Filmmaker Burns pays visit to Acadia National Park

BAR HARBOR, Maine — Filmmaker Ken Burns says national parks evoke strong emotions for families, and he taps into them in his documentary about America's national parks.

Burns said during a visit to Maine's Acadia National Park that the parks evoke "really powerful memories of families and these memories are as powerful as any they have had."

The New Hampshire filmmaker has his own powerful recollection of visiting Shenandoah National Park in Virginia in 1969 while his mother was dying of cancer. He told the Bangor Daily News on Wednesday that he hopes to convey people's emotional connection to the land, as well as the history of the park system.

The six-part "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" will premiere Sept. 27 on PBS. Burns' other films include "The Civil War," "Jazz" and "Baseball."