Acadia National Park in Maine this week is getting a third campground with the dedication and opening of the Schoodic Woods Campground on the Schoodic Peninsula. The 94-site campground is located on land once eyed for a sprawling resort, complete with hotel, golf course, sports center, and luxury villas.

Park officials note that the dedication of the campground comes in the wake of a decade-long effort to protect a 3,200-acre tract of land abutting Acadia National Park that was threatened by the development of the proposed resort. In 2011, an anonymous buyer (operating as Schoodic Woods, LLC) purchased the land and, over the past two years, constructed the campground along with 8.5 miles of bike paths and 4 miles of hiking trails on the southern half of the property.

In 2013, Schoodic Woods, LLC generously donated a conservation easement over 1,400 of the 1,600 acres south of State Route 186 to the United States government, which allows the National Park Service to operate the new facilities and manage the land as part of Acadia National Park.

To mark the occasion, the park is holding a grand opening of the campground on Wednesday beginning at 3 p.m. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at the campground ranger station with remarks by U.S. Sen. Angus S. King, Jr.; Acadia Superintendent Sheridan Steele, and; Mark Berry, president and CEO of the Schoodic Institute.

The campground will be open for self-guided tours starting at 3:30 p.m., and the event will conclude with a presentation about the Schoodic Institute at the amphitheater starting at 4:30 p.m.

Limited parking will be available at the campground, which is located on Schoodic Loop Road about one mile south of State Route 186 in Winter Harbor. Satellite parking will be available at the Masonic Lodge and Winter Harbor Town Office on School Street in Winter Harbor. The Island Explorer will provide free, continuous shuttle service between the satellite parking and campground from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The first bus will leave Winter Harbor at 2:30 p.m., and the last bus will leave the campground at 6:30 pm.

The campground consists of 33 RV sites with water and power hook-ups, 50 car/tent sites with power hook-ups, nine hike-in sites, and two group sites with a shared picnic shelter. Other visitor facilities at the campground include a ranger station, 100-seat amphitheater, and 100-space day-use parking area. Camping will be available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis beginning on Tuesday, September 1.

Acadia's two other campgrounds, Blackwoods and Seawall, are located on Mount Desert Island.