National Park Mystery Spot 22 Revealed: You Can See the Sea from This Dome

The challenge was to identify the national park mystery spot using just these clues:

Bonus clue, no extra charge: Atacama

The answer is the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Maine's Acadia National Park.

Congratulations s to Anon 8:20 (no cyberhandle), who first ID-ed the mystery spot. Twelve other Traveler readers also figured it out before the answer was released, including (in order of submission):

Bob M
Benjamin Ogan
RangerLady
Mizzou
mizzou bluke
Will
Anon 3:12
Anon 5:59
JimBob
Tom Wylie-Coyote
toothdoctor
B. Grant

Here is how you can derive Cadillac Mountain from the clues.

Cadillac Mountain is a large dome of ancient granite that was rounded and smoothed by glaciers. It is located on Mount Desert Island. Since the mountain's summit is so high (elev. 1,530 feet), eyes that roam from the top of the dome will see the sea.

A spur road provides access to the summit. Because Acadia is situated so far to the east, people who get up early and drive to the summit of Cadillac Mountain to watch the sunrise can catch the morning sun about as early as anyone. At certain times of year -- approximately October 7 through March 6 -- these early-rising park visitors are among the first people in the 48-state U.S. to see the sunrise.

Cadillac Mountain was originally named Green Mountain. In 1918 the name of this prominent landmark was changed to Cadillac to honor French explorer/adventurer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac (1658-1730), who once owned Mount Desert Island.

The bonus clue was Atacama, the coastal desert in northern Chile that is generally considered to be the world's driest desert. Some parts of the Atacama are so arid that no rain has ever been recorded there.