Access Acadia: Inclusive Descriptions of Park Destinations

A First Stop For Many Visitors

Located close to Bar Harbor off Route 3, the Hulls Cove Visitor Center is Acadia’s main visitor contact station and transportation hub from May into October. It is a popular, and often crowded, first stop for many visitors. It is adjacent to an entrance for the park's iconic 27-mile Park Loop Road and it serves as a key stop for several routes on the fare-free Island Explorer bus system. 

Designed in 1967 just prior to the enactment of major accessibility legislation, the building sits atop a hill above a large parking lot and visitors must climb 52 steps to reach the main entrance. 

Separate Accessible Entrance

There is a separate accessible entrance behind the facility. To get there, drive straight at a four-way intersection off Route 3 rather than turn into the main parking lot. An accessible parking lot behind the building has four marked accessible spaces. This lot is connected to the rear entrance of the visitor center by two asphalt-paved routes – one with short steps and another curved path that slopes to join the first at a short wooden bridge. The accessible entrance has an automatic door and an elevator up to the main floor. 

Main Parking Lot

The main parking lot below the visitor center has angled accessible spaces marked along a sidewalk nearest to a large information pavilion. Park orientation and information offerings are provided on large panels. There is an automated fee machine that allows visitors to buy a park pass without climbing the 52 steps. At the far end of the main parking lot, there is an entrance to the Acadia’s historic carriage road system.  

What's Inside

Inside the visitor center there are two sets of public restrooms, one on each floor. Both have accessible toilet compartments. Several water fountains and seating areas are distributed throughout the site, indoor and outside.

Inside the main lobby area, there are two service areas – one for an information desk and the other for a sales counter for park entrance passes. Queuing areas are clearly marked with stanchions indicating where people should wait in line. 

A park store can be accessed from inside the building through a wide, open doorway or directly from the outside by a wide wooden foot bridge.

Two types of exhibits are offered inside the facility –

• Large wall maps for the park's three transportation networks – roads, hiking trails, and carriage roads.
• Artwork donated by participants in Acadia’s Artist-in-Residence program. Placards with QR codes offer links to an online catalog with further information about the artists and audio descriptions of the artwork on display.

Binders with braille and foreign language translations of “Essential Acadia” messages are available at the information desk.

• Note: Acadia no longer offers regular screenings of a park film. During a renovation of the visitor center lobby and building infrastructure in 2019, the movie theater was removed, as well as a large, space-intensive 3-D map of Mount Desert Island.
   

• LINK TO PHOTO GALLERY