Maine Photographic Destinations

West Quoddy Head Lighthouse Nubble Lighthouse Abandoned Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad

Let me help you to find a great location in Maine for your next photography adventure.  I will list many lesser known destinations, as well as the famous “Icon Locations” for photography.  I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information,  consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination.  I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip.  I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to insure a quality guide to great locations for photography in Maine.

Interactive Google Map

Use the map  + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views.  Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.

 

 

Maine Photographic Destinations

Maine Destinations
West Quoddy Head Lighthouse   West Quoddy Head, in Quoddy Head State Park, Lubec, Maine, is the easternmost point of the contiguous United States. In 1808 a lighthouse was constructed at the site to guide ships through the Quoddy Narrows. The current tower, with distinctive red-and-white stripes, was constructed in 1858 and is an active aid to navigation. The 3rd order Fresnel lens is the only 3rd order and one of only eight Fresnel lenses still in use on the Maine Coast. The light station was added to the National Register of Historic Places as West Quoddy Head Light Station on July 4, 1980. A stone sign describes the lighthouse as the “easternmost point in the U.S.A.” It is the easternmost building in the United States (a nearby sign proclaims the “easternmost giftshop in the U.S.”), but the easternmost point is at rocks extending eastward from the shore. The present light station includes a tower, former keeper’s quarters, service building, and oil house. The tower is circular, and is 49 feet in height, with the beacon at 83 feet above sea level. The light, magnified by a third-order Fresnel lens, has a range of 18 miles. The tower is built of brick, and painted in alternating horizontal red and white stripes. A small gabled entry vestibule, also brick, projects from the tower. The keeper’s house is a wood-frame structure. A lighthouse at West Quoddy Head, Maine, was authorized by Congress in 1806. The light station was finished on April 21, 1808, at a cost of $5,000. In 1820, Congress authorized the first fog signal at the station, a 500-pound bell, for a cost of $1,000 . The current tower was built in 1858. The present station was built in 1858. The former keeper’s house now serves as a museum and visitor’s center. In 1990, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 25-cent stamp featuring the West Quoddy Head Light. Where it is: From Route 1 in Whiting, continue east on Highway 189 for just under ten miles towards Lubec. Before reaching Lubec, turn south on Boot Cove Road as indicated by the lighthouse signs. After 2.8 miles, the road turns east and becomes Quoddy Head Road. Follow this road into Quoddy Head State Park, where you can park and walk a short distance to the lighthouse.   Maps: Interactive Google Map Use the map  + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views.  Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. GPS: 44°48’55.212″ N 66°57’3.426″ W Cost: Day use fee is $3 for Adult Maine Resident, $4 for Adult Non Resident, $1 for Senior Non Resident. Hours: West Quoddy Lighthouse is open daily from Memorial Day to mid-October from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Call (207) 733-2180 for more information. Tours to the top of the tower are given at intervals during the summer, typically every Saturday in the months of July and August. And during West Quoddy Annual Lighthouse Celebration in July. Also the second Saturday in September for Maine Open Lighthouse Day. Open 9:00 a.m. to sunset daily from May 15 through October 15 unless otherwise posted. Off-season, visitors are welcome during daylight hours Facilities: Picnic area with tables, grills and privies. Location Contact Information: Quoddy Head State Park (May 15-October 15) 973 South Lubec Road Lubec, Maine 04652 207-733-0911 www.maine.gov/quoddyhead West Quoddy Head Lighthouse Photo Gallery Click Here for full page gallery   More Photographic Destinations in Maine Interactive Google Map Use the map  + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views.  Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page. Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State    All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published.  Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.   Great Places for Great Photos   Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure.  I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography.  I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination.  I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip.  I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography. If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!     Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country.  Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos. Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group. All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need.  Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two. If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom.  This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
