We arrived, and had to wait in line to park. In about 10 minutes... it started to rain, so people left. So now it's raining, and I'm need to use the toilet, and those were extremely smelling in the rain. We walked the trail, but it was too slippery on the rocks. Then we went around to the other side of the lighthouse, and now it's a downpour down that paved road. Took a quick photo and headed back. We got very soaked. No one is in the parking lot now!

To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed by this stop within Acadia. We drove across the park to see this lighthouse when our time could have been better spent elsewhere. The lighthouse seems on the small side. There is no interior access and no passport stamps are available.

Spent a weekend staying at Bass Harbor Campground. Short walk down Lighthouse Road to get to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. It really is a must walk either early in the morning or for sunset. You'll see plenty of deer on your walk as there is no hunting on Mount Desert Island. Once at the Lighthouse you can either walk down to the right where there is access to the Lighthouse itself but no access to the rocks along the shore. Or you can go to the left and down a couple flights of stairs to access the rocks along the shore. From this vantage point you can get some great pictures of the Lighthouse as well as the shore line.

Having mobility issues, we took a more leisurely route in viewing the lighthouse and surrounding coastline. We took a round-trip on the ferry out of Bass Harbor; allowing us to view the whole area from the water, while both going out of and coming into the harbor. The ferry does offer a wonderful option for experiencing this section of Acadia.

This iconic lighthouse (2nd best after St. Augustine from my perspective) gets a lot of variaiblity in its reviews. If you or your older kids like bouldering and climbing on rocks this is a must do as the bouldering is fun and the "money shot" is fun to get and this lets the trip become an "experience". Otherwise, I'd agree with others and say buy the postcard. I saw a few Dads carrying their younger kids around on the boulders and this was a bit of a scary sight! Our kids loved it and this was one of their Acadia highlights. Go early to avoid the line of cars people talk about. Thankfully, we only had 1 car in front of us so it was only 5 minutes. Also be aware of the tide - you want to go when the tide is out generally speaking.

On a rainy afternoon in the Jordan Pond area, we decided to visit a different part of the park and we were very glad we did. The drive over to the Bass Harbor area was quite easy and pleasant. Once we arrived at the light station, we had to wait a few minutes for a parking place to open up, but the cars turned over fairly quickly. Once parked, we enjoyed the short trail down to the light station as well as the trail to the rocks on the other side of the light station. If you can manage the scrambling over the rocks, the view of the light station is worth it as is the resulting photo. We also drove a short distance to hike the ship harbor trail - - a nice walk along the coast and in the forest. We recommend both !!