Acadia National Park says it set a visitation record July 5 with more than 35,000 visits, and officials say park staff were swamped that day and the following weekend with calls for assistance and efforts to close roads and parking lots due to congestion.
According to a press release, on July 5 alone the park dispatch center fielded 755 radio calls and twenty 911 emergency calls, and that park staff responded to four simultaneous rescue calls that tapped nearly all rescue resources.
Acadia officials says that as staff work on a transportation plan that will help ease the congestion, visitors are reminded to park only in designated spaces, use the Island Explorer bus service and consider walking or biking into the park whenever possible.
Originally published July 14, 2019 at 6:00 a.m. ET.
