A good place to start your exploration of Acadia National Park, as its name implies, is the information center for visitors, located along Maine Route 3 outside the island village of Hulls Cove, about eight miles beyond the Thompson Island bridge. Park your vehicle in one of the 200 available spaces, climb the 52 stairs, and head on in.

The visitor center includes staff available to answer questions, supplies of maps and copies of the park newspaper called the Beaver Log, a well-stocked bookstore, a large relief map of Mount Desert Island that helps orient visitors, a theater that shows a 15-minute video, The Gift of Acadia, on the hour and half-hour during the day, and (of course) all-important restrooms.

The visitor center opens every morning at 8 from mid-April through October, and stays open until 4:30 p.m. (6 p.m. in July and August). At other times of the year, visit the park headquarters near Eagle Lake for orientation and information.