Visitors to Acadia up 1 percent in August

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK – Acadia National Park’s 26 mountains and 24 lakes and ponds attracted 636,824 visitors in August, a 1 percent increase over last year, according to the most recent visitor reports.

All told, just over 2 million visits have been recorded at the Mount Desert Island park this year, an increase of just under 1 percent over the same period last year, the reports show.

Visits to Acadia have increased an average of 1 to 2 percent over the past 10 to 15 years, according to park officials, so this year is on target to exceed last year’s total visits of 2.7 million.

The new visitor reports for August showed that 70,122 vehicles crossed the bridge to MDI on their way to the park. Of the August visits, about 50,000 were to the off-island park attractions of Isle au Haut and Schoodic Peninsula.

In addition to the 636,824 recreational visits in August, another 21,923 visits were for nonrecreational purposes, the report shows.