ACADIA The Acadia National Park is located in the North Eastern region of Maine in the United States and measures 142 square kilometres The close proximity of the North Atlantic Ocean to the coastal forest landscape is one of the park’s irresistible attractions. During fall, the season in which New England is at its most magnificent, the forests come alive with soft, warm colours and the entire landscape becomes transformed by this ‘fifth season’ of the year. Thunder Hole is a further attraction. Onlookers seem almost awe struck when witnessing the relentless might of the Atlantic and the unexpected sound of thunder that emanates from a small cave within the granite cliffs caused by the sea as it floods into the air-filled cave thus releasing the air pressure from within with fantastic, thunderous effect. Loop Road is a scenic route that travels from coast to countryside and passes a picturesque and charming semi-timbered house, the Jordan Pond Gate House, built by John D. Rockefeller in1932. Created from a glacier, Jordan Pond is relatively deep and at its northern end there are two round hills, the ‘Bubbles’ from the summit of which the vast landscape of the glowing forest below is even more impressive. Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the North Atlantic coast. The scant vegetation of this area is quite surprising especially as it is in such close proximity to the nearby forests. During September, when the first so-called ‘leaf reports’ are announced in the newspapers and on television, there’s an air of excitement. The beginning of the Indian Summer is the time of the ‘Leaf Peepers.’ Whether they travel to the park by car, foot, horse and carriage or by way of a rented mountain bike, visitors to Acadia’s beautiful forests have a wide selection of leaves from which to choose. During fall, the red and orange of the maple trees and the golden yellow hues of aspen and birch melt together in a breathtaking carpet of colour that seems to cover the entire country. Acadia is a veritable arcadia!