One of the great experiences of Maine is going to one of the nation's most revered parks, Acadia National Park, more specifically one particular summit of the park.

In the past, visiting the park just meant pulling in and paying an attendant whenever you felt compelled to come on by when the park is open. Times have changed, however. Now, you need to reserve ahead of time to get your spot in this part of the park.

Acadia National Park 2022 Car Reservations Begin Friday

Starting Friday, February 25th at 10 AM, you'll be able to make your car reservation on the recreation.gov website to be able to visit Cadillac Summit road.

According to the booking site: "Acadia National Park is among the smallest and most popular national parks in the United States with more than 3.5 million visits a year. Growing visitation has caused severe traffic and parking congestion at the park’s most popular destinations, including Cadillac Mountain. The National Park Service has established a vehicle reservation system for Cadillac Summit Road so visitors can find a place to park and have a safer, more enjoyable experience. Vehicle reservations are not required for other locations in the park or for visitors who enter the area by foot, bicycle, or taxi. In addition to purchasing a vehicle reservation for Cadillac Summit Road, visitors must have a park entrance pass and display it through the windshield of their vehicle. Park entrance passes are available online at Recreation.gov. "

It's a popular destination and if you want to get in on this quintessential Maine destination, you gotta reserve ahead of time.

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You Might Want to Get On It

Be warned! If the record-breaking opening day from earlier this month for State Park camping reservations is any indication of the activity we'll see for first-day reservations for Acadia's Cadillac Summit, you might want to be on it on Friday. For opening day, February 7th, of all State Park reservations for 2022, Maine's parks saw a 26% increase of reservations from last year. This resulted in almost 5,500 reservations made for Maine's State Park camping for 2022 on its first day of taking reservations.

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Acadia National Park Vehicle Reservation System

Vehicle reservation has become a management tool for the park with the increase of interest and activity in recent years due to the pandemic. You will not be able to purchase your vehicle reservation at the park for this particular spot and you must buy them in advance.

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Mick Haupt/UnSplash
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So, if you want to take in the beautiful views of Acadia, get ready for Friday at 10 AM. Get your vehicle reservations on the recreation.gov government website. Print off your confirmation or save a copy on your phone. Find out more at the reservation website, recreation.gov.

*revised: earlier publishing had reservations for all of Acadia National Park. Edited to specify only the Cadillac Sumit Road.

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