How Wonderland Helped Me Fall in Love with Maine

A mild hiking trail at Acadia National Park helped me fall in love with Maine. Find out how. This post is sponsored by Poland Spring®.

Waves crashing, a thunderous roar. The hot sun. Smooth boulders. That’s what I remember most about hiking my favorite trail out to the rocky coastline a few times last summer.

I also remember the soul-filling beauty, and how being there seemed to change me. Standing on those boulders on a chilly spring day, gazing out at the seemingly endless body of water, I fell in love.

There was still snow on the ground the first time my kids and I drove to Acadia National Park to hike the Wonderland trail. As a newspaper editor in charge of all the features sections my paper creates, I’d recently edited a piece about the mild, easy Wonderland trail hike out to Bennet Cove, an inlet of the Gulf of Maine, and was curious to experience it.

For all three of us — Will at 9, Paige at 7 and me — it was our first experience in Acadia. And it was, as expected, a perfect introduction to the park.

The day was one of those almost-warm days of spring, chilly enough that the snow wasn’t just evaporating away, but warm enough that the hike was pleasant. The bright sun certainly helped with that. We wore layers, brought snacks and water and laughed along the way.

Wonderland is a mostly flat hike that’s winds its way through a forest before arriving at the shore. Along the way, there’s natural rock formations, curious tree shapes and just an overall whimsical feel (that’s what gives it its fanciful name). Called a lollypop trail, for the loop at the end that circles you around the rocky coast, this is a great trail for hiking beginners like us.

A day or two later, I went back again with a friend and did it again. That’s how much I liked it. By the end of the summer, we were all working on more challenging — but still beginner-level — hikes.

Poland Spring® recently asked me to share my personal connection with Maine in a post, and I immediately thought of our adventures on the Wonderland trail last spring and summer. We’d been living here almost a year, and I already liked it — despite the harsh winter and absence of a real spring. But those trips to Acadia, beginning in late April or early May, were a turning point.

One of the reasons I said yes to this assignment and to Poland Spring® though was because its 100% Natural Spring Water has been my preferred brand for as long as I’ve drank bottled water. Sourced from several natural springs in Maine, it’s been around since 1845 and is available throughout the Northeast.

Honestly though, until moving here and driving through Poland, Maine, I didn’t realize that the water I’d been drinking for years was from here — or that it came from carefully selected springs and its company is committed to preserving the natural beauty of Maine through sustainable management of spring sites throughout the state. I just knew that it was fresh and just right.

Have you been to Maine? Do you have a favorite spot? And, also, are you a Poland Spring fan?

Share what being from Poland Spring® Country means to you on social media, using #PolandSpringCountry. You can find Poland Spring® on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Poland Spring® Brand 100% Natural Spring Water. The opinions and text are all mine.