Lighthouses In Maine, Do you collect them?
There are 65 Maine lighthouses. Some are low hanging easy fruit, rich eye candy to simple drive to, snap a photo. You’re done. Or to hang around and dream about what it was like being the lighthouse tender.
But some lighthouses in Maine are not so easy to access.
You need to take the waterway highway to get out to them. Or the lighthouses is hiding on the seaward side of a Maine harbor island that you don’t access easily.
Some Maine lighthouses are notoriously difficult to photograph because of their remote locations, limited access, or their positions on isolated islands.
Here are a few lighthouses in Maine that are considered pretty darn challenging to capture, especially riding a boat in choppy seas and bundled up to stay warm creating the photo op.
- Matinicus Rock Light – Located 20 miles off the coast, this lighthouse is perched on a small, rocky island. It’s accessible only by boat, and weather conditions often make it challenging to approach. The remoteness and the rough waters around it make photography tricky.
- Mount Desert Rock Light – This lighthouse sits on a small, exposed island 25 miles off the coast of Mount Desert Island. The trip is long and weather-dependent, and with few structures around, capturing it often involves difficult sea conditions.
- Halfway Rock Light – Located between Cape Elizabeth and Small Point, this lighthouse sits on a tiny, isolated rock in the ocean. It’s difficult to reach by boat, making close-up photography hard, especially given Maine’s unpredictable waters.
- Baker Island Light – Although part of Acadia National Park, it’s located off the coast of Mount Desert Island and is less accessible than other lighthouses in the park. The backside of the island, where the lighthouse is located, can be difficult to view up close.
- Libby Island Light – Located off Machias Bay, this lighthouse is one of the most isolated and least accessible in Maine. It’s positioned on a rocky island with rough seas, making visits challenging even in good weather.
- Machias Seal Island Light – This lighthouse is on a disputed island between the U.S. and Canada, which adds an extra layer of difficulty. Tours are limited, and seas are rough, making photography difficult from both land and sea.
- Moose Peak Light – Located on Mistake Island near Jonesport, this lighthouse is remote and difficult to approach. The rocky shoreline and limited access add to the challenge of capturing a close, clear image.
If you’re up for the challenge, capturing these Maine lighthouses can offer rare and unique views that few others have documented.
Using a drone for off shore lighthouse orbits of video loops and photo stills is an option.
Battery life enters into the heading out, hightailing it back if the lighthouse is quite a distance away.
Have a sniper lens, the ones journalists use to get up close and personal in sports action or for bird watching.
Sometimes a tripod set up to keep movement to a minimum during capture helps. Whatever gets amplified the more you zoom in no matter how high quality the glass, the lens, the lighting, it helps to have a steady platform when hunting Maine lighthouses.
Some Maine lighthouses just are more popular or crowd pleasing.
Maine is known for its stunning lighthouses, and many open to visitors and steeped in rich maritime history. West Quoddy Head Light with her white and red stripes is one of the prettiest due in part to the setting. But Portland Head Light which is actually in Scarborough gets a lot of press. Took this snap of Portland Head light landing at the Jet Port.
Here are some of Maine’s most iconic lighthouses:
- Portland Head Light – Located in Cape Elizabeth, this is one of the oldest and most photographed lighthouses in the U.S. It offers beautiful ocean views and a small museum with historical displays.
- Bass Harbor Head Light – Situated in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, this lighthouse sits dramatically on a rocky cliff and is a popular spot for sunset photography.
- Pemaquid Point Light – Located in Bristol, this lighthouse is featured on Maine’s state quarter. Its rugged surroundings and historic museum make it a beloved landmark.
- Owls Head Light – Overlooking Penobscot Bay near Rockland, this smaller lighthouse has a unique history and breathtaking coastal scenery.
- West Quoddy Head Light – Known for its red and white stripes, this is the easternmost lighthouse in the U.S., located in Lubec. It’s a fantastic place to see the sunrise and explore the coastal landscape.
