Nubble Light and Sohier Park

The lighthouse was built in 1879 on the small rocky island known as the Nubble, off Cape Neddick, to guide vessels along this stretch of the southern Maine coast and mark the approach to the York and Cape Neddick harbors.

The island's separation from the mainland by a narrow, surging channel is part of its charm and its history. Keepers and their families reached the light by boat or a basket-and-cable system across the gap, an isolated life just a stone's throw from shore.

This coast is part of the homeland of the Wabanaki peoples, whose presence along the southern Maine shore long predates the lighthouse and the resort town that grew up around Cape Neddick.

The Nubble's fame rests on its extraordinary photogenic setting, the compact grouping of tower, keeper's house, and outbuildings on a small island against the open Atlantic, an image reproduced on countless calendars, postcards, and paintings.

Its stature was sealed when a photograph of Nubble Light was included among the images placed aboard NASA's Voyager spacecraft, meant to represent Earth to any who might one day find it, sending this little Maine lighthouse literally out of the solar system.

The town of York now owns and cares for the light, and it remains an active aid to navigation, its beacon still marking the coast even as it draws admirers from around the world.

Sohier Park on the mainland is the place to take it all in, a small park on the rocks directly across from the island with the classic view, a seasonal welcome center and gift shop, and open ledges for watching the surf.

The island itself is closed to the public, so the experience is about the view, the sea air, and the tide pools and rocks along the Sohier Park shore, an easy and free stop on the southern coast.

A cherished local tradition is the lighting of the Nubble, when the lighthouse and keeper's house are strung with lights during the holiday season and again in midsummer, drawing crowds to Sohier Park for the glow across the water.

Summer is the busiest time, when York Beach fills and Sohier Park's small lot turns over quickly, so an early or late visit brings the best light and the easiest parking.

Off-season the Nubble is quieter and often more striking, the little light steadfast against gray autumn seas or dusted with winter snow. The holiday lighting, when the tower and keeper's house glow across the dark channel, is one of the most beloved sights on the southern Maine coast.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.