Schoodic Peninsula
Encyclopedia
Down East
In New England, the term Down East is applied in several different ways. In the narrowest sense, Down East refers to the coast of the U.S. state of Maine from Penobscot Bay to the Canadian border....
Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. It is located four miles (6 km) east of Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor is a town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population is 5,235. Bar Harbor is a famous summer colony in the Down East region of Maine. It is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory and Mount Desert Island...
, as the crow flies
As the crow flies
"As the crow flies" or beelining is an idiom for the shortest route between two points; the geodesic distance.An example is the great-circle distance between Key West and Pensacola, at either end of the U.S...
. The Schoodic Peninsula contains 2266 acres (9 km²), or approximately 5%, of Acadia National Park. It includes the towns of Gouldsboro and Winter Harbor. The peninsula has a rocky granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
shoreline containing many volcanic dikes
Dike (geology)
A dike or dyke in geology is a type of sheet intrusion referring to any geologic body that cuts discordantly across* planar wall rock structures, such as bedding or foliation...
. The peninsula is home to the former United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
base, NSGA
Naval Security Group
The Naval Security Group was an organization within the United States Navy, tasked with intelligence gathering and denial of intelligence to adversaries. A large part of this is Signals Intelligence gathering, Cryptology and Information Assurance...
Winter Harbor, which has been converted into a National Park Service training center. A 3300 acres (13.4 km²) resort development has been proposed for land abutting Schoodic Peninsula's national park holdings to the north.
Acadia National Park
The section of Acadia National ParkAcadia National Park
Acadia National Park is a National Park located in the U.S. state of Maine. It reserves much of Mount Desert Island, and associated smaller islands, off the Atlantic coast...
on the Schoodic Peninsula is more secluded than the main body of the Park, located on Mount Desert Island
Mount Desert Island
Mount Desert Island , in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of it is the 6th largest island in the contiguous United States. Though it is often claimed to be the third largest island on the eastern seaboard of the United States, it is actually second...
; approximately 10% of visitors make the trip to the peninsula. The island is easily visible across Frenchman Bay
Frenchman Bay
Frenchman Bay is a bay in Hancock County, Maine, named for Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer who visited the area in 1604....
, but the trip by road from Bar Harbor around the bay to the peninsula is 45 miles (72 km) long, about one hour by car. Ferry service is available seven days a week from late June through September, with ferry trips taking one hour.
The Park is accessible via a one-way 7 miles (11 km) long loop road. The main feature is Schoodic Head, the highest point on the peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
at 440 feet (134.1 m) above sea level. A number of hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
trails ascend the Head. Other features include the picnic area at Frazer Point, views of Schoodic Point, Blueberry Hill, and the Anvil. The lighthouse viewable to the northwest of Schoodic Head, Mark Island's Winter Harbor Light Station, was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
NGSA Winter Harbor
A United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
base, NSGA
Naval Security Group
The Naval Security Group was an organization within the United States Navy, tasked with intelligence gathering and denial of intelligence to adversaries. A large part of this is Signals Intelligence gathering, Cryptology and Information Assurance...
Winter Harbor, operated on Schoodic Point from 1935 to 2002. A replacement for Otter Cliffs Radio Station
Otter Cliffs Radio Station
U.S. Naval Radio Station Otter Cliffs was a United States Navy radio receiver facility located in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, south of Bar Harbor, Maine.The station was commissioned on August 28, 1917, under the command of Lt...
, the base operated as a radio station and training facility until it was decommissioned and transferred to the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
on July 1, 2002. The former naval base has now been transformed into the Schoodic Education and Research Center, a research and training center for the National Park Service.
Winter Harbor Holdings Development
In March 2008, Winter Harbor Holdings Inc. entered into negotiations with representatives from the towns of Winter Harbor and Gouldsboro regarding development plans for 3300 acres (13.4 km²) of land abutting the Schoodic portion of Acadia National Park. The proposed "eco-resort community" would be one third larger than the Schoodic section of park abutting it; proposals for development have included two hotels, housing developments, a bird sanctuary and an "eco-friendly golf course". Up to 1,000 homes could be built as part of the development; plans for a development airstrip were considered but rejected. Two thirds of the land would be set aside as a green corridor off-limits to commercial development; plans for this portion have included carriage roads like those on the Mount Desert IslandMount Desert Island
Mount Desert Island , in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of it is the 6th largest island in the contiguous United States. Though it is often claimed to be the third largest island on the eastern seaboard of the United States, it is actually second...
section of Acadia National Park. The proposal also calls for a ban on gasoline-powered vehicles on the loop road in the Schoodic section of Acadia National Park; the loop road would be converted into a carriage road limited to human- and electric-powered vehicles. The project would develop 40% of the land within the borders of the town of Winter Harbor, and could increase its population by 25%. These plans have been the subject of controversy among local residents concerned about the effects of development on the environment and on local communities. Other controversies have come up regarding the identities of the Winter Harbor ownership group and their development activities in New Mexico. In December 2008, two Maine architectural firms that had been local partners of the Italian partnership group withdrew from the project, citing financial disputes and differences in philosophy over the nature of the project and community involvement.