Each of these lighthouses captures a bit of Maine’s character and its connection to the sea, making them perfect stops for those interested in history, photography, and scenic coastal views.
Over the years I have enjoyed sampling Maine lighthouses for creating some of the posts in this blog. But you and I decide which lighthouse in Maine is the prettiest or just gets into your system after a visit and more image, maybe a video.
Weather the day you visit can add to the take away.
Just like not capturing the lighthouse at a different angle or direction from the way every other camera operator does gains new perspective.
Here is the list of the entire A-Z of Maine lighthouses that some of you know first hand numbered below.
Lighthouses for most of us are still collected to add to the many captured slow but sure over the years on Maine vacation.
Maine is home to 65 historic lighthouses along its rugged coastline, inlets, and islands.
These iconic structures have guided mariners for centuries and continue to be cherished landmarks. Here’s a comprehensive list of Maine’s lighthouses:
- Avery Rock Light
- Baker Island Light
- Bass Harbor Head Light
- Bear Island Light
- Blue Hill Bay Light
- Boon Island Light
- Browns Head Light
- Burnt Coat Harbor Light
- Burnt Island Light
- Cape Elizabeth Light
- Cape Neddick (Nubble) Light
- Crabtree Ledge Light
- Cuckolds Light
- Curtis Island Light
- Deer Island Thorofare (Mark Island) Light
- Dice Head Light
- Doubling Point Light
- Doubling Point Range Lights
- Eagle Island Light
- Egg Rock Light
- Fort Point Light
- Franklin Island Light
- Goat Island Light
- Goose Rocks Light
- Great Duck Island Light
- Grindle Point Light
- Halfway Rock Light
- Hendricks Head Light
- Heron Neck Light
- Indian Island Light
- Isle au Haut Light
- Ladies Delight Light
- Libby Island Light
- Little River Light
- Lubec Channel Light
- Machias Seal Island Light
- Marshall Point Light
- Matinicus Rock Light
- Monhegan Island Light
- Moose Peak Light
- Mount Desert Rock Light
- Narraguagus (Pond Island) Light
- Nash Island Light
- Owls Head Light
- Pemaquid Point Light
- Perkins Island Light
- Petit Manan Light
- Pond Island Light
- Portland Breakwater (Bug Light)
- Portland Head Light
- Prospect Harbor Point Light
- Pumpkin Island Light
- Ram Island Light
- Ram Island Ledge Light
- Rockland Breakwater Light
- Saddleback Ledge Light
- Seguin Island Light
- Spring Point Ledge Light
- Squirrel Point Light
- St. Croix River Light
- Tenants Harbor Light
- Two Bush Island Light
- West Quoddy Head Light
- Whaleback Ledge Light
- Whitehead Light
- Whitlocks Mill Light
- Winter Harbor Light
- Wood Island Light
Many of these lighthouses are accessible to the public, offering tours, museums, and picturesque views.
Some are like island farm settings, others barely have the rocky ledge of land around them to walk. Some are abandoned but fun to locate and collect.
The time of year makes a big difference in how the lighthouse in Maine experience hits you.
Winter is way different than summer where you might have to share the Maine lighthouse visit with tourists.
Fall, spring, there is no bad time to visit and revisit a Maine lighthouse.
For detailed information on each lighthouse, including visiting hours and historical significance, you can explore resources like Maine Lights Today and Lighthouse Friends.
The properties around the lighthouse in Maine all need love and care that takes financial help. Are you a friend of any local Maine lighthouse? To preserve the history and the lighthouse access to tourists. We love our lighthouses in Maine. Some are grouped where you can collect many Maine lighthouses in a short period of time without much fanfare.
Thank you for stopping by and getting to the very end of another Me In Maine blog post. Appreciate your following the blog, sharing this lighthouses in Maine post and loving anything Maine.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |
MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA