This lighthouse is in Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Park. The park is owned and maintained by the town of Bristol and the lighthouse tower is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard.
There is a $3 admission fee for anyone over 12. It is open from mid-May to mid-October. The park includes the lighthouse tower, fishermen’s museum, learning center, art gallery, picnic area, and public restrooms.
A fisherman’s museum, which has artifacts related to the fishing industry in and around Bristol, is on the ground floor of the keeper’s house.
You can explore the rocky ledges but be extremely careful as it is an particularly steep drop-off.
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse
Pemaquid Point allows visitors to climb into the 38-foot tower during the season. Park admission includes access to the tower.
Only 5 people were allowed in the tower at a time due to space constraints. While we waited in line, a volunteer gave us a history of the lighthouse, keepers’ lives, and other area light stations.
There is a tight spiral staircase, then a ladder, before moving through a small cut out to pop up near the lens.
From up there, you get beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean and the rocky shoreline surroundings.
Pemaquid Point was commissioned by John Quincy Adams in 1827. Salt water was used in the mortar of the original lighthouse, which made it crumble; so, it was replaced in 1835. The lighthouse was originally lit by oil, then kerosene, then electrified, and finally automated in 1934.
For nearby attractions, consider Pemaquid Beach Park, Colonial Pemaquid’s Fort William Henry, or a boat cruise.