Carriages of Acadia has roots in Houlton

Contributed photo
HORSING AROUND — Carriages of Acadia is a corporation of the Mike Carpenter family with a 10-year contract with the National Park Service to provide carriage rides in Acadia over the 50 miles of carriage trails designed and built by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in the early 1900s.
    Memorial Day 2011 saw the dawn of the third season in Acadia National Park for the Houlton-based company, Carriages of Acadia (COA).
    COA is a corporation of the Mike Carpenter family with a 10-year contract with the National Park Service to provide carriage rides in Acadia over the 50 miles of carriage trails designed and built by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in the early 1900s.
    For those who are envisioning a quaint, backyard hayride type of operation, think again as the company currently is working 11 teams of draft horses in Amish-made carriages, employs a full-time staff of 13 and is on track to carry about 21,000 passengers during this May to October season.
     “Mr. Rockefeller employed a crew of approximately 300 men from 1913 to 1940 to build these world famous roads and 17 incredible granite bridges,” Carpenter said. “We offer one- and two-hour family-affordable tours which are fully narrated with the area history as the horses meander in and out of the forest canopy. It may be the most peaceful and relaxing hour of your entire summer and the folks get some beautiful views along the way.”
    This adventure began in 2007 when Carpenter happened to see a federal government classified ad in the Draft Horse Journal inviting interested parties to submit a proposal for the contract. Since he had long driven draft horses, including a horse-drawn trolley service in Houlton in the 1990s, Carpenter decided to put together a bid.
    “When I submitted my document in March 2008, I didn’t really think I had a chance to win,” explained Carpenter. “Imagine my surprise when the Park Superintendent called in October to tell me I had won the 10-year contract,” said Carpenter.
    At that time, Carpenter owned one team of draft horses and one four-passenger carriage. Since that phone call, COA has bought 10 more teams and a like number of carriages.
    When the contract began in the spring of 2009, once again fate stepped in. Carpenter’s daughter, Emily had just graduated from University of Maine in May and she wanted to work for the company. A longtime horse lover and rider, it was never planned that she would actually manage the whole operation as she does now on a year-round basis,” said Carpenter.
    In addition to managing the day-to-day operations, driving carriages several times a day and doing the paperwork the Park Service requires, Emily does all the wintertime reservations for the hundreds of private horse owners who call to arrange their summer dates with their horses in the Park.
    “She does a super job and I enjoy going down on the weekends to work for her driving the beautiful horses we have been able to accumulate,” her father said. “My late father was a teamster and a blacksmith “back in the day” so I guess it is in the genes.”
    This business is one of only four privately-run “concessions” affiliated with Acadia and operates out of Wildwood Stables, a half mile south of the Jordan Pond House off the Park Loop Road. Obviously an operation this size requires significant logistical support.
    “I’m very proud that we will put approximately $100,000 back into the Aroostook economy each year – everything I can buy in the County I do buy – all our hay is from Ashland, grain from Aroostook Milling and Mark Nightingale, horses and gear from the Amish community, brochure printing from Aroostook Print Shop and so forth,” explained Carpenter.
    After the operation closes in late October, the horses all come home to the farm on the North Road for a well-deserved seven-month rest.
    “These teams will each walk between 1,200 and 1,500 miles this summer and have earned their time off until next May,” said Carpenter.
    Carpenter invites folks from the local area to make the three-and-a-half hour trip to Bar Harbor to enjoy what he considers one of the premium attractions of eastern Maine.
    “Until I went to work there, I never realized just what an incredible jewel Acadia National Park is,” he added. “If you can’t make it down, come up to the big yellow barn next to the state police barracks after Oct. 23 and I’ll introduce you to the horses.” 
    All in all, this local lawyer seems to have found a way to make his “vocation” his “vacation” – Mark Twain’s definition of “success.”
    Carriages of Acadia can be reached at 1-877-276-3622.