New tech could tell Acadia visitors about wait times and congestion
A visitor takes a photo of Sand Beach at Acadia National Park on Oct. 3, 2025. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)
Visitors and employees at Acadia National Park may someday have access to real-time information about congestion, wait times and weather conditions at popular sites such as Sand Beach.
Friends of Acadia and the Schoodic Institute received a $1.5 million grant from the National Park Foundation for a two-year pilot project to expand data capabilities and connectivity.
“We’ve seen the number of visitors and visitor use days increasing steadily in Acadia,” said Nick Fisichelli, president and CEO of the Schoodic Institute, a nonprofit that focuses on science and education in the park. “There’s a lot of people out there. Can we help deploy autonomous sensors and improve connectivity in the park to be able to help improve information?”
Acadia reported 4 million visitors last year, a new record. The National Park Service reported that Acadia saw more than 1.8 million recreational visitors in the first six months of 2026, a slight decrease from the same period last year.
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The Schoodic Institute said in a news release that the first year of grant funding will support hiring specialists in data visualization and sensor technology, as well as upgrading connectivity and traffic monitoring at Sand Beach and Jordan Pond. Eventually, the organizations hope to provide up-to-the minute conditions at entrance stations and parking areas.
“Visitors would then be able to adjust when and where and how they experience the park, for example by choosing to take the free Island Explorer shuttle bus, selecting a different trailhead, or waiting until rain clouds have cleared from mountain summits,” the release said.
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Over the next two years, the grant will also pay for more permitted drone flights over Sargent Mountain to obtain high-resolution imagery of vegetation and erosion, as well as new equipment to monitor weather on that peak. The research team also expects to install remote cameras and hydrology sensors to provide real-time data on wildlife and waterflows in the Great Meadow, the release said.
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Fisichelli said in an interview he does not have a timeline for the project, but does not expect the new capability to be available for park users and staff this year. The nonprofits are in the early stages of the projects and still figuring out exactly how the information would be shared with visitors, he said.
Fisichelli said Friends of Acadia and the Schoodic Institute hope to find permanent funding sources and expand the project beyond the grant.
An email to the general inbox for media inquiries to Acadia National Park was not answered Monday afternoon.
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Megan Gray covers the outdoors and tourism at the Portland Press Herald. A Midwest native, she moved to Maine in 2016. She has written about presidential politics and local government, jury trials and. More by Megan Gray
