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 back 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 November 2017, ownership was transferred to the National Park Service, and it is now officially part of Acadia National Park. However, the lighthouse is not open to the public, so all you can do is read about its history on a couple of information panels and take a photo.
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 and nobody seemed to care. The parking lot is located on a hill, so you have a fairly steep paved walkway to descend in order to reach the lighthouse. The lighthouse is supposedly the fifth most visited location within Acadia National Park, but the parking lot only holds about two dozen vehicles. As you can imagine, it fills up quickly during the tourist season. You can park along the road, but the walk will be much longer. I arrived first thing in the morning and had no problem getting a spot.
The lighthouse is located right on the edge of the cliff, so the only view from the parking lot level is a side view, plus you are so close to the building that it’s impossible to get a decent photo without an extreme wide angle lens. I didn’t bring mine, so I didn’t even bother taking a photo (to make matters worse, it was also extremely overcast when I visited).
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 that leads to the rocky shore below the structure. Unfortunately, I was unaware of this when I visited (the staircase is located at the far end of the parking lot). From what I understand, the staircase gets you down near the water, but once at the bottom you must hop from rock to rock, so be careful.
Staircase to the shore below the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse (photo by Jasperdo)
Trail to the shore below the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse (photo by Jasperdo)
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 August 11, 2023
