Where is the first sunrise in the US?

In Maine, and the place changes with the season. From October 7 to March 6, according to the National Park Service, the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park is the first place in the country to see the sunrise. On January 1, 2027, the sun rises at 7:04 a.m. Eastern time on the summit of Cadillac Mountain and at 7:05 a.m. at West Quoddy Head. A study published by Yankee Magazine, which allows for hills that block the view, gives slightly different dates: Cadillac Mountain from January 11 to March 6 and from October 7 to November 29, West Quoddy Head from March 7 to 24 and from September 19 to October 6, and Mars Hill, a 1,660-foot hill near the New Brunswick line, for most of the rest of the year. Below: sunrise at both places through 2027, New Year's Day in US cities, and a sunrise calculator for any place and height.

Why the answer changes

The sun rises farther south in winter and farther north in summer, so the point that meets it first moves along the coast. Height counts too. From 1,530 feet, the sea horizon lies about 0.76° below eye level, so the summit sees the sun about 5 minutes before the shore at its foot (7:04 a.m. instead of 7:09 a.m. on January 1, 2027). On the 15th of every month of 2027 the two are no more than two minutes apart, so who sees the sun first on a given morning comes down to seconds and to the hills along the horizon.

On July 4, 2027, the sun rises at 4:47 a.m. Eastern daylight time at West Quoddy Head and at 4:49 a.m. on the Cadillac summit. For most of the summer, though, the study published by Yankee Magazine gives the first sunrise to Mars Hill, farther north. Mars Hill is inland, and what it sees depends on the hills of New Brunswick, so this page gives no time for it.

Sunrise at Cadillac Mountain and West Quoddy Head, 2027

Each row is the 15th of the month, by Eastern clock time with daylight saving time from March to early November. The summit time allows for its height over the sea; West Quoddy Head, the easternmost point of mainland New England, is at sea level. Times are to the minute, so a tie means the race is decided by seconds.

New Year's Day 2027 sunrise in US cities

In New York the first sunrise of 2027 is at 7:20 a.m., in Chicago at 7:18 a.m., in Los Angeles at 6:59 a.m. and in Honolulu at 7:09 a.m., local time. “First light” is the start of civil twilight, when the sky is already light: 24 to 36 minutes before sunrise in the other cities, and more than an hour in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Sunrise where you are

Enter latitude and longitude (west is negative), your height above the land or sea in front of you, in feet, the time zone your clock is on that day, and a date.

The date starts at today; without JavaScript, the example above is the summit of Cadillac Mountain on January 1, 2027. Height lowers the horizon only when the view is open, over the sea or a plain; behind hills, the sun comes later.

Where Angel Step fits

Angel Step reads only your step count from Apple Health and shows it as one number on a living sky. It does not watch for sunrise; that is this page's job. A first sunrise is a good reason for an early walk.

Sources

• National Park Service, Acadia National Park — “Cadillac Mountain”: the first sunrise in the country from October 7 to March 6. NPS
• Yankee Magazine — “Where Does the Sun Rise First in the US?”: dates for Cadillac Mountain, West Quoddy Head and Mars Hill. Yankee
• US Naval Observatory — sunrise and twilight for one day, used to check this page's times. USNO
• National Astronomical Observatory of Japan — sunrise from a height, used to check the dip of the horizon. NAOJ
• 15 U.S.C. § 260a — daylight saving time, used for the clock times. Cornell LII

Updated 13 October 2026