The one brief patch of semi-wilderness along the New Hampshire coast is, ironically, where the first white settlers landed in 1623. Some of the scattered ruins in the marshy duneland of Odiorne Point State Park date from those early days; others, far more modern, were World War II defenses. The two park entrances are on Hwy-1A near Rye , four miles southeast of Portsmouth, where a summer-only visitor center is open daily from 10am until 4pm. The offshore Isles of Shoals , a supposed haunt of Blackbeard the pirate, can be visited by taking a boat trip from Portsmouth Harbor (tel 603/431-5500 or 1-800/441-4620, ).

Odiorne Point State Park

• Odiorne Point State Park

New Hampshire cities


All U.S. city guides