1947 Fire Overlook

In 1947, fire destroyed thousands of acres of park land. View traces of the fire from this overlook.

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1947 Fire Overlook Details

By the late 19th century, Bar Harbor was home to dozens of hotels and mansions, many of which lined the shoreline along "Millionaire's Row." However, the Great Depression and two World Wars brought Bar Harbor's Gilded Age heyday to a close. By 1947, many of the hotels and posh summer cottages of the rich were abandoned or neglected. That fall, a fire that began in a nearby cranberry bog swept across 17,000 acres of drought-stricken Mount Desert Island, fanned by gale-force winds. The fire claimed 10,000 acres of parkland, five grand hotels, 67 of the Millionaire's Row mansions, and 170 homes. Traces of the 1947 fire can be seen from the overlook. Looking straight ahead at Cadillac and Dorr mountains, you can see darker red spruce and balsam fir forests contrasting with lighter hardwood forests which sprang up from the ashes of the conifers scorched in the massive blaze.

Difficulty

Open

Distance

N/A

Estimated time

Region

Park Loop Road