Portland Head Light, Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Portland Head Light is located in Fort Williams park and it makes for such a fun trip with kids! There’s gorgeous views, easy parking, food trucks, an old fort to explore and picnic tables in a large, grassy park! You can also park near a small beach and enjoy the beach!
Open year round
We love to visit here in the off season! During the off season the gate is open and parking is free November 16- March 31 so it is easy to drive in and park before exploring. We have visited here in the summer as well but it is busy. I don’t think the crowds here in the summer are too overwhelming because the parking lot is very big and there is plenty of room to spread out.
Hours and fees
We really love that the park is free to enter! Even during the season of April 1- November 15! You just have to pay for parking during that time, which is not bad. There is a large parking lot that has a small fee. Parking is pay by the hour, and there are several pay stations. It is open from sunrise to sunset, so there’s plenty of time to explore.
Quick trip
Some trips with kids are quick and we have visited here after going to Portland for lunch, so that was a quick trip, but other times you need a couple hour activity to entertain the kids. This park is perfect for both of those things! If you are stopping here for a quick visit, parking is easy and there’s plenty of it. Like I said above, it is free to enter and then you just pay by the hour! When we visited it was DOWNPOURING, because as you know, the summer of 2023 rained a lot… but it didn’t stop us. We just only paid for one hour. The kids got to splash in puddles and then we headed back home.
Longer day trip
If you are looking to spend a few hours here there is plenty to do! Once you park, you can head down towards the lighthouse and to the right is a large grassy area. There are picnic tables dispersed throughout, mostly under the trees for some shade, so it is a PERFECT spot for a quick snack or sandwiches. If you keep heading down the paved path, past the grass, there is an old fort the kids can climb on and my kids had a great time! That definitely kept them busy for awhile before checking out the lighthouse of course! The views along the water are beautiful. There is a fence they can lean on and look out at the water and I could have stayed there for a long time! You can not access the inside of the lighthouse, it is only open on Maine Lighthouse Day, but you can walk all around it and that is definitely good enough for me!
Beach trip
Since we do most of our trips in the off season we have not yet checked out the beach area and the swing set. It is a separate parking area but you can’t miss it when you drive in, it’s the first left. According to the website they also have gardens here. With all that being said, there’s plenty to do to spend the morning here! I am going to link the website below for more info because I can’t possibly cover it all.
Link to the website
