Greetings from Acadia National Park

Picking one park that has impacted my life that I want to protect feels like trying to decide which chocolate bar I want at the gas station. They’re all great. I want them all.

I chose Acadia because as a kid my father dragged me around to hundreds of national parks… the ones we all know, and all the tiny ones in between. I hated it. Until I didn’t.

When I got into recovery as a young adult, I visited Acadia National Park. I felt God there. I hadn’t felt God in a very long time. The disease of addiction took everything from me in the thankfully short time I encountered it. It took my love for God. It took my love for myself. It took my parents faith and trust in me. It took my dignity. Everything. The beauty of nature… seeing the clear blue water of Jordan Pond… well, it was the first time I felt alive in years. It reconnected me to my childhood before the drugs. It reconnected me to awe, to wonder, to serenity.

Now I get to build a life in recovery. And there’s more parks I need to see. More God I need to experience.

Please don’t take our parks away. I beg you.

Sincerely,
Erin

Acadia National Park

Along the rugged coastline of Maine, this gem of the Northeast offers ocean shoreline, coastal forests, remote islands, rocky mountains and historic lighthouses. With 45 miles of historic carriage roads to bike and 125 miles of trails to hike, Acadia is a premier destination for the adventurous and outdoorsy. Among the park’s granite peaks is Cadillac Mountain, which at 1,530 feet stands as the tallest mountain on the Atlantic coast.

State(s): Maine

Established: 1919

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“They helped save my life. They reminded me that God exists. ”

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