The Acadia Gateway Center is now open!

Located along Route 3 in Trenton, this facility will welcome visitors to Downeast Maine and Acadia National Park. This intermodal transportation center is the perfect place to park your car, purchase your park pass, learn about places to visit, and hop on the Island Explorer bus.

The pathway leading to the Acadia Gateway Center. (Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

The Acadia Gateway Center shown on its first official day open to the public on Wednesday, September 3, 2025. (Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

Tall ceilings inside the Acadia Gateway Center. (Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

(L-R) Will O’Brien, Maine Tourism Association Travel Counselor, Jane Anderson, Maine Tourism Director of Visitor Services, and Jacki Ewing, Visitor Information Center Manager for Maine Tourism welcome visitors to the Maine Tourism desk at the Acadia Gateway Center on its first official day open to the public on Wednesday, September 3, 2025. (Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

The Acadia Gateway Center is owned by the State of Maine and operated by the Maine Department of Transportation in partnership with the Maine Office of Tourism, National Park Service, and Downeast Transportation Inc. Since 2004, Friends of Acadia has been a partner in planning for the Acadia Gateway Center, a regional transportation hub and statewide visitor information center to be constructed on the west side of Route 3.

Construction of the center was funded by the Federal Transit Administration, MaineDOT, National Park Service, and Friends of Acadia.

Representatives from Acadia National Park, Island Explorer, Maine Tourism Association, and Eastern National celebrate after unveiling the sign for the Acadia Gateway Center on its first official day open to the public on Wednesday, September 3, 2025. (Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

An Island Explorer picks up passengers at the Acadia Gateway Center on its first official day open to the public on Wednesday, September 3, 2025. (Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

An Eastern National employee shows a park visitor an Acadia National Park map at the Acadia Gateway Center on its first official day open to the public on Wednesday, September 3, 2025. (Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

Bus waiting area for Island Explorer riders at the Acadia Gateway Center on its first official day open to the public on Wednesday, September 3, 2025. (Julia W Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

Amanda Pollock, Acadia National Park Deputy Chief of Interpretation, gives recommendations to park visitors at the Acadia National Park information desk at the Acadia Gateway Center on its first official day open to the public on Wednesday, September 3, 2025. (Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

Timberframe ceiling beam detail at the Acadia Gateway Center on its first official day open to the public on Wednesday, September 3, 2025. (Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

Friends of Acadia information poster outside the Acadia Gateway Center on Wednesday, September 3, 2025. (Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

This project has been a priority for Friends of Acadia since 2004 when the organization purchased an option on 369 acres in Trenton — the future site of the Gateway Center — while MaineDOT completed an Environmental Assessment. Friends of Acadia then purchased the property in 2007 and sold the easternmost 152 acres bordering Route 3 to MaineDOT for the purpose of developing the Center and mitigating associated wetland losses.

Friends of Acadia retained the remaining 217 acres in tree growth tax status and built the Trenton Community Trail with technical expertise provided by the National Park Service’s Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance Program. We then granted a conservation easement to Maine Coast Heritage Trust on the remaining land and donated the parcel to the Town of Trenton. MaineDOT and partners inaugurated the Island Explorer maintenance facility and Downeast Transportation offices on-site in 2012.

The design of the visitor center and transit hub went through several revisions over the years to improve efficiency, lower construction costs, and incorporate new technologies. The majority of the construction costs came from the Federal Transit Administration. The National Park Service (NPS) contributed $4 million in Centennial Challenge funds, matched and exceeded by transportation bonds and other funds provided by MaineDOT.

Friends of Acadia funded $1 million from the Acadia Experience portion of funds raised as part of the Acadia Second Century campaign. We also funded $225K for solar panels on the building to reduce environmental impact, as well as the long-term operational costs.

Many Friends of Acadia members helped make the Acadia Gateway Center possible—from those who supported the initial purchase of the land to those who helped the Island Explorer expand, as well as those who contributed to the Greening Acadia Fund at the 2021 Benefit Auction that helped with the purchase of solar panels.

It’s truly time for a collective cheer as this long-lived project to improve visitor information and access to transit services comes to fruition!