Death in Acadia and Other Misadventures in Maine's National Park

by Randi Minetor

Maine's Acadia National Park is one of the most visited national parks in the United States. It is an adventure seeker's paradise. Hiking, climbing, snowshoeing, back-country skiing, and ice-climbing are among the activities pursued there; as well as the less extreme sightseeing along the Park Road and Atlantic coast. Death in Acadia gathers the stories of fatalities that have occurred in the park, from falls to exposure to cardiac arrest--even getting swept out to sea--and presents dozens of misadventures.

Genres: Nonfiction, Outdoors, Audiobook, True Crime, Historical, Nature, Mystery

178 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 17, 2019

About the author

Crisscrossing America since 1992 in a quest to see all 50 states (done!), 431 national parks (76 to go), and more than 700 species of birds (623 so far), Randi and Nic Minetor bring their expertise and their love of the wilderness, American history, and birding to readers who share their many passions. A working writer for more than 40 years, Randi is now the author of more than 80 books in print under her own name, and a number of ghostwritten books on a wide variety of topics.

Reviews

[Michael Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this camping after an awesome trip to Bar Harbor Maine and Acadia National Park. Bought this book in Bar Harbor.

Well organized by type of death and location. It was really cool to know the area and places he referenced.

The reports and stories given were filled with tremendous research but not so detailed that they lagged.

A highlight was the last chapter where the famous murder of a woman on Otter Cliffs was described and the ensuing investigation followed.

Anyone with any familiarity with Acadia National Park or outdoor true crime will enjoy this book.

[Marcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Kat V · Rating 4 out of 5]

These aren’t technically a series but I’m enjoying this collection of books. They don’t really scare you away from the parks. If you casually watch true crime shows you’ll like these. 3.8 stars

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and thorough. I visit Acadia every summer, and never thought of how many must haunt this amazing National Park. I’ve been to all of the spots where these tragic events occurred, but will see them differently now.

[brettlikesbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

true stories of fatalities in the national park + what i was reading while my fam (swipe to see) was on the too-scary-for-me beehive trail—guys there’s a WHOLE CHAPTER DEVOTED TO DEATH ON THE BEEHIVE TRAIL😳
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“Welcome to Acadia. Be careful out there.”
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instagram book reviews @brettlikesbooks

[Jamie Dacyczyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just OK. It really felt like just a long list of deaths, rather than any sort of narrative. Only a couple of the stories were intriguing, while the majority were pretty much "This person fell off a cliff and died" or "This person felt into the water and died". I guess if you want to cover EVERY reported death in the park, a lot of them may not have a lot of public information to include...but it did ultimately feel a bit scant on narrative details.

More than the writing itself, I found the audiobook narrator to be really off-putting. I had to listen hard to make sure he wasn't some kind of text-to-talk program because he was just that stilted for most of the book. Like, this is going to sound silly, but he pronounced the words "a" and "the" as "ay" and "thee", which in real conversation most people pronounce these like "uh" and "thuh". Imagine the sentence, "Around the bend came a car" spoken like "Around thee bend came ay car". Hmmm, maybe this is technically correct, but not how it sounds in an actual conversation. Then agian, I'm in Maine, and this is how WE pronounce those words, so it felt wrong in a book about Maine......But then, let's not get into all of the Maine names that weren't pronounced like a local. Bangor, Calais, Pelletier...

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid volume from Minetor. Despite being a smaller park with less deaths to chronicle than something like Yosemite, there's a decent variety to talk about, everything from being swept away by rogue waves to falling from cliffs to a skateboarding accident and murder. As always, Minetor provides fairly comprehensive coverage that isn't sensational, particularly in her decision to avoid chronicling confirmed suicides. That said, this is going to be rather less exciting for somebody who isn't weirdly obsessed with deaths in national parks.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously a morbid read, but after visiting the park and going to a lot of the spots mentioned, it's sobering how many of these deaths were accidents based on bad judgement or underestimating the elements and terrain. Most of them were not just falls on the trails which was somewhat reassuring. You should still go visit the park! I also appreciated how the author put in hiking safety tips and a lot of historical background about Acadia. May all the ones mentioned rest in peace.

[hartfullofbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

A straightforward record of the deaths that have occurred at Acadia National Park. If you’re interested in an overview of the dark side of this national park, this is a good nonfiction book to read, but don’t expect a long in depth study of any case. The author doesn’t go into too much detail for each case, but still provides enough specifics to give the reader background and inform them. I also like that this book ends with an epilogue detailing how to NOT become another death at Acadia.

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Take a walk through Acadia, the National Park in Maine. Here, you will find fascinating trails, breathtaking views, and several deaths that dot the history of the park. From accidents, daredevils, murder, and more - you will find some great stories through this book and learn more about deaths that happen in this national park.

[Shahna (VanquishingVolumes) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was properly horrifying. As a Mainer who hasn’t yet visited Acadia I feel I now have a list of what NOT to do. Walking on a cliff ledge that only has room for one foot in front of the other, with no railing and a 200 ft. Drop on one side?! Yeah no thanks.

[Carl Gervais · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent compilation of incident reports from the NP.

[Kelly Whitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good description of what simple mistakes can lead to tragic consequences for visitors to Acadia.

[Anna Been · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Morbid, but I’m here for it. No frills, just recounting all the deaths in the park. Well researched and compelling if you’ve been to or plan to go to the park.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 on this one..

[Sandra Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finished this audiobook just because I started it. I thought it was fairly boring and lacked exciting detail. It would have been more interesting if the author got into the lives of each victim.

[Cassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many of these stories could have been renamed- Tourists who just don’t listen, Mother Nature- fuck around and find out.

The stories were well researched, but the subject matter got dull due to repetitive scenarios.

[Steven Beningo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent look at all of ways that people have died over the years in Acadia National Park.

[Barb Skelton · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Mainah, I was annoyed with the pronunciation of Bangor and Calais.

[Kaylee Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great short stories, not gory but enough details to get the picture.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are honestly both an interesting way to get to know about the geography of parks while also hearing perilous tales that happened in them, from drownings to murder.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a phenomenal gathering of the accounts of those that have passed in the park. Well researched and well written. Would read again if we go to Acadia again.

[Rachel Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these stories were absolutely crazy. I had no idea any murders had happened on the island. It’s a very interesting way to look at the park’s history.

[Katie Cavanaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found my new favorite genre (surprised?)

[Sadie Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not ashamed of this niche obsession at all 💁🏼‍♀️

[Kim Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting compilation of the sometimes surprising and at other times completely predictable human deaths in Acadia.

[Hillary · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* audio

[Marc Lubman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as the one about Yellowstone

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know it’s a rather morbid topic, but it was really interesting and gave quite a bit of historical context of the park. It also highlighted the raw power of nature, and reminds us that while we as humanity have created these preserved regions, nature owns them and makes the real rules. I thought the author did a nice job of chronicling these stories and kept it interesting while sticking to facts available for each incident. Having just visited here - it was neat to read about some of these and gave me even greater respect for the park. (And also confirmed that I wasn’t ready for the Beehive or the Precipice LOL)

[Danielle Mintzlaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was not as good as Death in Grand Canyon.