Autumn sweeps over coastal Maine like a magic wand, waving away the summer people and returning the craggy inlets, misty mountains and quiet offshore islands to the residents.

And to us.

We think of Maine in October as our Maine and have made an annual one-week pilgrimage to Acadia National Park, a treasure trove of mountain hiking trails, woodsy bicycle paths, and

stunning coastal drives. Scout around and you'll find harbor seals, whales and puffins, in addition to abundant deer and herring gulls.

The Northeast's only national park, Acadia sprawls over 54 square miles of 108-square-mile Mount Desert (pronounced with the accent on the second syllable) Island, a lobster-claw-shaped region that bulges out into the Atlantic Ocean about three-quarters of the way up Maine's Atlantic coast. The island is split nearly in half by beautiful Somes Sound, the only natural fiord (a seaway lined by mountains) in the continental United States.

Acadia is one of the nation's smallest national parks, but, like San Francisco, its compactness makes it all the more accessible. It is, in fact,the second most visited national park after Great Smokey Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee: 4.5 million visitors toured Acadia in 1993.

Weaving though the park are 51 miles of gravel carriage trails built at the beginning of the century by J. D. Rockefeller Jr., who was outraged by the introduction of the tranquillity-shattering automobile in 1915. He laid out $2 million for these horse-and-buggy paths through the woods as an antidote to the car and made them available to his friends, who spent summers in the region seeking Maine's sensual solitude. (Rockefeller later donated one-third of the land for the national park, which included his beloved carriage trails.)

Today, commercially operated carriage rides are available, but the paths mainly are used by walkers and cyclists, who appreciate the gradual grading. There are some 13 hand-cut stone bridges over the paths; the ride through the woods and under the bridges is a splendidly serene.

In summer, the boutiques, cafes and bed-and-breakfast inns of tony little Bar Harbor (the base for most Acadia visitors) and the cheap motels and steamy lobster stands along the route to town draw millions of tourists -- "people from away," as Mainers call anyone not from the Pine Tree State and even some natives short on ancestral roots here.

But come September, poof, they're gone. Many of the island's inns and restaurants close down at the end of October, but for those two precious months between Labor Day and Halloween, Acadia is both full-service and untrammeled. Even in high season, however, the 120 miles of hiking trails never seem

crowded. The throngs drive the 22-mile Park Loop Road, taking in the mountain, lake and sea views from open windows and leaving the open wilds to the rusticators, as Mainers call everyone from a weekend woods-walker to a mountain biker.

Getting to Acadia really is half the fun. While the closest airports are in Bar Harbor (a five-minute drive from the park) and Bangor (an hour away), we prefer to fly into Portland, some three hours south.

A mini-San Francisco, Portland is surrounded on three sides by the deep blue sea. Our routine is to rent a car at the city's diminutive airport and head north to Acadia along U.S. 1, which is, for the most part, a pretty, coastal span, though it can get quite crowded on weekends.

The three-hour drive northeast takes us through the windjammer resorts of Boothbay Harbor, Camden and Rockland, and past Freeport, home of L. L. Bean, the outfitter that's open 24 hours a day year-round.

If we're in the mood, we detour to Monhegan Island, a land of high rocky cliffs, crashing surf, inland forests, and artists' studios just 10 miles offshore via mail boat from Port Clyde.

But Acadia's the heart of our quest, and the closer we get, turning off U.S. 1 at Ellsworth, then south to Mount Desert Island on narrow state Route 3, the more overpowering our sense of anticipation. We lose our cool completely and break into unrestrained cheers when we see the first lobster pound.

The colors in autumn are no less than breathtaking. The cool wind seems to scour the mountains and sea of the summer haze, turning everything crisp and bright; at times the scenery seems more like an idyllic painting than real life.

Weather doesn't matter

At this time of year, we never know whether the morning will be cold and windy, warm under a hot morning sun, or lashed by autumn rain, but it never matters. If it's sunny, we rent bicycles in Bar Harbor and head for Acadia's magnificent carriage paths or take the mail ferry from Northeast Harbor to tiny Little Cranberry or Swan islands for a few hours of reconnoitering these sparsely inhabited fishing communities. On cooler days, we hike, selecting from dozens of mountain, forest and beach trails detailed in the guides sold at the park visitors center near Hulls Cove, a few miles north of Bar Harbor. You needn't be a mountain climber to take in great views on foot. Many of the beginner trails are nearly flat and within just a few minutes afford gorgeous vistas of cliffs and sea.

Rain? That's a perfect time to visit Southwest Harbor's Oceanarium, where you can learn all about the creatures of the sea in a touch-and-tell setting. Sea cucumbers, pregnant lobsters, strange-looking scallops -- they're all part of the show here.

Inclement weather's also an opportunity to drive to Bangor -- the closest real city -- an hour northwest, or along the Park Loop Road and watch the rain meet the surf crashing against the shore. We may even make a run to L. L. Bean in Freeport (a hefty 2 1/2 -hour drive), where you can shop till you drop for all the outdoor gear ever invented, from fishing boots to kayaks to stuffed bears in hunting outfits.

On a clear night, our choice is clear: Drive up Cadillac Mountain to watch the sun set crimson against the mountains and lakes. Then we might join a free park-ranger-guided excursion to view night animals. (Walks are listed each week in Acadia Weekly, a free guide to the park.)

