Mount Desert's Famous Art Trail

OVERVIEW

Follow a circuitous road through Mount Desert Island and stop along the way at breathtaking spots that inspired some of America’s most gifted 19th-century landscape painters. The road winds through stunningly beautiful Acadia National Park, which adherents of the Hudson River School art movement painted in a style that Romanticism heavily influenced. Acclaimed artists such as Thomas Cole, Thomas Moran and Frederic Edwin Church were all captivated by the natural wonders, which look much the same today as they did in their time. You will pause at Sieur de Monts Spring, the overlook at dramatic Schooner Head and at serene Jordan Pond, a sheltered glassy lake that ancient glaciers carved out of the landscape. You will also drop by precipitous Otter Cliff and Otter Cove, which offers sweeping views of the sea and inland. At each stop, the guide will provide entertaining anecdotes about the artists that captured these majestic landscapes on canvas.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Drive along the spectacularly scenic Park Loop Road that winds through Acadia National Park.
• Pause at naturally beautiful spots that inspired some of America’s greatest landscape painters.
• Stop at coastal viewpoints, an inland lake and precipitous seaside cliffs.
• Hear enlightening commentary about the artists that painted Mount Desert Island.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.