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• Owls Head Light

Owls Head Light - a short 30-foot cylindrical tower with a 16 mile beam of light

Owls Head State Park and Light are a great place to visit while you are in the Camden Maine area. Owls Head State Park is located in Owls Head, Maine which is about a 25 minute drive from Camden. The park offers panoramic views of Western Penobscot Bay and the entrance to Rockland Harbor. The Owls Head State Park itself consists of one main trail head that splits into two separate paths. One path heads down to the beach, while the other heads up to the Owls Head Light.

If you choose to go down to the beach, you will get to see a fantastic rocky beach that will give you a pristine view of the lighthouse and the cliffs on which it stands. The cliffs look fantastic as their worn rusty color reflects beautifully in the water with pine trees covering the top of the cliffs. The walk down to the beach is very relaxing although it can get a little steep at times

If you choose to take the other trail and head to the lighthouse, then you will be walking most of the way through a forest that is fairly thick and obscures your view of surrounding water while you walk. However, there are certain spots along the way that will grace you with excellent views.

Owls Head State Park - a sweeping panoramic view of Western Penobscot Bay

The Owls Head State Park’s main attraction is the Owls Head Light. Green & Foster and Jeremiah Barry designed the lighthouse in 1826, by order of then President John Quincy Adams to aid in the lime transportation industry at the time. The lighthouse was built to help guide ships safely into Rockland Harbor as lime was being produced in large quantities and needed to quickly and safely be exported to other parts of the country.

This still working lighthouse was initially installed with Winslow Lewis Lamps and Reflectors. A separate building, the keeper’s house was built in 1854. In 1856, the Owls Head Light was upgraded and installed with a fourth order Fresnel lens, one of the few remaining in use in Maine. The boathouse and the fog signal building were removed when the lighthouse was automated in 1989. The keeper’s house, walkways, oil house, and generator building still remain.

If you get a chance to see the Owls Head Light at night, then you are in for a treat. The light from the 4th order fresnel lens can be seen for over 16 miles. Although the lighthouse itself is comparatively small for the region standing at only 30 feet, it is built upon a rock formation that shoots 70 feet in the air. This gives the lighthouse the effect of being 100 feet tall.

Although a popular attraction, the lighthouse itself and keeper’s house are not open to public viewing and no tours are offered. Both are housed within the Coast Guard complex and the keeper’s house is still in use by Coast Guard personnel. Parking spaces are available and the grounds open to the public. There are also public restrooms near the parking lot.

Visitors can climb the wooden stairs to the lighthouse and oil house but most of the other areas are off limits, posted with restricted signs. People are warned that the fog whistle is operational and may sound off in fog conditions every 20 seconds. Visitors may still take good photographs of the lighthouse and its surroundings although the angles will be limited because of the imposing restrictions. You can enjoy the view of Rockland Harbor while standing on the long wooden steps leading up to the lighthouse.

Whether you are just passing through or visiting the Camden area on vacation and looking for some interesting sightseeing excursions, the Owls Head State Park and Light is definitely a trip worth making.