Welcome to Portland Head Light!
Congratulations to Pamstah for FTF!
(Please read all the way to the bottom of the description for this virtual's logging requirements before posting your found log, thanks!)
Portland Head Light is an iconic landmark situated in the beautiful 90-acre Fort Williams Park. It is the oldest lighthouse in Maine and one of the most photographed in the world. The town of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, owns and manages this popular attraction. The park is open year round from sunrise to sunset, and is wheelchair accessible in many areas, but not all.
History:
In 1776, before the lighthouse was built, the town had to post guards of soldiers on this location to warn citizens of coming British attacks. In 1787, while Maine was still part of the state of Massachusetts, George Washington instructed two masons to take charge of the construction of a lighthouse on Portland Head with a fund of $1500. To save money, he said the materials used to build it should be taken from the fields and shores, materials which could be hauled by oxen.
The original plans called for the tower to be 58 feet tall. After it was completed, the masons climbed to the top of the tower and realized it needed to be more visible, so it was raised another 20 feet. The tower was completed in 1790 and first lit on January 10, 1791, using 16 whale oil lamps.
The station has changed little except for rebuilding the whistle house in 1975 due to severe storm damage. In January of 2024, the lighthouse was again extensively damaged by a winter storm with 20 ft waves and near hurricane force winds.
Today, Portland Head Light stands 80 feet above ground and 101 feet above water. The light station is automated, and the tower, beacon, and foghorn are maintained by the US Coast Guard. The former lighthouse keeper's house is now the museum. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 24, 1973, and was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 2002.
Park Rules:
There are no trash recepticles in Fort Williams Park, so it is a carry-in, carry-out facility. The use of tobacco, alcohol, and/or other drugs is prohibited in the park, and no commercial photography of any kind is permitted inside the park, but visitors are encouraged to take personal photos.
Dogs are allowed in the park, but they must be kept on a leash except when in the off-leash area.
2025 Fees:
Admission is free to the lighthouse. There is no fee to park in the Overflow Lot. Parking fees are in effect for all other parking lots year round payable by credit or debit card: $6 for 2 hour minimum; $2 per hour after minimum; season pass $25.
Museum admission: $2.00 for adults and $1.00 for children ages 6-18. Children under 6 are free!
Museum & Gift Shop Hours
Open every day from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, including Saturday and Sunday, from Memorial Day through Columbus Day (Indiginous Peoples Day) the 2nd Monday in October.
Things to do:
The award-winning Portland Head Light Museum, the Gift Shop with Maine-related gifts, historic sites, athletic fields, children’s play areas, a beach, walking trails, picnic tables, charcoal grills, tennis and pickleball courts, off-leash dog walking area, pond, portable toilets, seasonal vendors, and breath-taking ocean views. Cape Elizabeth Historical Preservation Society (located near the baseball field) offers local and military history exhibits on display Monday and Thursday from 9:00 am to noon, and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. The lighthouse tower is open to the public one day per year on Maine Open Lighthouse Day (2nd Saturday in September.)
For more information and a map to Fort Williams Park, click here.
(While in the area, make sure to check out Maine’s oldest cache - The Fort Williams Cache GC128!)
To log this virtual cache, you will need to do the following TWO things:
1. Take a photo of yourself giving a "thumbs up" sign with the lighthouse in the photo. 
The thumbs up sign will help me verify the pics are current. (You can just photograph your hand with a thumbs up sign and the lighthouse in the background if you don't want to be in the photo.) The picture can be posted in your log (preferred), sent through a geocaching message, or emailed through the link on my profile. If you take a group photo, include the geocaching names of any others in the photo and it will fulfill the photo requirement for the whole group... or you can each post individual photos.
2. In your log, write what you enjoyed about your visit to Portland Head Light and/or something that you learned about it.
(I purposely made the logging requirements very easy to fulfill, so please don't log the cache if you are unable to complete these two steps. Thank you!)
Let's fill the gallery with beautiful photos of this amazing place!
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.