Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

Since it’s time to depart Camden, let’s stray from hiking to visit some other Maine attractions.  When you come to visit it is inevitable you will be seduced by the charm of lighthouses.  There are so many, each possessing a unique architecture, setting and history.  One of my favorites is Pemaquid Point Lighthouse.

The setting for Pemaquid is likely what endears it to me.  The lighthouse is fairly petite, but the whitewashed exterior stands out brilliantly along a stretch of the classic rocky coastline Maine is renowned for.  Before there were children, my wife and I would spontaneously pack a lunch and drive here on a Sunday afternoon to sit in the rocks below the lighthouse and read.

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse - most people don't venture down to the rocks beneath the lighthouse, but it is a beautiful spot!

They tell me there is a museum inside the lighthouse, although I’ve never seen any hint of it.  Of course the last time I visited was circa 1998…and they also tell me times change.  But there is no need for anything beyond this killer combination of lighthouse and rocky coast, which simply cries “Maine”.

If you are interested in visiting this beautiful spot, Pemaquid is roughly ten miles south of Damariscotta off of Route 1.  Just turn onto 129 (which turns into 130) and keep going to the sea.  This peninsula jutting out into Muscongus Bay is replete with pastoral scenery and it will seem crowded at first when you finally arrive at the lighthouse.  But it shouldn’t take long to realize there are only another dozen people about – there just wasn’t anybody around since you left Damariscotta!

Since you are driving it hardly bears mentioning, but please be aware that there weren’t any gas stations or convenience stores beyond Bristol (the sole wee village you pass through past Damariscotta) ten years ago.  You aren’t far from facilities, but there ain’t a thing at the lighthouse but serenity and natural beauty…