#81832: Carriage Road Bridge in Acadia National Park

A unique feature of Acadia National Park is the 45 miles of rustic carriage roads which weave around the mountains and through the valleys of the Park. The roads were originally built between 1913 and 1940 as a gift of philanthropist John D Rockefeller, Jr., and family. Rockefeller had a selfish motive in building the roads. He was a skilled horseman and desired to travel on motor free byways via horse and carriage into the heart of Mount Desert Island, when it was still the exclusive domain of the rich and famous. The carriage roads have sweeping vistas and close up views of the landscape.

Acadia's carriage roads are made of broken stone, commonly used throughout America a century ago. They are about 16 feet wide and made with three layers of rock, stone, culverts, wide ditches and a six to eight inch crown of crushed stone.

The beauty of the graded roads is enhanced with stone retaining walls and numerous stone bridges which follow the contours of the land.

Motorized vehicles are not allowed on the carriage roads, which are very popular with hikers, bicyclists, horses and horse drawn carriages.