Maine Lighthouse Road Trip: 12 Iconic Lights from Kittery to Lubec

Maine has 65 lighthouses. You cannot see them all in one trip unless you own a boat and quit your job. But you can drive the coast and hit 12 of the most iconic ones in about four days, and if you pick the right ones you get the whole range: the 1791 light George Washington commissioned, the first sunrise in the United States, the most photographed station in America, and a working offshore light that still guides shipping traffic today.

This is the drive, south to north, with real access info. Not every light is open to the public. Some you can only photograph from across a harbor. That is part of the appeal.

Planning the Route

The full drive from York to Lubec is about 350 miles of coastal road, plus detours. Google Maps will tell you 7 hours. In reality, with stops, photos, and actually seeing the lights, you need four days minimum. Five is more comfortable. Seven if you want to add a boat trip to Seguin or slow down in Acadia.

A reasonable breakdown:

• Day 1: York to Portland (Nubble, Portland Head, Spring Point, Bug Light)
• Day 2: Portland to Pemaquid (optional Seguin boat, Burnt Island, Pemaquid)
• Day 3: Pemaquid to Rockland (Marshall Point, Owls Head, Rockland Breakwater)
• Day 4: Rockland to Bar Harbor (Bass Harbor Head, time in Acadia)
• Day 5: Bar Harbor to Lubec (West Quoddy, drive home or keep going into Downeast)

1. Nubble Light (Cape Neddick)

Location: Sohier Park, York Beach | Built: 1879 | Still active: Yes

Nubble Light sits on a tiny rocky island about 100 yards off Cape Neddick. You cannot walk to it. You stand on the mainland at Sohier Park and look across. That gap, the little house of the keeper’s quarters with its red roof, and the surf breaking on the granite ledges is why this is arguably the most photographed lighthouse in the country. NASA actually included an image of Nubble on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977 as a representation of civilization on Earth.

Arrive at sunrise for golden light on the east-facing tower. In December the town wraps it in Christmas lights and people drive an hour just to see it.

Access: Free parking at Sohier Park, open year-round. Gift shop across the street.

2. Portland Head Light (Cape Elizabeth)

Location: Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth | Built: 1791 | Still active: Yes

If you only visit one Maine lighthouse, make it Portland Head. George Washington commissioned it. Construction started in 1787. It is the oldest light in Maine and one of the oldest in the country.

The setting helps. Portland Head sits on a headland of dark, layered metamorphic rock that the surf hammers year-round. Behind the light, Fort Williams Park has 90 acres of walking paths, the ruins of Goddard Mansion, and enough picnic area to lose a crowd. The museum in the keeper’s quarters covers the light’s history and the 1886 wreck of the Annie C. Maguire, which ran aground on the rocks at the base of the tower on Christmas Eve.

Allow two hours. The best light is early morning (sun comes over the ocean behind the tower) or late afternoon (front-lit tower).

Access: Free entry to the park. Museum is $3. Open year-round; dawn to dusk.

3. Spring Point Ledge Light (South Portland)

Location: End of Fort Road, South Portland | Built: 1897 | Still active: Yes

Spring Point Ledge is a “sparkplug” lighthouse. Short, cylindrical, built on a caisson directly on the shoal it marks. What makes it special is access. In 1951 the US Army Corps of Engineers completed a granite breakwater connecting the light to shore. You can walk out 900 feet on massive granite blocks to the base of the tower. It is the only caisson light in Maine you can reach on foot.

The walk is not paved. The blocks are uneven and slippery when wet. Wear real shoes. In rough weather, stay off the breakwater. The surf comes over the rocks.

Access: Free parking at Southern Maine Community College. Breakwater open year-round; tower interior open seasonally.

4. Bug Light (Portland)

Location: Bug Light Park, South Portland | Built: 1875 | Still active: Yes

Officially Portland Breakwater Light. Everyone in Portland calls it Bug Light. It is small, ornate, modeled on an ancient Greek monument, and sits at the end of a short breakwater with the Portland skyline and working harbor behind it.

This is the urban lighthouse. You will see container ships, fishing boats, and tugs working the channel. The surrounding park is a former WWII shipyard where Liberty ships were built. There is a memorial on site.

