Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse (photo by Ilirjan Rrumbullaku)
Acadia National Park’s Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse is the only lighthouse on Mount Desert Island despite the fact that the island is the second largest on the east coast of the United States after Long Island in New York. The location at the mouth of Bass Harbor was chosen in the 1850s because it was one of the island’s better harbors for commercial use, and a lighthouse was needed to guide boats safely to the docks. The light began operation in September 1858, and it still functions today. It is one of the few original lighthouses from the 1800s that remains standing. Most lighthouses that survive today are replacements of an earlier light that was built on the same location.
The United States Coast Guard owned the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse until just recently. In July 2020, ownership was transferred to the National Park Service, and it is now officially part of Acadia National Park. However, the lighthouse and the adjacent lightkeeper’s quarters (also built in 1858) are not open to the public, so all you can do is read about their history on a couple of wayside exhibits and take photos.
The Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse area is officially open from 9 AM to sunset, though I arrived around 8:30 AM and there were plenty of people, none of whom seemed to care that the site was not open. The lighthouse is supposedly the fifth most visited location within Acadia National Park, but the parking lot only holds about two dozen vehicles, and there is no roadside parking. As you can imagine, it fills up quickly during the tourist season. I arrived first thing in the morning and had no problem getting a spot.
The parking lot is located on a hill, so you have a fairly steep. paved walkway to descend in order to reach the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.
Steep path to the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse from the parking lot, Acadia National Park
The lighthouse is located right on the edge of a cliff, so the only view from ground level is a side view. On top of that, you are so close to the building that it is impossible to get a decent photo without an extreme wide-angle lens.
Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, Acadia National Park
Panoramic view of the Bass Harbor Head light and keeper’s quarters (photo by rjcox)
In order to get a good photo of the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, you must be willing and able to walk down a staircase (part wood, part stone) that leads to the rocky shore below the structure. The staircase is located at the far end of the parking lot near the restroom building.
Wooden section of the staircase to the shore below the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse in Acadia National Park
Stone section of the staircase to the shore below the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse in Acadia National Park
While taking the stairs gets you down near the shore, once at the bottom you must hop from rock to rock to get a good view, so be careful. For the best view (as seen in the first and last photos on this page), you almost have to be in the water.
Rocky shore below the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse in Acadia National Park
The lighthouse faces south and the staircase comes out to the east of it, so you will be facing west. In the morning it will be lit nicely from this spot, and in the evening the sun will be going down behind it. There can be a hundred or more people trying to get photos at sunset, so arrive at least an hour early.
Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse (photo by Andy Smith)
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Last updated on July 1, 2026
