Bass Harbor Head Light

Bass Harbor Head Light is a brick lighthouse built in 1858 on a granite ledge at the southwestern tip of Mount Desert Island, Maine, still operated today by the U.S. Coast Guard. It was constructed to guide vessels into Bass Harbor and Blue Hill Bay, and its compact keeper's house and tower have remained largely unchanged since the 19th century, earning a place on the National Register of Historic Places. Sitting on the edge of Acadia National Park, the lighthouse is reached via a short forested coastal trail that opens onto a rocky outcrop with broad Atlantic views. The spot is particularly sought-after at sunset, when the low light catches the dark spruce treeline and the red-capped tower in a composition that has made it one of the most photographed lighthouses on the Maine coast.