Built for Adventure: How Hometown Manufacturing Helps Move Acadia National Park
Every year, visitors from around the world travel to Acadia National Park to experience its breathtaking coastline, scenic mountain views, and historic carriage roads. Helping thousands of those visitors explore the park is a fleet of buses proudly built by Hometown Manufacturing in Crandon, Wisconsin.
Designed specifically for Acadia National Park, these buses are fully ADA-accessible and equipped with exterior bicycle racks, making it easy for visitors of all abilities to enjoy everything the park has to offer. Powered by clean-burning propane, the fleet also supports a cleaner transportation system by reducing emissions compared with conventional gasoline buses. One of our favorite features of the Island Explorer buses is the large, panoramic windows for unobscured views of the surrounding beauty.
- 🌲 The Island Explorer is completely fare-free, making it one of the largest free seasonal transit systems serving a U.S. national park.
- 🚌 The fleet is powered primarily by clean-burning propane, helping reduce emissions while transporting visitors throughout Acadia.
- 🍃 L.L.Bean is a longtime funding partner, helping support the Island Explorer service alongside the National Park Service, Friends of Acadia, the State of Maine, and local communities.
- 🚗 Since launching in 1999, the Island Explorer has removed millions of private vehicle trips from Acadia's roads, reducing congestion and protecting the park's natural beauty.
- 🥾 The system connects campgrounds, trailheads, carriage roads, beaches, village centers, and Bar Harbor Airport, making it easy to explore without a car.
- 📱 Riders can track buses in real time using the myStop Mobile app during the operating season.
- 🌎 Today, the Island Explorer remains one of the most successful sustainable transportation programs in the U.S. National Park System, carrying hundreds of thousands of passengers each season.
Beyond transporting passengers, the Island Explorer fleet plays an important role in protecting one of America's most treasured national parks. By giving visitors a convenient alternative to driving, the buses help reduce traffic congestion, ease parking demands, and enhance the overall visitor experience.
At Hometown Manufacturing, we're proud to see our American-built buses serving communities and destinations across the country. Knowing our craftsmanship helps connect people with the beauty of Acadia National Park is a reminder that every bus we build carries more than passengers—it helps create memorable experiences while supporting sustainable transportation for generations to come.
