenge goal 💙🍁🔗 by @friendsofacadia

45

0

a month ago