In July, typical afternoon highs at Portland Head Light run around 82°F (warm). Mid-afternoon sun stands about 55° high, and the sun is up from 5:13 AM to 8:19 PM. Historic districts usually offer building shade on one side of the street as the sun moves.
See live sun & real shadows here →| January | 30°F |
| February | 31°F |
| March | 46°F |
| April | 56°F |
| May | 62°F |
| June | 75°F |
| July | 82°F |
| August | 80°F |
| September | 72°F |
| October | 61°F |
| November | 46°F |
| December | 32°F |
Historic districts usually offer building shade on one side of the street as the sun moves. See real building shadows over satellite imagery for any time of day: https://isthereshade.com/?anywhere&at=43.62306,-70.20778
Around 8:19 PM local time in mid-July (it shifts through the year). Sunrise is about 5:13 AM.
Portland Head Light · Cape Elizabeth, ME. Data: exact sun position; climate normals from historical weather; live forecast on the interactive view.
Wind, not heat, is what you plan around at Portland Head Light. The lighthouse stands on an open grassy headland in Cape Elizabeth, with the Atlantic on three sides and almost no tree cover near the point itself. As a coastal historic site, it is exposed to the sky and the sea both, but Maine's summers are mild, with July afternoons peaking near 82°F, and the steady breeze off the water keeps even a sunny midday comfortable. The shade is thin here; the saving grace is that you rarely need much of it.
The lighthouse and the lawns around it sit in the open, so the classic clifftop views come with full sun and no canopy. At 3 PM in high summer the sun stands about 55 degrees high on a west-southwest bearing near 242 degrees, and with the ocean all around, light reflects back at you off the water. The real tree shade lives back from the point, in the wooded sections of the surrounding park and along the paths leading to the headland, not at the lighthouse itself. If you want out of the sun, that is where to walk; the point rewards you with views and exposure in equal measure.
Sunrise here is among the earliest on the mainland, near 5:13 AM, with sunset around 8:19 PM. The exposed clifftop is bright through the day, but the sea air does a lot of the work the temperature suggests it should not have to.
Because summer peaks near 82°F, there is no heat-danger window to manage. The shoulder seasons are cool and clear, June near 75°F, September around 72°F, and both make for an easy visit with fewer crowds on the point.
The honest answer is that the headland around Portland Head Light offers little shade of its own. For real cover, use the wooded trails and picnic areas set back from the cliffs, then walk out to the point for the view. Bring a hat and sunscreen for the exposed stretches, and let the sea breeze do the cooling that no tree at the lighthouse will.
To see how the tree lines and the lighthouse cast their shadows across the headland at your planned hour, open the satellite shadow view before you visit.