  Nubble Lighthouse Nubble Light, also known as Cape Neddick Light Station. The park that overlooks this picturesque lighthouse is called Sohier Park. The lighthouse itself is not accessible to the public but can be photographed and enjoyed from Sohier Park. The Cape Neddick Light is a lighthouse in Cape Neddick, York, Maine, it is commonly known as “Nubble Light” or simply “the Nubble”. In 1874 Congress appropriated $15,000 to build a light station at the “Nubble” and in 1879 construction began. Cape Neddick Light Station was dedicated by the U.S. Lighthouse Service and put into use in 1879. It is still in use today. Plans had been in the works to build a lighthouse on the site since 1837.  The tower is lined with brick and sheathed with cast iron. It stands 41 feet tall but the light is 88 feet above sea level because of the additional height of the steep rocky islet on which it sits. Unusually, the stanchions of the walkway railing around the lantern room are decorated with 4-inch brass replicas of the lighthouse itself. Nubble Light is a famous American icon and a classic example of a lighthouse. The Voyager spacecraft, which carries photographs of Earth’s most prominent man-made structures and natural features, should it fall into the hands of intelligent extraterrestrials, includes a photo of Nubble Light with images of the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal. Cape Neddick Light is one of the last eight lights in Maine to still have its Fresnel lens. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Cape Neddick Light Station on April 16, 1985   Where it is: The Cape Neddick Light stands on Nubble Island about 100 yards off Cape Neddick Point. Cape Neddick Point is at the north end of Long Sands Beach in the village of York Beach. The lighthouse is inaccessible to the general public, but the nearby mainland is occupied by Sohier Park which offers a telescope with which to view the lighthouse and a gift shop with a “Nubble” theme. Maps: Interactive Google Map Use the map  + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views.  Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.   GPS: 43°9’55.728″ N 70°35’34.896″ W Cost: There is no cost to visit the park.   Hours: Sohier Park is always open. Nubble Light Gift Shop is open seven days per week from 9:00am – 7:00pm from the first of May thru late October. Facilities: Seasonal restroom facilities and water fountain. Location Contact Information: Nubble Lighthouse Contact Form Nubble Lighthouse Photo Gallery Click Here for full page gallery   More Photographic Destinations in Maine Interactive Google Map Use the map  + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views.  Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page. Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State    All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published.  Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.   Great Places for Great Photos   Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure.  I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography.  I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination.  I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip.  I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography. If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!     Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country.  Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos. Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group. All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need.  Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two. If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom.  This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
Abandoned Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad The Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad was a forest railway built to transfer pulpwood between drainage basins in the Maine North Woods. The railroad operated only a few years in a location so remote the steam locomotives were never scrapped and remain exposed to the elements. Spruce forests of the Maine North Woods were a source of pulpwood throughout the 20th century. Trees were bucked into 4-foot lengths and loaded onto sleds towed by draft animals or log haulers to the nearest river or lake. Log drives would float the pulpwood logs to a downstream paper mill when the snow and ice melted. Pulpwood harvested in the upper Allagash River drainage was destined for Great Northern Paper Company paper mill on the West Branch Penobscot River in Millinocket. The problem was getting the pulpwood out of the north-flowing Allagash River into the east-flowing Penobscot River. During the winter of 1926-27, Édouard Lacroix’s Madawaska Company used log haulers to move heavy railway equipment overland from Lac-Frontière, Quebec to Churchill Depot and then over frozen Churchill Lake and Eagle Lake. The log haulers delivered two steam locomotives, two Plymouth gasoline-powered switchers, miles of steel rail, and sixty railroad cars for carrying pulpwood. Each railroad car was 32 feet  long with high, slatted sides to hold 12 cords of pulpwood. Three diesel-powered conveyors were built to lift pulpwood logs from Eagle Lake to a height of 25 feet  over a distance of 225 feet. Each conveyor could fill a railroad car in 18 minutes. Lacroix completed the Umbazooksus and Eagle Lake Railroad to a pulpwood-unloading trestle at the north end of Umbazooksus Lake. Paper demand declined through the Great Depression until pulpwood transfer ceased in 1933 after the railroad had carried nearly a million cords of pulpwood. The Plymouth switchers found work elsewhere while the steam locomotives waited in the engine house for improved economic conditions. Great Northern found trucks more cost effective than restoring the railroad when business returned following World War II. The engine house became a popular snowmobile destination in the 1960s; and fittings like gauges, bells, headlights, and number plates began to disappear from the locomotives before the wooden cab of engine #1 was destroyed when the engine house burned in 1969. The locomotive boiler jackets and asbestos lagging were removed in 1995 but the stripped locomotive shells remain a unique reminder of the industrial revolution in the Maine North Woods. Remnants of the tramway and locomotives still survive in Maine’s Tramway Historic District, part of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.   