Cadillac Mountain

Infobox Mountain
Name = Cadillac Mountain
Photo = Cadillac_Mountain.jpg
Caption = Sunset behind Cadillac Mountain
Elevation = convert|1528|ft|m|0 [cite web |url=http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=6693 |title=Cadillac Mountain, Maine |work=Peakbagger.com |first=Greg |last=Slayden |accessdate=2007-12-26]
Prominence = convert|1528|ft|m|0|abbr=on
Location = Hancock County, Maine, USA
Range=
Coordinates=coord|44|21|10|N|68|13|28|W|type:mountain_region:US|display=title,inline
Topographic
USGS Seal Harbor
Type=
Age=
First ascent=
Easiest route= Paved road or marked hiking trails

Cadillac Mountain is a mountain located on Mount Desert Island, within Acadia National Park. With an elevation of convert|1528|ft|m|-1|lk=on, [cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/placestogo.htm |title=Acadia National Park Places To Go |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |date=2006-08-07 |accessdate=2007-12-26] its summit is the highest point in Hancock County, and the highest within convert|25|mi|km|0 of the coastline of the Eastern United States. [cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/acad/rm/cmsub.htm |title=Cadillac Mountain |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |date=2004-10-28 |accessdate=2007-12-26]

Before being renamed in 1918, the mountain had been called "Green Mountain". The new name honors the French explorer and adventurer, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac. In 1688, De la Mothe requested and received from the Governor of New France a parcel of land in an area known as Donaquec which included part of the Donaquec River (now the Union River) and the island of Mount Desert in the present-day U.S. state of Maine. Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, a shameless self-promoter who had already appropriated the "de la Mothe" portion of his name from a local nobleman in his native Picardy, thereafter referred to himself as Antoine de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, Donaquec, and Mount Desert.

From 1883 until 1893 the Green Mountain Cog Railway ran to the summit to take visitors to the Green Mountain Hotel on the summit. [cite book |title=All Aboard for Yesterday! A Nostalgic History of Railroading in Maine |publisher=Down East |location=Camden |year=1979 |pages=p. 23 |isbn=0892720530 |oclc=5844214] The hotel was burned down in 1895. Also in 1895, the cog train was sold to the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire.

There are various hiking trails to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, some more challenging than others. There is also a paved road to the top.

Cadillac Mountain is commonly believed to be the first location in the United States to be struck by the sun's rays each morning. Driving or hiking to the summit of Cadillac Mountain to see "the nation's first sunrise" is a popular activity among visitors of Acadia National Park. However, Cadillac only sees the first sunrise in the fall and winter, when the sun rises south of due east. During most of the spring and summer, the sun rises first on Mars Hill, convert|150|mi|km|-1 to the northeast. For a few weeks around the equinoxes, the sun rises first at West Quoddy Head in Lubec, Maine, the easternmost town in the United States. [cite web |url=http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=6820 |title=Katahdin, Maine |work=Peakbagger.com |first=Greg |last=Slayden |accessdate=2007-12-26 Analysis by Blanton C. Wiggin, published in the January 1972 issue of "Yankee" magazine, determined that the first sunrise in the U.S. occurs at Cadillac Mountain from October 7 to March 6.]

Cadillac Mountain is considered by many to be a very romantic spot. Evidence of this is given by the fact that many couples get engaged on its summit. In a September 26, 2007, interview on ABC News' "20/20", Jenna Bush, the daughter of U.S. President George W. Bush, revealed Cadillac Mountain as the site where fiancé Henry Hager proposed marriage. [ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070926/ap_on_go_pr_wh/jenna_bush Jenna Bush's boyfriend proposed on hike, Associated Press] ]

On a clear day, it is possible to see Mount Katahdin, Maine's highest mountain, to the north and the Canadian province of Nova Scotia to the east, both over one hundred miles away.

References

*cite web |url=http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/151728/cadillac-mountain.html |title=Cadillac Mountain |publisher=Summitpost.org |date=2006-08-20 |accessdate=2007-12-26