Schoodic Peninsula

Schoodic Peninsula is part of Acadia National Park on the coast of Maine. The main part of Acadia National Park is on Mount Desert Island, accessible by a short bridge from Trenton. The tourist town of Bar Harbor is also on Mount Desert Island. Schoodic Peninsula is only five miles from Bar Harbor as the crow flies, but 42 miles by road. Although it is the only part of Acadia National Park on the mainland, it is a more remote and less visited section of the park.

We visited Schoodic Peninsula today. It was a beautiful, sunny day with few other visitors. The photo below is at Frazer Point:

This photo is at Schoodic Point, indicated by the "You Are Here" arrow on the map below:

Schoodic Peninsula has been part of Acadia National Park since 1929 but it has been significantly upgraded in recent years.

In 2011-15 an anonymous person(s) purchased 3,200 acres adjacent to the then existing park, constructed hiking and biking trails and a campground, and donated it to the park. Click here for a news release about the grand opening of the Schoodic Woods Campground in 2015.

A former Naval station was added to the park in 2002 and renovated into the Schoodic Education and Research Center (SERC), operated jointly by the Schoodic Institute and the National Park Service:

The photo below shows Rockefeller Hall, just one of many buildings at SERC:

In 2000 the 29-mile long Schoodic National Scenic Byway was established. The rest area at the Taunton Bay entrance to the Scenic Byway in Hancock is new:

We had a delightful lunch at the Pickled Wrinkle in Birch Harbor, just outside the park. What is a Pickled Wrinkle?

Pickled Wrinkles are an old Downeast Maine Delicacy. They are large carnivorous sea snails, or whelks, which are pickled and marketed locally as Pickled Wrinkles. Unlike herbivorous periwinkles, which inhabit tidal zones, wrinkles are larger and inhabit areas below the tide line. Lobster fishermen find wrinkles in traps they haul from the ocean floor. In tough times, wrinkles were relied on to help feed Maine families, and pickling was a great way to preserve the protein packed morsels. At the Pickled Wrinkle, we strive to provide guests with local seafood and produce whenever possible. We have a diverse menu that includes local Pickled Wrinkles when available. Try one if you are brave enough!

Alas they did not have any Pickled Wrinkles available for us to try today, but the crab rolls, seafood stew, and craft beers were excellent.