The road signs along the park loop are as colorful as lobster buoys bobbing in Frenchman Bay. And there are almost as many of them to boot.

Red signs with “wrong way” letters in white, yellow signs with black directional arrows, black-and-white “One Way” signs, brown ones, green ones; some facing frontward, others backward. All telling visitors to Acadia National Park what to do and what not to do.

“Bicycles Must Obey One-Way Rule,” “Do Not Enter,” “Do Not Remove Beach Stones,” “No Parking on Right Lane,” “Reduced Speed Zone,” “Stop.”

There are so many signs along the five-mile stretch beginning at the large Acadia National Park sign to Schoodic Point itself that some visitors can barely enjoy the splendid scenery for staying on the lookout for more directions.

The 1.2-mile jaunt from the main park sign in Winter Harbor to Frazer Point only boasts two signs: a 45-mph speed limit sign and a “reduced speed zone” right before the two-way road to Frazer becomes one-way. That’s when the plethora of park signs becomes apparent.

Every dirt or paved turnout, no matter how small, is accompanied by two red-and-white “Wrong Way” signs (facing backward) and a one-way sign with arrow directing the motorist to continue toward Schoodic. In less than one-half mile from Frazer Point – the beginning of the park road – to the turnoffs where visitors can spot Ned’s Island, there are pairs of “Wrong Way” signs 100 yards from the previous ones, then only 50 yards from the ones before.

Approximately one mile from the park entrance, where sightseers can turn off onto a short dirt road to view Mark Island, there are more “Wrong Way” signs, more “One Way” signs with arrows and another “No Parking on Right Lane” sign. At 1.3 miles, another turnoff, two more backward “Wrong Way” signs and another “One Way” sign with an arrow pointing toward Schoodic.

Farther south, more speed limit signs, more backwards signs for motorists to see in their rearview mirrors: “Wrong Way” at 1.6 miles into the park, at 2.2 miles, at 2.3 miles, at 2.7 miles. By the time visitors cross the causeway at Big Moose Island, they’ve viewed so many signs they miss the heron feeding in the marsh on the left.

And by the time they reach the triangle, where a two-way road leads to Schoodic and a one-way road veers toward the eastern shore and Gouldsboro, they’re bombarded with so many directions they have to come to a halt, whether there’s a stop sign or not.

Where the U.S. Naval Security Group Activity used to reside – for the past 60 years – there is a large National Park Service and Department of Interior sign that proclaims “Future Home of Schoodic Education and Research Center. Not Yet Open to the Public.” That sign is complemented by two other “Not Open to the Public” signs, two stop signs, an “Area Closed” sign in the gatehouse window, a “Stop Until Told to Proceed” sign, 15 orange and silver highway cones and a white road barrier. That’s all before the black-and-white striped gate, complete with stop sign, which the park service uses to close Schoodic because of hazardous road conditions.

At Schoodic Point, there are other signs: “Don’t Feed Gulls and Other Wildlife,” “Day Use Area, Closed 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.” before the traveler heads back around the loop, where more signs instruct bicyclists to obey one-way rules and visitors to refrain from removing beach rocks. Toward Blueberry Hill: “No Campers,” at Rolling Island turnoffs: “Wrong Way” signs backward, and at the end of the park road itself, where motorists head into Wonsqueak, more warnings and arrows about opposing traffic.

In a tenth of a mile, as the park road turns into a state road, there are 19 yellow and red and black and white signs: “Caution, Turning Vehicles,” “Snowplow Turning,” “Wrong Way,” “Do Not Enter,” and finally, “End of One-Way.”

No matter what happens – funding wise – to the “Schoodic Education and Research Center,” one thing is clear: It could always be a School for Sign-Makers.