Decades of planning and persistence came to fruition last September as the doors opened to visitors at the newly completed Acadia Gateway Center. It reopens for the season on May 20.

Located along Route 3 in Trenton, this facility welcomes visitors to Downeast Maine and Acadia National Park. As an intermodal transportation center, it’s the perfect place to park your car, purchase your park pass, learn about places to visit, and hop on the Island Explorer bus.

At the center, visitors will find free day-use parking for 300 vehicles, including 18 EV charging spaces and 10 oversized vehicle spaces, a bus stop for Island Explorer and commercial tour buses, and an 11,000-square-foot information center with park and regional tourism information, retail space, restrooms, and a waiting area.

Natural light flows through the vaulted wood-beam ceiling. (John Kelly/NPS)

The Acadia Gateway Center provides visitor services, accessible Island Explorer bus stops, and expanded parking. (Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia)

The Gateway Center provides visitor services, (Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia) accessible Island Explorer bus stops, and expanded parking.

Back exterior of the Acadia Gateway Center. (Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia)

“We are so grateful for all of the partners who have worked so hard to bring the Gateway Center to life,” said Amanda Pollock, deputy chief of interpretation at Acadia National Park. “After the success of the soft opening, I’m optimistic about the future and eager to dive back in this spring. I’m confident that the Gateway Center will help visitors connect to Acadia National Park, its surrounding communities, and Downeast Maine in meaningful ways.”

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 project was funded primarily by the Federal Transit Administration with additional support from the National Park Service, Friends of Acadia, Efficiency Maine, and the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT).

This project is part of the park’s long-term congestion management plan and has been a priority for Friends of Acadia since 2004, when the organization helped secure the location by purchasing 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 Gateway Center and mitigating associated wetland losses. The remaining 217 acres were placed under conservation and donated to the Town of Trenton. Visitors can explore this forested area and unique bog habitat on the Trenton Community Trail.

The Island Explorer maintenance facility and Downeast Transportation offices have operated on the site since 2012.

Seating area and vending machines inside the Acadia Gateway Center. (Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

The main entrance of the Acadia Gateway Center. (Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia)

Aerial view of the Acadia Gateway Center and parking lot off Route 3 in Trenton. (Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia)

The Acadia Gateway Center is owned by the State of Maine and operated by MaineDOT in partnership with the Maine Office of Tourism, the National Park Service, and Downeast Transportation, Inc.

Friends of Acadia funded $1 million of the costs, raised as part of the Acadia Second Century campaign, and also funded $225,000 for solar panels on the building to reduce both environmental impact and 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-planned project to improve visitor information and transit services comes to life!

Hip, hip, hooray!

For more information, go to nps.gov/places/acadia-gateway-center.htm