ESSENTIALS

Getting there

America As You Like It (020 8742 8299; americaasyoulikeit. com) offers sevennight fly-drives featuring Acadia National Park from £1,240 (based on two sharing). The price includes return flights from London Heathrow to Boston, car hire, two nights in Boston, five nights b&b at the Asticou Inn, Northeast Harbor, as well as kayaking, biking and hiking tours.

Staying there

Claremont Hotel, Southwest Harbor (001 207 244 5036; theclaremonthotel. com) has doubles from $150 (£116) with breakfast. Open May 27Oct 17.

Asticou Inn, Northeast Harbor (001 207 276 3344; asticou.com) has doubles from $155 with breakfast. Open May 20-Oct 16.

Eating out

Beal’s Lobster Pound, Southwest Harbor (001 207 244 3202; bealslobster. com) serves whole lobsters with traditional sides of corn, coleslaw and biscuits (like scones) for about $20.

Getting around

Acadia’s Island Explorer (explore acadia.com) is a free bus service that links inns with villages, hiking trails and more. The Bicycle Express shuttles cyclists and bikes to and from Acadia’s carriage roads.

Outdoor activities

Coastal Kayaking Tours and Acadia Bike (001 207 288 9605; acadiafun. com) offers guided and solo trips, maps, trail advice and all equipment. Full-day sea kayaking tours from $74 per person; weekly bicycle rental from $118.

The Natural History Center (001 207 266 9461; thenatural historycenter.com) offers bird-oriented hikes for beginners, families and serious birders with ornithologist Rich MacDonald (from $35 per person).

Lulu Lobster Boat Ride (001 207 963 2341; lululobsterboat. com) leaves from Bar Harbor for two-hour excursions with lobsterman Captain John Nicolai ($35).

Further information

Acadia National Park: nps.gov/acad; Acadia’s Centennial: acadiacentennial 2016.org; Maine Tourism: visitmaine.com signal for mobile phones. As for eating out, the best restaurants are the plainest: lobster shacks.

In Southwest Harbor, Beal’s is not only a working lobster and fish pier, but also a restaurant. Wearing a plastic bib, I get down and dirty, tearing a lobster apart with my fingers. Sitting elbow-to-elbow at wooden picnic tables on a warm evening, with a salty breeze off the water, this is the perfect end to a day of soft adventure.

Because lobster is synonymous with Maine, I join up with veteran lobsterman Captain John Nicolai – not to eat the delicacy, but to learn about the lifestyle of these crustaceans. Once aboard the Lulu, we motor out to Frenchman Bay, listening to Cap’n John explaining everything from a lobster’s sex life to how it is caught. Hauling up a trap, he explains the clever, yet simple, design: “The first chamber is the kitchen, the second is the parlour. Once they are in the parlour, they cannot get out.” There are some three million traps in Maine waters and 90 per cent are within three miles of the rugged coast: “That’s because lobsters love rocks.”

Back on land, my final adventure combines hiking with birdwatching. Acadia is on the Atlantic Flyway, so this is a great place for birders. As for where to go, with some 130 miles of trails, the only problem is choice. And that is why I am with guide Rich MacDonald. “Some trails are steep, others flat,” he explains. “And with car parks near the trailheads, you are off straight away.” Our two-mountain hike starts off easily enough, through spruce and red cedar. Then it is up, steeply up. The trail zigzags through cracks in the boulders, with handholds in the granite. Some label this section “challenging”; I call it fun.

Suddenly, we are above the trees and walking along the spine of Penobscot Mountain. “That ank-ank sound is the red-breasted nuthatch,” Rich whispers. “And the high-pitched melodious trill is the cedar waxwing.” At the 1,194ft summit, we savour the vista, before continuing on, down into the saddle and up again, to the crest of the even taller Sargent Mountain. We look down to islands, bays and the narrows that separate Mount Desert Island from the mainland. “On a clear day,” Rich tells me, “you can see for 120 miles.” The sky is deep blue; the sun sparkles on the water; the view is like a tourism poster come to life.

Before heading down the mountain, we start chatting to another hiker, who hails from France. “The Alps may be higher,” he tells me, “but having mountains, lakes and the sea all together – this is truly special.” “So, in Michelin terminology,” I ask, “is this ‘ vaut le détour’ – worth the detour? ” “Non,” he replies: “Vaut le voyage.” Readers can visit the great National Parks of America as part of an exclusive itinerary designed specifically for The Telegraph, including two days in the company of broadcaster and bushcraft expert Ray Mears. Launched in the centenary year of the National Park Service, this one-off trip will stop at seven national parks – often referred to as “America’s best idea” – and include time with Ray, who has a deep affinity for the wilderness of the United States. From the might of the Grand Canyon to the majesty of Yellowstone, you will explore some of the fabled landscapes of the country. This promises to be a mesmerising journey into America’s great outdoors.

Highlights

Meet Ray Mears, right, in Wyoming and share a cookout with him in Montana

Explore Yellowstone with an expert guide

See the timeless landscapes of the Grand Canyon and the wonderful hoodoos of Bryce Canyon

Stop at Arches, Zion, Grand Teton, Canyonlands and Mesa Verde national parks as well as Monument Valley

Details The tour is run with our trusted partner, Trafalgar, voted best escorted tour operator in this year’s Telegraph Travel Awards Includes 14 nights’ accommodation, return flight from London, and 22 meals Departs September 9-23 2017 From £3,995 per person Contact 0333 234 0385; telegraph. co.uk/ttnational parks

Full-day sea kayaking tours are available