Pair Bug Light with Spring Point. They are a 10-minute drive apart in South Portland.

Access: Free park with parking. Open year-round.

5. Seguin Island Light

Location: Seguin Island, 2 miles offshore from Popham Beach | Built: 1857 (current tower) | Still active: Yes

Seguin is not easy. It sits on a 180-foot island 2 miles off the mouth of the Kennebec River. There is no ferry. To get there you charter a boat or join a day tour operated by Friends of Seguin Island.

It is worth the effort. Seguin’s is the second-oldest commissioned lighthouse in Maine, the tallest light on the coast, and the only active first-order Fresnel lens lighthouse in the state. The 282-step walk from the landing to the light is steep. The view from the top includes Monhegan on clear days.

Access: Seasonal boat charters from Boothbay Harbor, Popham, or Bath. Book ahead. Weather cancels frequently.

6. Burnt Island Light (Boothbay Harbor)

Location: Burnt Island, Boothbay Harbor | Built: 1821 | Still active: Yes

One of the few lighthouses in the country where you can step back into the 1950s. Maine’s Department of Marine Resources runs a living history program on Burnt Island where costumed interpreters play the light keeper and his family in 1950. You take a boat over from Boothbay Harbor, spend about three hours on the island, and tour the tower, the keeper’s house, and the grounds in character.

Book the tour early. Slots fill by early summer.

Access: Tour only, via Balmy Days Cruises. Seasonal (late June through August).

7. Pemaquid Point Light (Bristol)

Location: Pemaquid Point, Bristol | Built: 1835 | Still active: Yes

Pemaquid is on the back of the Maine state quarter. That tells you something about its place in the iconography. What the quarter does not show is what the ledges look like up close. They are bands of metamorphic rock folded and striated into patterns that look geological but feel almost hand-carved. You walk right out on them.

Do not walk out when the surf is up. People have died here. The signs are not decorative. The granite ledges get slick and the waves reach higher than you think.

The Fishermen’s Museum in the keeper’s quarters covers the working history of Midcoast fishing. Worth an hour. The light itself is open for tower climbs during the season.

Access: $3 park entry. Museum and tower open mid-May through mid-October.

8. Marshall Point Light (St. George)

Location: Port Clyde, St. George | Built: 1832 | Still active: Yes

Marshall Point is the one from Forrest Gump. The short white walkway with a covered ramp where Forrest ended his cross-country run. It is a real place. The ramp is the same ramp. Tourists have been showing up to reenact the scene since 1994 and the town has made peace with it.

Beyond the movie, Marshall Point is a quiet working-harbor light. Port Clyde is a fishing village that also happens to be the home port for the Monhegan ferry. The Marshall Point museum in the keeper’s quarters is small but well curated. The grounds are a good spot for a picnic.

Access: Free parking. Grounds open year-round; museum seasonal.

9. Owls Head Light

Location: Owls Head Light State Park, Owls Head | Built: 1825 | Still active: Yes

Owls Head is a short squat tower on a bluff 100 feet above the water, reached by an easy tenth-of-a-mile trail through the woods. The walk matters. You come around a bend and the tower is suddenly there, with Penobscot Bay spread out below. It is the only lighthouse on this trip where the approach is part of the experience.

The Coast Guard opens the tower periodically. Check ahead. Otherwise you are here for the view and the walk.

Access: Free state park, open year-round. Park closes at sunset.

10. Rockland Breakwater Light

Location: End of the Rockland breakwater, Rockland | Built: 1902 | Still active: Yes

This is the lighthouse you earn. The Rockland Breakwater Light sits at the end of a granite breakwater 4,346 feet long. Almost a mile. The blocks are massive, irregular, and uneven. The walk takes 20 to 30 minutes each way. On a windy day waves break over the wall. On a calm day you pass lobstermen setting traps in the harbor.

The light itself is small and pretty. The walk is the point. Do not attempt in ice or high surf.

Access: Free parking at Marie Reed Park. Breakwater open year-round in walkable conditions.

11. Bass Harbor Head Light (Acadia)

Location: Tremont, Mount Desert Island | Built: 1858 | Still active: Yes

Bass Harbor Head sits on Acadia’s quiet side, the western half of Mount Desert Island. A short trail through the woods brings you to a set of stairs that drop down to a viewing platform on the cliffs below the tower. The view up at the light from those rocks, with the pink granite ledges and the open Atlantic, is what makes this one of the most photographed lights on the coast.

