CLEFTSTONE ROADS ODD FOUNDATION

 Cleftstone Roads odd foundation is easy to locate but not so easy to explain.  Back in the day one of the paths up Great Hill passed right through that area of woods and whatever was located there was once landscaped and had gardens, or so the surrounding ground below the old rock foundation suggests.  And clearly whatever structure once stood there, it was not a large structure, for the small hill with its steep banks would only support a small structure, so what was located here?

I refer to this as the odd foundation of Cleftstone Road because the narrow dirt road, in the woods just as you enter Acadia National Park off of West Street Extension, does a half circle through the woods, one end of the dirt road beginning just past the entrance into the park, on the left, and the other end of the half circle coming out almost across the road from the Duck Brook Road, and I do believe at one time the end closest to Cleftstone Road may of once connected to that road, but evidence was destroyed when The new entrance in to the park was constructed, because up to a point there was no West Street Extension, and the main entrance into the park from town was by way of the abandoned entrance into the park which I have written about and documented.  In fact, I believe the other end of the dirt road once connected to that old entrance into the park, in any case the old stone foundation does appear to date back to a time before West Street Extention was built.  There is suppose to be a couple newspaper articles talking about the structure that once stood here, but I have not been able to find them as yet.

At this point I will tell you how to locate this odd foundation, the easiest way is to drive into the park along West Street Extension and park at the blocked off end of Duck Brook Road.  Across the roadway is a granite hill, and just to the right woods where an old dirt road is located.  Follow the road as it moves upward through the woods, and watch that granite hill now to your left, you will be looking for an area of stones that form one side of a foundation, with a path that leads up to the top of the hill.  From there you can now view the other side of the hill where another wall of the foundation is located.  The second way to locate the odd foundation is by driving up West Street Extension, as soon as you approach the entrance into the park, pull over and walk up the left hand side of the road a short ways, looking down the banking for a well defined dirt road, and follow the old road through the woods to the foundation.  

I do believe I have an old hand drawn map that shows the structure, it is a small structure on a hill, with Great Hill rising up behind it, the location fits perfectly.  I was walking through the woods one day recently in search of deer to photograph and ran into two individuals who shed light on exactly what it was that once stood on that small hill, it was a tea house.  From the old map I found the small structure pictured would seem to be about the size of a small tea house.  But as is often the case, one mystery opens the door to another, and in various places in the woods there I have seen golf balls.....anyone have any clue why golf balls are in the woods off of Cleftstone road?