Where it is: The abandoned train is located in the Maine North Woods The North Maine Woods organization (NMW)  is a cooperative effort by many private landowners in northwestern Maine to keep 3.5 million acres of forest land open to public use. Visitors must pay a fee and pass through either manned or automated checkpoints. All roads within the North Maine Woods are privately built and owned primarily for the purpose of managing and moving forest products. The private landowners are willing to share their roads with members of the general public in order to visit the region’s many lakes and ponds and other natural resources for the purposes of hiking, hunting, fishing and berry picking to name a few. ALL LOGGING TRUCKS AND OTHER COMMERCIAL VEHICLES  HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. PLEASE PULL OVER WHEN MEETING THESE VEHICLES. Give all logging trucks the right of way! The roads in this area were built to move wood products. For safety, please give logging trucks the same respect provided to fire trucks and ambulances. Logging trucks typically travel on the crown of the road for stability. When you see a truck coming from either direction, please pull over to let it pass safely. • Obey posted speed limit signs. Maximum speed is 45 mph. • Lights on for safety. • Always travel on the right hand side. • Be prepared to stop at all times. • Never stop on a corner. Always give yourself at least 500 feet of visibility front and back. • Reduce speeds on freshly graded roads. You are more likely to blow a tire or lose control because of loose gravel. • Never block side roads. Even roads that seem unused may be needed in emergencies. • Refrain from driving on newly constructed roads and roads that are “soft” from spring thawing or fall rainfall to prevent severe rutting. • Do not linger on roads or stop on bridges. Most bridges in NMW are one lane. • Park vehicles well off the road. • Do not park in front of checkpoints. Use parking area provided • All drivers must have a valid state or provincial driver’s license. • All vehicles yield right of way to loaded trucks. All traffic yield to equipment working in roads. Pass only after operator’s acknowledgement. Directions to the Tramwav / Trains from Telos Checkpoint: It’s 29.5 mites to the Tramway Road from Telos Checkpoint or 21 miles from the Chamberlain parking lot, so watching your mileage will be helpful with these directions. At the Chamberlain parking lot, turn left at the T intersection onto the Umabazookus Road. Follow the Umabazookus Road for 8.0 miles. At the intersection Of the Guy Allen Road and the Grande Marche Road (also called the “Trans Canada”) bear right. It is 15.0 miles from that turn to the “Tramway Road”. The following “checkpoints” will let you know you are on the right road. These are based on mileage from the intersection of the Guy Allen Road and the Grande Marche/Trans Canada Road.   After 8.0 miles on the Grande Marche Road, stay to your right at the 3-legged intersection. You will now be on the Edmond Roy Road (small orange sign indicating such) At 9.1 miles you will cross a small wooden bridge. At 10.5 miles you will come to another intersection. You will see signs for “Loon Lodge” directing you to the left. Stay straight at this intersection. At 11.4 miles you will drive past the “Chamberlain Lake Road” which is on your right. At 12.2 miles you will drive past a duster of logging camps. At 14.1 miies you will cross a wooden bridge at Allagash Stream (only 1 more mile to the Tramway Road). At 15.0 mites (+/-) you will see a dirt/gravel road on your right and signs showing “Tramway Road”. Take that right turn onto the Tramway Road. Follow that dirt/gravel road for 1.1 miles. You will then see a sign on your left directing you to turn right for the “Tramway” Follow that dirt/gravel road (it’s rough in sections but very driveable) for 1.5 miles. You will see a sign showing “Tramway Trail” on your left, pointing into the woods where there is a foot trail. You will also see bright orange flagging strips hanging in the trees at the beginning of the foot trail. Just after the “Tramway Trail” sign you see where they have widened the road on the left to allow for parking.   Maps: Interactive Google Map Use the map  + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views.  Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. GPS: The Train Engines:  46°19’20.814″ N 69°22’30.504″ W Tramway: 46°18’57.012″ N 69°22’42.882″ W Cost: Visitor Fees for the North Maine Woods As of 2020  RESIDENT NON-RESIDENT Under 18 Free Day Use & Camping Free Day Use & Camping Age 70 and Over Free Day Use Free Day Use Per Person Per Day $11 $16 Camping Per Night $12 $15 Annual Day Use Registration $140 N/A Annual Unlimited Day Use & Camping $250 N/A Camping Only Annual Pass (Including seniors age 70 and over) $125 $125 Hours: Access to the North Main Woods is and the trains is 24 hours a day (you must call and check in at the checkpoints when arriving if not staffed). Facilities: There are no Facilities, this is a very remote and rugged area.  You need to be prepared if you have any problems or vehicle breakdowns. Location Contact Information: North Maine Woods PO Box 425, Ashland, ME 04732 207-435-6213 www.northmainewoods.org info@northmainewoods.org Abandoned Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad Photo Gallery Click Here for full page gallery   More Photographic Destinations in Maine: Interactive Google Map Use the map  + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views.  Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page. Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State    All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published.  Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.   Great Places for Great Photos   Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure.  I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography.  I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination.  I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip.  I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography. If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!     Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country.  Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos. Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group. All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need.  Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two. If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom.  This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...