Tremont, Maine: Things to Do, Stay & Eat
Tremont, Maine, occupies the southwestern part of Mount Desert Island, with villages including Bass Harbor, Bernard and Seal Cove. The lighthouse is the best-known stop, but a fuller visit combines working-harbor views, coastal walks and the auto museum. Choose Tremont for this side of the island, allowing separate travel for Bar Harbor and the eastern park roads.
Quick facts
- Region
- Downeast & Acadia, Maine
- Best months and seasons
- June through September, with September the pick.
- Nearest airport:
- Hancock County–Bar Harbor Airport (Trenton) (BHB), about 14 miles in a straight line.
- Top draws
- Bass Harbor Head Light Station; Seal Cove Auto Museum; Ship Harbor
- Nearby towns
- Southwest Harbor, Maine; Mount Desert, Maine; Bar Harbor, Maine
Tremont is the south-west corner of Mount Desert Island, and it is the part that still works for a living. Bass Harbor and Bernard are lobster villages with wharves, bait barrels and boats that leave before dawn, and the town sees a fraction of the traffic that crosses to Bar Harbor on the other side of the island.
Most visitors come for one thing and leave. That thing is worth it, but so is the rest.
Bass Harbor Head Light
The lighthouse at the island's southern tip is the most photographed in Maine, and it carries a 4.4 rating across more than 4,600 Google reviews: noticeably below the park's own 4.9, which tells you something. The tower is a Coast Guard residence and closed to the public, the parking area is small, and at midday the light is behind the subject.
The photograph everyone knows is taken from the rocks below, reached by a staircase to the left of the fence. Go late in the day; it faces west, and sunset is when it earns its reputation.
Things to do
The Seal Cove Auto Museum (4.9 across 477 reviews) holds a serious collection of brass-era cars (pre-1917, many of them running) and is one of the best small museums on the coast. Island Cruises (5.0 from 391 reviews) runs the ferry and nature trips out to Frenchboro, a year-round island community of about seventy people.
Inside the park, Ship Harbor and Wonderland are two short, flat loops to the shore that are the best tide-pooling on the island and are almost never busy. Echo Lake, on the town's eastern edge, is the warm-water swimming that the ocean cannot offer.
Getting here and when to go
Route 102 runs down the western side of the island through Southwest Harbor into Tremont. The Island Explorer shuttle covers it in season.
June through September, with September the pick. The water is at its warmest and the lighthouse parking is survivable. Winter closes almost everything except the fishing.
Planning notes
Things to do
About Tremont
Tremont is a town in Hancock County, Maine. The 2020 Census municipal table records 1,544 residents for Tremont town. The Tremont municipal website provides town-office contacts, public records and community notices.
Bass Harbor Head Light
The National Park Service accepted the light station in 2020, while the Coast Guard maintains the navigation light.
Visit Bass Harbor Head Light thoughtfully
The lighthouse has a small parking area, and sunset can bring serious congestion. Roadside parking is prohibited on the approach, so choose another time or activity if the lot is full. The shore below includes uneven rock and steps; the familiar photograph is not a reason to scramble into an unsafe position.
Explore Seal Cove Auto Museum
The museum connects early automobiles and motorcycles with the period's invention and social change. Its collection extends from the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth. Choose a standard museum visit or a specific demonstration from its current calendar; a display vehicle should not be assumed to run during every visit.
Choose a western Acadia shore walk
Ship Harbor and Wonderland offer different short coastal walking routes. Consult the park map for each; they are not identical loops, and coastal paths can have roots, uneven surfaces and wet rock. Enjoy tide pools without handling wildlife, and give the sea room even when the trail itself feels sheltered.
Getting there and around
Route 102 connects Tremont with Southwest Harbor and the rest of the island. State ferries leave Bass Harbor for island communities, with routes and vehicle arrangements checked separately. Private nature cruises are different services. Use the current seasonal Island Explorer map before assuming a bus reaches the particular attraction or lodging you have chosen.
When to visit
Summer offers the broadest visitor-service choice, but lighthouse congestion can be significant. Fall is useful for a quieter trip only when the required museum, meals and transport remain available. Winter changes road, path and business conditions; fishing communities continue even when seasonal visitor operations are closed.
Common questions
How do you get to Swan's Island from Tremont?
By state ferry from Bass Harbor.
The boat leaves from the terminal in Tremont and carries vehicles as well as walk-on passengers, and reservations for cars are worth arranging in advance during the summer.
What is the Seal Cove Auto Museum?
A collection of early automobiles from the brass era, kept in Seal Cove on the quiet side of Mount Desert Island and one of the highest scores of any indoor attraction on the island.
The cars sit in a plain hall without velvet ropes, which makes it a good stop on a day when Acadia is fogged in.
Is Bass Harbor a town?
No.
Bass Harbor is a village within the town of Tremont, as are Bernard and Seal Cove.
That is why an address can read Bass Harbor while the town office, the school and the tax bill all say Tremont.
The lighthouse most visitors come for is Bass Harbor Head Light Station at the island's southern tip.
Is Tremont a good place to stay on Mount Desert Island?
Yes, if quiet suits you.
You sit close to Acadia's western trails and a longer drive from the Park Loop Road and Bar Harbor.
Everyone here has a car, and most prefer the trade.
