Tag Archives: bates-cairns

Rash of Acadia National Park vandalism: Illegal blazes, painted rocks

As many as 50 illegal spray-painted blazes marred Champlain North Ridge Trail this summer, and a host of similar off-color marks have been found elsewhere in Acadia National Park. Among other recent acts of vandalism taking away from the visitor experience and violating park rules: Painted rocks being hidden for others to find and share on social media; face masks and dog poop bags littering hiking trails; Bates-style cairns knocked over; and rocks randomly stacked.

Gary Stellpflug leads highly skilled Acadia hiking trails crew

If you’ve ever marveled at Acadia National Park’s hiking trails, here’s a chief reason they look so good: Gary Stellpflug, the Acadia trails foreman. In this Q&A with Stellpflug, find out what he revealed during a National Trails Day hike on the Valley Trail, and his updates of trail work throughout the park. There’s no better way to celebrate Acadia’s 103rd anniversary of being founded as a national monument on July 8, 1916, than to appreciate the work of the Acadia trails crew and volunteers.

Acadia National Park visitors face roadblocks to buying pass

Visitors to Acadia National Park this spring and summer are finding it can be hard to get there from here. Two major places for buying a park pass are currently closed, with the Hulls Cove Visitor Center not reopening until the end of June as a $1.2 million renovation is taking longer than planned, and the Cadillac Mountain Gift Shop still getting cleaned up from winter damage. Heading into the park, visitors will face a long detour during Route 3 construction and a new paid parking system in Bar Harbor. Here’s a survival guide for where to buy a park pass, how to navigate the construction and parking and otherwise successfully get there from here.

Retirement of Acadia leader signals end of era

The Acadia National Park superintendent and more than 100 other people marked the passing of an era at an event to honor the work of longtime Acadia Ranger Charlie Jacobi. Jacobi, who started at Acadia in 1984 and retired at the end of last year, was recognized for his innovative work in analyzing and collecting […]

On patrol with stewards of Acadia National Park’s stone cairns and summits

One in a series on Acadia’s Bates cairns Within minutes of stepping onto the popular Cadillac South Ridge Trail, Tim Henderson spots a couple of Acadia stone cairns vandalized by passersby. “These two cairns are usually broken, destroyed, knocked over or piled up with stones, because it is easy access,” said Henderson, one of an army of […]

Waldron’s Warriors: Volunteer foot soldiers for Acadia hiking trails

On weekdays, Tim Henderson is a computer repairman. Come the weekend, he’s a Waldron’s Warrior, part of an army of volunteers battling vandalism of Acadia hiking trails, and teaching people about the park’s unique stone trail markers known as Bates cairns. Officially, Ellen Dohmen chairs the Bar Harbor appeals board and serves on the advisory […]

Message in the rocks: Acadia’s Bates cairns get new focus

One in a 2-part series on Acadia’s Bates cairns Long the target of vandals and errant hikers, the historic cairns of Acadia National Park are the focus of new efforts to recognize and preserve them. Moira O’Neill of Surry and Ranger Judy Hazen Connery have worked together to design an “Anatomy of a Bates Cairn” T-shirt. […]

The cairns of Acadia: Objects of wonder, targets of vandals

One in a 2-part series on Acadia’s Bates cairns The iconic Bates-style cairns of Acadia National Park, Zen-like in their simplicity and historic in nature, keep hikers from getting lost on the trails. But they also attract vandals and random rock-stacking visitors, making trail maintenance a nightmare. A couple of years ago, vandals knocked over nearly […]