Parking is a problem. The small lot fills by mid-morning in summer. Go at sunrise or in the off-season. The Island Explorer shuttle does not currently serve this light.

Access: Free, but you need an Acadia park pass for other park sites. Trail open year-round.

12. West Quoddy Head Light (Lubec)

Location: Quoddy Head State Park, Lubec | Built: 1808 (current tower 1858) | Still active: Yes

The candy cane. The easternmost point in the continental United States. West Quoddy Head is a red-and-white striped tower (Maine’s only striped light) on the tip of a headland in Quoddy Head State Park. The first sunrise in the country hits here. There is a stone marker, a visitor center with exhibits on the Fresnel lens and local shipwrecks, and about four miles of coastal trail through the spruce-fir forest along 90-foot cliffs.

Lubec is a 6-hour drive from Portland. You are making a commitment to get here. The reward is the end of the map: the last light, the coldest ocean, and a fishing village with fog that rolls in so thick it feels like a wall.

Access: $4 non-resident, $3 Maine resident adult, $1 children 5-11. Open mid-May through mid-October. Off-season access is on foot.

Best Season

Late May through mid-October is the main season. Most museums and tower climbs are only open during these months. Weather is best from mid-June through September.

Autumn (late September through mid-October) is arguably the best time to photograph lights. The air is clearer, the crowds thin, and the light is golden earlier in the day. Many lights that sit on dramatic rock coasts look stunning with spruce-fir backdrops just starting to turn.

Winter is for the committed. Many lights are closed or only viewable from outside. The coastal storms can be dramatic. Dress for it and check forecasts. The drive on Route 1 is plowed and passable but side roads to some lights may not be.

Photography Tips

• Portland Head is best at sunrise or sunset, not midday. The tower sits on a headland that faces south-east.
• Nubble faces east. Sunrise is the move. Bring a telephoto (200mm or longer) to compress the gap and fill the frame.
• West Quoddy faces east. Sunrise wins again.
• Bass Harbor Head is a sunset light. The tower faces south-west and catches the golden hour directly.
• Pemaquid works any time but the dramatic ledges photograph best in side light (early or late).
• For moody shots, shoot in fog. Maine fog is frequent, especially Downeast. A foghorn light in fog is a different kind of image entirely.

Respect the safety barriers. Every year someone gets swept off a ledge trying to get a shot. The surf in Maine is cold enough that survival time is counted in minutes.

Accessibility Notes

• Portland Head, Bug Light, Owls Head, and West Quoddy Head have paved parking close to viewing areas.
• Spring Point Ledge and Rockland Breakwater require walking on uneven granite; not wheelchair accessible.
• Burnt Island and Seguin require climbing off a small boat onto a dock or beach.
• Nubble is view-only from the mainland park, which is accessible.
• Bass Harbor Head requires some stair descent for the cliff-level viewpoint, but the upper viewpoint is reachable on a short flat path.

Where to Stay

Good basing points along the route:

• York/Ogunquit: For Nubble and the southern coast.
• Portland / Kennebunkport: For Portland Head, Spring Point, and Bug Light. Portland is the most food-oriented stop on the drive.
• Boothbay Harbor / Damariscotta: For Burnt Island, Pemaquid, and Seguin trips.
• Camden / Rockland: For Marshall Point, Owls Head, and Rockland Breakwater. Arts towns with strong restaurants.
• Bar Harbor: For Bass Harbor Head and Acadia.
• Lubec: For West Quoddy. Last town before Canada.

Image Credits

• Portland Head Lighthouse: Photo by Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 / GFDL 1.2. File page.
• Bass Harbor Head Light: Photo by John Manard. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. File page.
• Pemaquid Point Light: Publisher Tichnor Brothers. Public Domain. File page.
• Nubble Light (Cape Neddick): Photo by FirozAnsari. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. File page.
• West Quoddy Head Light: Photo by Giorgio Galeotti. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. File page.
• Marshall Point Light: Photo by Dennis G. Jarvis. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. File page.
• Rockland Breakwater Light: Photo by Ian Charleton. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. File page.