Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse – Acadia National Park, Maine – Part 6 – 2021

After spending the day climbing The Bubbles and around Thunder Hole it was time to do a bit more climbing and hoping to get a parking space. We headed to the entrance to…

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse! There were around 15 cars in line waiting for parking, a pretty normal afternoon at Bass Harbor. The parking lot is not very big!

Details from Wikipedia

Bass Harbor Head Light is a lighthouse located within Acadia National Park in the southwest portion of Mount Desert Island, Maine, marking the entrance to Bass Harbor and Blue Hill Bay.

The history of Bass Harbor Head Light dates to 1855 when it was determined that there was sufficient reason for a lighthouse at the mouth of Bass Harbor. In 1885, the U.S. Congress appropriated $5,000 for the construction of the lighthouse. In 1876, construction was completed on a fog bell and tower, since removed. A much larger 4,000-pound (1800 kg) bell was placed inside the tower in 1898. The house of the lightkeeper remains in its original configuration with the exception of a 10-foot addition that was added in 1900. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Bass Harbor Head Light Station on January 21, 1988, reference number 87002273.

In 1902, an oil storage house constructed of brick was built 205 feet northwest of the lighthouse.

Bass Harbor’s fifth-order Fresnel lens was replaced in 1902 with a larger fourth-order. This lens was manufactured by the French company Henry-Lepaute. This lens remains in service today.

Our Visit

Once we finally got a parking spot, we loaded up the camera gear and headed for the trail that takes you to the cliff edge and a wooden staircase. The stairs are sturdy but steep with a couple of platforms to rest on. Once at the base of the stairs, you are on a rocky surface.

You can get a sideways view of the lighthouse from the upper rocks but for better views, you need to take your time and a bit of risk, climbing over the large rocks that extend out into the water. The farther you go the better your view of the lighthouse. It seemed to me that the rocky landscape had changed somewhat since my last visit as it was a bit easier to get farther out this time.

We found our spots and planted our tripods, hoping that the crowds of people climbing around on the rocks would not stay in front of your lens.

I was fortunate and only a couple of folks stayed in my wide-angle zoom lens’ (16-35mm) field of view and they were easily removed in post-processing. I did use the 70-200mm but I preferred the wider view.

While we were waiting for the sunset a tried getting an image of the critters in the pools that were in the rocks we were perched on. It is not easy shooting through water but you can see a starfish and some other sea life.

My big challenge was to get a shot when the lighthouse’s red light was facing in my direction. Observing the timing of the light helps with that tremendously. The light comes on around sunset.

Once in your spot, the only change that you can make is zooming in or out, but Mother Nature can make some amazing changes in the sky that are part of the view.

As the sun began to set I noticed a sundog forming. That is a rainbow-like light in clouds around one side of the sun.

My favorite image of the day was after the sun had set and the sky was throwing up those gorgeous colors that you get just as blue hour is setting in. The bonus was I caught the red light in the tower! This image is hanging on my wall!

We stayed out there until the light was getting low and we needed to climb back over the rocks while we could still see what we were doing.

In addition to or instead of climbing out onto rocks with waves splashing below, you can walk up to the lighthouse. I have not done that the 3 times I have visited this iconic part of Acadia National Park. It seems a bit boring after climbing out on the rocks to get this view!

From here we went in search of a place to eat. More lobsta, of course!

I highly recommend a sunset visit to the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, but get there early and be prepared to wait for a parking spot. FYI – most people park, run to the lighthouse, check it off their list and leave! So, be patient and you will get a parking spot!

If you want more details on the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, visit their website.

Click on an image for a larger version or visit my gallery for these and more images.

My next post will be about our visit to Schoodic Peninsula.

That is all for now!

Lynn