Bass Harbor Head Light is the only lighthouse located on Mount Desert Island, but there’s several others nearby and within and easy drive from the Inn. All these great old lighthouses can be viewed and photographed on boat tours that tell of their incredible histories.

Bass Harbor Head Light, located within Acadia National Park in the southwest portion of Mount Desert Island, Maine, marking the entrance to Bass Harbor and Blue Hill Bay. Today, the house is a private residence for a local Coast Guard member and his family. Tourists can get close to the bell and light via a concrete path, but most of the grounds are private. There’s a short walk which takes you to wooden steps that lead down granite boulders that allow views of the harbor side.

Mount Desert Rock Light is owned by the College of the Atlantic, whose students study whales and nesting seabirds. Mount Desert Rock is a small island about 18 nautical miles south of Mount Desert Island. The light station was established in 1830; the current lighthouse was built in 1847 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Great Duck Island Light is also owned by the College of the Atlantic and is located on Great Duck Island, a small 237 acres island in the Gulf of Maine about 9 miles south of Mount Desert Island. The light station is on 11-acres at the southern tip of the island.

Bear Island Light is a lighthouse on Bear Island near Mt. Desert Island at the entrance to Northeast Harbor. It was first established in 1839 with the present structure built in 1889. It was deactivated in 1981 and lit as a private aid to navigation by the Friends of Acadia National Park in 1989. Bear Island Light is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Egg Rock light was constructed in 1876 and was automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1976, at which time its ancillary structures except the fog station were torn down. The lantern house was removed and the light was replaced by the present aerobeacon. After public protest, a lantern house was installed in 1986. The light continues to be managed by the Coast Guard, and is not open to the public; the island and buildings are owned by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Baker Island Light (1828), is the oldest light in the area and has been replaced with lighted offshore buoys. Established in 1828, it was the first along Maine’s coast located near Mount Desert Island. The light is an aid to navigation for reaching that island’s major ports, including Bar Harbor and Northeast Harbor. The buildings of the station are now owned and administered by Acadia National Park with the light itself being maintained by the United States Coast Guard.

Winter Harbor Light is a lighthouse in Winter Harbor, Maine on Mark Island, a small island between the Schoodic Peninsula and Turtle Island. The light was built in 1856 and was deactivated in 1933; it is no longer an aid to navigation, and is privately owned.