Fun at Acadia National Park

The rocky headlands along the Atlantic coast provided my family and I the best summer getaway that we could ask for. The hiking trails were especially wonderful, the sights, sounds, and smells really whisk you away to a fairy tale place, far from the hustle and bustle of the cities. We were certainly glad we found a cozy little cottage home within a short drive of this breathtaking park.

One one particular hike, we ran into a Park Range that was incredibly helpful. He pointed us into the direction of a particular rocky formation that had a sort of banded or striped look. The Range explained to us that these were a type of rock called "intrusive igneous rock", and it originates inside of the Earth's crust. The process occurs when molten lava flows into channels that exist in the other rock. Over the course of millions of years, this lava cools and solidifies. Because of the long period of cooling, you can see crystals in the grain! My daughters thought that was the coolest thing, and wished we could take some home.


Lucky for them, because you can find this type of rock relatively easy. One of the more common, at least to me, is granite. You can also see this type of rock as obsidian or pumice. They just wanted the quartz, but I think as a whole they are fun to collect. When we got back home, we went through the kid's rock collection together to see if we could identify some of this. Sure enough, we did! It was even more fun to them when we put them in the tumbler to clean them up!