Unmissable Maine Lighthouses For First-Time Visitors

Among Maine’s 65 lighthouses, don’t miss these five Maine lighthouses on your first time in the state.

“Wait! Only five?”

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You probably wonder why it is only five.

Well, let’s see.

It will be your first time visiting Maine, and you won’t spend a week there.

You want to explore the top destinations, such as Portland and Acadia National Park. The distance between the two places is about a 3-hour and 30-min drive without stopping.

You will visit during the high season in the summer. It means long lines at popular spots.

And not to mention the lines to get a lobster roll.

If you fly, you will probably land in Boston. You must rent a car and drive for approximately an hour and forty-five minutes to get to Portland without the traffic.

Imagine how to make an itinerary and put all the things you want to do or see on your first time in Maine.

That’s what happened on our four-day road trip to Maine, our first visit to Maine. It was in the summer when the dreaded virus was still around.

I googled the Maine lighthouses list and went through all of them. There are so many beautiful lighthouses in Maine that I want to visit. I realized I couldn’t see most of them on our first visit. I must do a special lighthouse tour in Maine for it.

So, I checked the most famous lighthouse in Maine and compared it to the best lighthouses in Maine articles. I still have a long list of must-see lighthouses in Maine from the two.

Then I checked the Maine lighthouse map. I looked for Maine’s lighthouses near Acadia National Park, where we stayed for the trip. I also looked for lighthouses between Acadia and North Hampton in New Hampshire. It’s our next stop during our Texas to Maine road trip.

Finally, I came up with five lighthouses that I wanted to visit. They are all listed in the top 10 lighthouses in Maine.

In the end, we only got to visit four lighthouses in Maine. It’s because we spent more time at other places along the road. But you should be able to stop at all five Maine lighthouses on this list.

So, here are Maine Lighthouses for first-time visitors in the state.

Maine Lighthouses for First-Time Visitors

After visiting Vermont and New Hampshire, we parked our travel trailer in Trenton. The town is only a few miles from the Acadia National Park entrance.

We planned to stop at Portland on our way to North Hampton in New Hampshire. If we had time to visit more lighthouses, it would be better.

Here are the unmissable Maine lighthouses for first-time visitors:

1. Bass Harbor Head Light Station

Location: Acadia National Park. (Pet-friendly.)

Bass Harbor Head Light is the most visited place on the west side of Mount Desert Island. It is the fifth busiest destination in the entire park, behind only Cadillac Mountain, Jordan Pond, Sand Beach, and Thunder Hall. 

Most people stop here to catch the sunset. If that’s what you want to do, you must arrive early to secure a spot along the rocky ocean coastline. As for me, any time of the day is good as long as you can get a parking spot.

Yes! Parking can be a problem when visiting Bass Harbor Head Light.

Public parking is limited to a single, small lot. Roadside parking is prohibited along the entrance road and 102A. You can’t park in front of private property homes or businesses.

We were fortunate to find a parking spot during our visit. But I remind you again we visited during Covid.

If you don’t care about sunset, try to arrive in the morning when people are doing Park Loop Road on the east side of Mount Desert Island. Or take the fare-free Island Explorer bus service.

There is no public access to the interior of the lighthouse. You can look at it closer when you go to the right from the parking.

Then take the paved walkway on the left of the parking to see the lighthouse from the rocky coastline. That’s the lighthouse viewpoint where you saw thousands of pictures of Bass Harbor Head Light on social media.

The paved walkway will turn into wooden stairs before you step onto rocks.     

I didn’t take good pictures here as people tried to get closer to the lighthouse. They were in every photo I took. I couldn’t go lower because there were others with their dogs. We’re not sure our dog Snoopy would like their dogs. Haha.   

Bass Harbor Head Light appeared in America the Beautiful Quarter in 2012, the NPS centennial postage stamp in 2016, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

2. West Quoddy Head Lighthouse

Location: Lubec. (Pet-friendly.)

West Quoddy Head Light is the unique lighthouse in Maine and the rest of the United States. It is the country’s only red and white stripe lighthouse and the easternmost lighthouse in the United States. 

Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson in 1808, the original wooden tower was replaced by the current structure in 1858. It is 49 feet tall with a 50-step circular iron staircase to the top of the lighthouse. 

The light was fully automated in 1988 and is maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard today. The light automation means there’s no light keeper in this residence anymore.

You can explore the lighthouse grounds and visit the Visitor Center Museum. The location is inside the Light Keeper’s house. Unfortunately, it was closed during our visit, so we have a reason for a return visit.

