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Lighthouses in Port Clyde and
Monhegan Island Region
in Maine

sunset by Marshall Point lighthouse tower

Heading into Port Clyde, Tenants Harbor,
out to Monhegan Island


The lighthouses in the western Penobscot Bay area were built to protect shipping traffic containing granite from nearby quarries, lumber and fishing industries on route along a dangerous stretch of reefs, ledges and islands. This area is also one of the foggiest on the Maine coastline. This area north of the Boothbay Region with its many islands and connected waterways also used the lighthouses for guiding many of its local mariners along quiet harbors, and with the increasing shipping traffic between Bath and Rockland ports.

 

Port Clyde Region and Monhegan Island
Lighthouses You Can Drive or Hike To

Click any lighthouse image or link below to find out information about each lighthouse, including historical stories, directions, tours, photos, and nearby attractions.

marshall point light

Marshall Point Light

Monhegan Island light

Monhegan Island Light

 

Port Clyde Region and Monhegan Island
Lighthouses Best Viewed by Boat

Click any lighthouse image or link below to find out information about each lighthouse, including historical stories, directions, tours, photos, and nearby attractions.

 

 

Places to Visit: Port Clyde Region
and Monhegan Island

 

Taking roads out to Maine’s many peninsulas from Route 1 provides lots of opportunities to explore picturesque fishing villages and farmland countryside in this predominantly rural region. Off Route 1 in Waldoboro, you’ll find the famous Moody’s Diner, a favorite stop since 1927. Just north of the diner, the Fawcett’s Antique Toy & Art Museum has an extensive collection of antique toys and original comic art that is among the finest on public display anywhere, including Mickey Mouse and all his friends as they were originally crafted in the 1930s. You’ll also find a traditional antique shop and contemporary art by the owner.

Port Clyde, Thomaston, and Tenants Harbor, along with their neighboring villages and towns are still predominantly fishing villages, where you’ll also find many artists galleries, beautiful sunsets overlooking their harbors, and where visitors will find the true Maine spirit. Over twenty-five artists in the town of St. George hold an annual Open Studio Tour each summer. Thomaston is an old seaport that is noted for its antique architecture.

A half mile up Roaring Spout Road, off Harts Neck Road, in Tenants Harbor, there is a section of rocky coastal conservation land to hike around in an area called the Roaring Spout, where there are exciting rock formations. Between Tenant’s Harbor and Port Clyde beach goers will enjoy the Drift-In Beach.

Port Clyde is still a fishing village and an artists haven with many galleries to look at, and has beautiful sunsets overlooking the harbor.

The Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum in the keeper's house and the Marshall Point Light grounds are open to the public with plenty of area to explore. Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum

For those who are patient you may be treated to one of the best locations for dramtic sunsets.

Port Clyde Kayaks offers tours around Port Clyde's harbor.

The Herring Gut Learning Center is a non-profit marine education and resource center in Port Clyde.

Monhegan Island harbor

Monhegan Island Harbor

Monhegan Island, located 10 miles offshore from mid-coast Maine, is a picturesque fishing community and summer haven for artists and vacationers.

Reaching the Monhegan Island Lighthouse and the Monhegan Museum of Art and History from the island is a moderate walk.

The hike around the island will take you to an old shipwreck then up along cliffs that reach nearly 130 feet above the sea, and of course the Monhegan Lighthouse grounds. cliffs on edge on Monhegan island cliffs
artist paints Monhegan Island lighthouse tower and famous row boat It's a favorite place for artists to paint or photograph this iconic location

The Monhegan Boat Line provides various nature tours and ferries tourists to Monhegan Island from the dock at Port Clyde. They also participate in the annual Mid Coast Maine Lighthouse Challenge usually in late June, put on by the American Lighthouse Foundation (headquarters at Owl’s Head keeper’s house), offering a chance to view up to seven lighthouses along this coast and providing special cruises out of Port Clyde.

 

Local Boat Tours: Port Clyde Region and
Monhegan Island Lighthouses

Boat cruises and ferries mentioned below may offer many types of cruises. While some may offer specific lighthouse cruises, some will pass by specific lighthouses in Maine's Port Clyde Region as part of charters, narrated wildlife and historic tours, ferrying passengers, whale watching expeditions, fishing tours and other types of excursions. Weather is also a major factor in New England, especially on sailing excursions.

Port Clyde Kayaks
Provide kayaking tours around Marshall Point Lighthouse and Muscongus Bay area.
Port Clyde, Maine
(207) 372-8100

Lighthouses: Marshall Point Lighthouse, Pemaquid Lighthouse, Tenants Harbor Lighthouse

 

Monhegan Boat Line
Ferry leaves out of Port Clyde to Monhegan Island daily during the summer months. Also has a specific lighthouse tour around the Port Clyde area.
P.O. Box 238
Port Clyde, Maine 04855
Tel: (207) 372-8848
Fax: (207) 372-8547
barstow@monheganboat.com

Lighthouses: Monhegan Island Light, Marshall Point Light, Whitehead Lighthouse, Two Bush Island Light, Tenants Harbor Lighthouse

 

Balmy Days Cruises
Offers special lighthouse tours.
Pier 8
42 Commercial St.
Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538
(207) 633-2284 or
(800) 298-2284
info@balmydayscruises.com

Lighthouses: Burnt Island Lighthouse, Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Monhegan Island Light, Squirrel Point Lighthouse

 

Hardy Boat Cruises
Special lighthouse cruises available.
PO Box 326
New harbor, Maine 04554
1-800-2-PUFFIN
(207) 677-2026

Lighthouses: Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Monhegan Island Light

 

Scenic Flights

Penobscot Island Air
Chartering a variety of lighthouse viewing flights.
Knox County Regional Airport
Owls Head ME 04854
Phone: (207) 596-7500
Cellular: (207) 542-4944
Fax: (207) 596-6870
 info@penobscotislandair.net

 

Books to Explore

Lighthouses and Coastal Attractions of Northern New England:
New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont

This book provides human interest stories from each of the 76 lighthouses in the northern New England states, along with the coastal attractions and tours near each beacon, and contact info to plan your special trips. You'll find over 360 images inside as well.

Look inside!

book northern New England lighthouses and local coastal attractions

 

 

book of the rise and demise of the largest sailing ships

Available in paperback, hardcover, and as an eBook for all devices.

my ebook on apple books

Enjoy a -20% discount on the hardcover version. Published and distributed by IngramSpark.

The Rise and Demise of the Largest Sailing Ships:
Stories of the Six and Seven-Masted Coal Schooners of New England

In the early 1900s, New England shipbuilders constructed the world’s largest sailing ships amid social and political reforms. These giants of sail were the ten original six-masted coal schooners and one colossal seven-masted vessel, built to carry massive quantities of coal and building supplies, and measured longer than a football field!

This self-published book, balanced with plenty of color and vintage images, showcases the historical accounts that followed these mighty ships. These true stories include competitions, accidents, battling destructive storms, acts of heroism, and their final voyages.

 

 

New England Lighthouses:
Famous Shipwrecks, Rescues & Other Tales

This image-rich book contains over 50 stories of famous shipwrecks and rescues around New England lighthouses, and also tales of hauntings.

I have included an interview with Paul Baptiste, who was keeper at Baker's Island Light and Monhegan Island Light in Maine. His stories makes us appreciate what life was like for he and his family at these lighthouses. My personal favorite story of a remarkable man and his wife Helen.

You'll find this book and my lighthouse tourism books from the publisher Schiffer Books.

 

 

 

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