Cadillac's 1,500-foot peak, the highest on the U.S. Atlantic Coast, is the first place on the East Coast the sun touches as it rises. Hikers often scale the peak at dawn; you'll see T-shirts at many gift shops bearing the brag: "Cadillac Mountain Sunrise Club." You also can drive to the peak at sunrise; the road to the summit opens an hour before dawn.

When hunger strikes, we're confronted with an embarrassment of riches. Should we feast on the magnificent salad bar and spicy shrimp fra diavolo at 12 Cottage St. in downtown Bar Harbor, or sample the catch of the day while overlooking the water at the Seafood Ketch in tranquil Bass Harbor? Perhaps an aperitif at the Opera House Restaurant and Listening Room, a romantic Bar Harbor cafe where the name describes exactly what you'll hear in this candle-lighted cafe decorated with portraits of famous opera stars. Cocktails are served in a lace-accented lounge that looks like a Victorian living room. Other favorites are Nakorn Thai Restaurant, a no-frills storefront with spicy fare and cheap prices; Georges, an elegant Greek cafe with a classical-guitar player at night; and -- for drinks at sunset -- the boathouse at the Claremont Hotel in Southwest Harbor overlooking beautiful Somes Sound.

We always make at least one pilgrimage to Jordan Pond House, a glass-and-wood restaurant in the park that abuts the lovely pond for which the cafe is named. Afternoon tea is the claim to fame here. Every day from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., patrons fill the wooden picnic tables on the lush green lawn facing the water and gobble up steaming homemade popovers with strawberry jam and butter, while sipping fresh pots of tea or coffee. Ice cream and soup also are on the menu, but the popovers are to die for, and we've never considered ordering anything else. After tea, you can take a stroll around the pond, watching the colors darken and soften as dusk settles in. On very windy or cold days, or if it's raining, the action shifts indoors, where a wood-burning stove makes the already cozy mood even more delectable. Jordon Pond House also is open for lunch and dinner. The restaurant shuts down for the season Oct. 17 and reopens the end of May. Reservations for tea, particularly weekends, are essential.

We often make Jordon Pond House our reward for a day of vigorous cycling on the nearby carriage paths. Starting off in Bar Harbor, which has several shops that rent 10-speed mountain bikes and dispense bike-route maps, we cycle 1 1/2 miles on public roadway before entering the park. From there, we use maps purchased at the park visitor's center (there are separate guides for hiking and biking trails) to explore the carriage paths and woodsy trails. We wind up at Jordon Pond House about 4 p.m. (we always reserve ahead) and feast on popovers with a clear conscience before biking back to town. If we're lazy, we attach the bikes to racks on the back of our rental car and make Jordon Pond House our starting point for exploration, returning for tea and thus avoiding any need to hurry our eating in order to ride the bikes back to the rental shop before closing time around 6 p.m.

We've sampled several types of accommodations in the area, enjoying each for their particular rewards. We've stayed at an elegant Bar Harbor bed and breakfast inn, where the owner regaled us with his adventures as school superintendent of the tiny offshore islands and chided us for getting in too late one night. His wife's homemade muffins were perfect, and we loved being right in town, but we opted for a place with a bit more privacy henceforth.

We loved our stay at the Claremont Hotel in Southwest Harbor, where the rates (stiff in season) drop dramatically after Labor Day. In high season, rooms in the main inn go for $160 to $200 a night (plus tax and service charge) double occupancy, including breakfast and dinner; rooms in the two small guest houses and 13 private cabins cost $105 to $171, not including meals. But come September, when the main inn building shuts down, rooms in the guest houses can be had for $63 (or $85 with breakfast), and the cabins, many of which have kitchenettes, go for $88 to $95. Guests are free to use the hotel's rowboats for exploring Somes Sound, and my companion went into a near delirium of ecstasy over the hotel's tennis court.

The restaurant here (which closes for the season Sept. 15) is excellent if a bit too formal for our tastes. As mentioned, drinks in the boathouse overlooking Somes Sound are the perfect way to watch the sun set. Unfortunately, the boathouse also closes Sept. 15, so the perfect time to stay here is the week just before that, when the rates are low, but the boathouse is open.

On our most recent visit, we stayed at the inexpensive ($68 per night) Edgewater Motel and Cabins on the water at Salisbury Cove. We had a kitchenette, but no phone -- ideal vacation living. The Acadia park entrance was a short drive away, as was Bar Harbor.

Leaving Acadia is always traumatic. We crave just one more hike to gaze at the sea from a rocky precipice; one more bike ride along the carriage paths under the stone bridges; one more round of drinks at the Claremont Hotel boathouse watching the sun set over Somes Sound; and at least one more popover at Jordon Pond House.

Next time, we could extend our stay a week, perhaps, but maybe our frustration at never getting enough is part of what keeps drawing us back. Never sated, we're always eager to resume our feast of Acadia's astonishing bounty of beauty.

IF YOU GO . . .

For information on Acadia National Park, write the visitors center, P.O. Box 177, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609; or call (207) 288-4932. The center is off Route 3 at the Hull's Cove entrance to the park. There is no admission charge to the park for pedestrians, but motorists pay a $5 fee per car for a seven-day jTC pass through the park; cyclists pay $2 for the pass. The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, (207) 288-3393, has a wealth of information about activities around town and Acadia.

Getting there: Continental Airlines flies daily via Newark to Portland, Maine, a three-hour drive from Acadia National Park; and to Bangor, Maine, a one-hour drive to the park.