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More visitors than ever are using artificial intelligence to plan trips to Acadia National Park. But the information they’re receiving isn’t always reliable.
AI tools often provide inaccurate or outdated advice. As the park welcomes more tourists each year — Acadia recorded more than 4 million visits last year — many are first-timers who may not realize their itinerary is riddled with errors.
Of course some of the information AI models generate is credible — just not everything.
One TikTok itinerary with more than 14,000 likes — tagged with a disclaimer that the video contained AI-generated media — raved about a coastal road trip starting in Portland, stopping in Kennebunkport, crossing Penobscot Bay and ending on Mount Desert Island, in that order.
A map of the proposed trip suggests — among other inaccuracies — that a ferry crosses Penobscot Bay, connecting Maine’s midcoast to Bar Harbor. It also places Kennebunkport east of Portland. No such ferry exists, and Kennebunkport is southwest of Portland.
“Who made this map, Columbus?!” one TikTok commenter asked.
When the Bangor Daily News asked Anthropic’s Claude to design a four-day July itinerary for a middle-aged couple visiting Acadia for the first time, it advised that a vehicle reservation may be needed for Park Loop Road — the popular 27-mile scenic drive running along the island’s eastern side.
Claude suggested checking the park’s website for Park Loop Road’s seasonal reservation requirements. There is a seasonal reservation requirement for driving up the Cadillac Summit Road, but there is no reservation requirement for the Park Loop Road. In separate queries, Claude provided inaccurate mileage for the Ocean Path, Great Head and Beehive Trails.
To compound the confusion, more than one AI response suggests incorrectly that visitors can drive up the three-mile Cadillac Summit Road at any time of year without a reservation. This requirement has been in place for a few years now, between May 20 and Oct. 25 each year, to prevent vehicle congestion at Acadia’s highest peak.
Cadillac summit reservations cost $6 and can be purchased up to 90 days in advance, though 30% of slots are held for purchase two days prior to the reservation.
The AI model ended its itinerary with several July tips: It described the carriage roads and Ocean Path as quiet escapes from summer crowds. Ocean Path is among the park’s most crowded trails.
Among the most glaring omissions in AI-generated Acadia itineraries was how to navigate transportation along the park’s often congested roadways. Though two models — Claude and ChatGPT — warned that the park becomes particularly busy in summer, neither recommended the Island Explorer, the park’s free shuttle bus service.
Google’s Gemini did suggest hailing the park’s transit system, but it didn’t provide updated information on the shuttle’s latest schedule, which now runs from the new Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton.
ChatGPT did not list the recently opened Trenton visitor center or the Sieur de Monts Nature Center as locations to purchase park passes. Both sites have vending machines that sell them.
One Reddit user shared an itinerary that suggested a group of eight — four adults, two toddlers, one senior and a medium-sized Japanese hunting dog — would enjoy a stroll around Jordan Pond, a 3.3-mile loop that circles the pond.
The children each required a stroller, which would be difficult to manage on sections of the trail where tree roots, stepping stones, and narrow wooden bridges and boardwalks make for rough terrain. The user said ChatGPT had suggested the trail.