You can do tours to the top of the lighthouse tower in July and August, typically on Saturdays. You’ll also view Lubec and Canada from the lighthouse’s tower during the West Quoddy Annual Lighthouse Celebration in July. Another chance is on the second Saturday in September during Maine Open Lighthouse Day.

It will take around 2 hours and 30 minutes to drive from Acadia National Park to West Quoddy Head Light. Many first visitors skipped this, but I suggest you go. It’s a beautiful ride through the small towns in eastern Maine to Lubec, the easternmost point in the US.

It was foggy and low tide during our visit. We managed to walk to the beach on the right side of the lighthouse. The lighthouse is visible from there but not from the trails on the left side of the lighthouse.

If the fog didn’t get thick, we would like to explore Lubec. After all, we drove that far to the easternmost of the country.

You can also cross a small bridge to Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada. It is home to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s summer home and an International Park. You must have the correct travel documents before traveling here.

Our cell phone provider turned to international roaming on the lighthouse ground. I do not know if it’s in the whole Lubec like that. So, watch your uses if you don’t want to get an international roaming fee in your incoming bills.

3. Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

Location: Bristol. (Pet-friendly.)

Some people think Pemaquid Point Light is the most photographed lighthouse in Maine, possibly because it sits on a sloping, rocky bluff with ridges carved out by the sea. It gives a dramatic look to the surrounding area.

Pemaquid was built in 1827, and the tower’s original Fresnel lens is still in use. 
 
The keeper’s house is now hosting the Fishermen’s Museum. The exhibits include equipment, photos, and artifacts from the fishing and lobstering industries and the lighthouse service. 

The tower and the outbuildings are open daily. You can climb to the top of the lighthouse, but it’s only available at certain hours and weather permitting.

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse is the only lighthouse on the list that we didn’t get to visit. I wanted to stop and explore Portland, and I thought we didn’t have time for Pemaquid.

In the end, we didn’t get to explore Portland because we couldn’t find a parking spot. And it’s too late to go back to New Harbor, the location of Pemaquid. It’s around an hour and a half to drive there from Portland.

4. Portland Head Light

Location: Cape Elizabeth (Pet-friendly.)

Portland Head Light is Maine’s oldest and most photographed lighthouse. It was commissioned by George Washington and dedicated by the Marquis de Lafayette. You can find it in Fort Williams Park along the rocky coast.

The construction of the Portland Head Lighthouse began in 1787. It was first lit on January 10, 1791. Construction of the first Keeper’s Quarters began in 1790.

Today, the Keeper’s Quarters hosts the museum. It contains several lighthouse lenses and interpretative displays. There is a seasonal gift shop inside featuring Maine-related gifts.

The lighthouse tower is only open to the public one day per year on Maine Open Lighthouse Day, and access is limited. 

The popular Portland Head Light is owned and managed by the Town of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It takes around 16 minutes to get there from downtown Portland without the traffic. 

From the parking, we walked to Battery Blair and proceeded to Head Light Scenic Viewpoint 3.

I could sit on the rock for hours, admiring the beauty of the lighthouse and watching the waves crash to the cliff. But we had to move on to the last lighthouse and tried to arrive in North Hampton before dark fell.

We walked to the left side of the lighthouse before leaving the ground for a different view of the Portland Head Light.

5. Cape Neddick Light (Nubble Lighthouse)

Location: York. (Pet-friendly.)

We weren’t sure the GPS take us to the correct destination because we drove through the neighborhood’s narrow streets.  

At the end of the road, we saw the Cape Neddick Light perch on a tiny, off-shore island, or “nubble.”

Parking at Sohier Park is limited to around 60 vehicles, and there’s a restaurant nearby. So, try to arrive outside of eating hours.

Cape Neddic Light is one of the most picturesque lighthouses in Maine. There’s a Victorian keeper’s house with gingerbread trim and a lantern with miniature cast-iron lighthouses on its railing on the island.

It is a favorite spot to visit at Christmastime and in July for the Lighting of the Nubble.

Some people come to transfer the beauty of the lighthouse onto a canvas.

But you can’t cross the water to the island. You can only view it from York’s seaside Sohier Park.

You can visit these lighthouses from opposite directions if you fly to Boston.

After you get your rental car from the airport, head to York first. Then spend two or three nights in Portland and visit Portland Head Light.

From Portland, you move to Acadia National Park and stop at Pemaquid Point Lighthouse in New Harbor on the road.

End your famous Maine lighthouse tour with Bass Harbor Light Station and West Quoddy Head Lighthouse.