Odiorne Point State Park
Tide pools, maritime forest, bicycle paths, Fort Dearborn remains, and the science center reveal layered coastal ecology and defense.
Places and wildlife — page 15
Browse Explore’s field guide to destinations, wildlife, art, and the natural world. Open a discovery for practical details and background.
Pawtuckaway State Park
A ring dike landscape combines boulder fields, lake, marsh, and low mountains
Bear Brook State Park
New Hampshire’s largest developed state park spreads across forests and ponds
Hampton Beach State Park
Ocean swimming, dunes, concerts, fishing, and a busy boardwalk show recreation at New Hampshire’s most urban beach.
Lake Umbagog State Park
Island campsites, broad water, loon habitat, river inflows, and distant mountains create a quieter and more self-reliant park experience.
Pisgah State Park
A vast southern forest protects ponds, ridges, and former settlement traces
Cardigan Mountain State Park
The West Ridge Trail climbs through forest to open slabs and a summit with views across central New Hampshire.
Miller State Park
An auto road and hiking trails reach a fire tower with views toward Mount Monadnock, Boston, and the Wapack range.
White Lake State Park
A sandy beach, forested shore, camping, paddling, and a lake loop make this a classic but finite summer landscape.
Rhododendron State Park
A rare northern stand of giant rhododendron blooms beneath hardwood forest
Flume Gorge
Waterfalls, glacial boulders, covered bridges, and close granite walls turn a short loop into a sequence of White Mountain geology.
Lost River Gorge & Boulder Caves
Boardwalks, waterfalls, giant boulders, and optional squeezes through named caves reveal a landscape built by frost and collapse.
Polar Caves Park
Stairs, ladders, narrow passages, animal exhibits, and forest walks trace how continental ice rearranged the hillside.
Diana’s Baths
A short forest approach reaches a broad sequence of falls whose gentle appearance changes dramatically with water level.
Sculptured Rocks Natural Area
Potholes, flutes, and polished walls record persistent water and sediment working below a roadside bridge.
The Basin
A short accessible approach reveals a deep circular basin, cascades, and continuation trails along the river.
Arethusa Falls
A forest hike reaches one of New Hampshire’s tallest waterfalls, with optional brook cascades adding terrain and time.
Cathedral Ledge
A sheer granite cliff overlooks the Saco valley and Mount Washington range
Mount Washington via Tuckerman Ravine
A historic ravine route climbs into the Northeast’s most severe mountain weather
Franconia Ridge Loop
Falling Waters Trail, alpine ridge, Greenleaf Hut, and Old Bridle Path form one of New England’s most celebrated and demanding loops.
Mount Monadnock White Dot–White Cross Loop
Direct rocky trails climb from headquarters to Monadnock’s open summit
Mount Willard Trail
Forest tread and old carriage-road traces lead to open ledges above railroad, road, river, and opposing cliffs.
Mount Major Trail
Rocky ledges open over Lake Winnipesaukee from a heavily used small mountain
Welch–Dickey Loop Trail
Steep ledges, scrub oak, broad views, and sustained exposure make the loop feel larger than its mileage.
Mount Chocorua via Champney Falls Trail
A waterfall approach leads to one of New Hampshire’s sharpest summit profiles
Northern Rail Trail
Cinder and gravel follow 58 miles of lakes, farms, cuts, villages, and former stations between Lebanon and Boscawen.
Boulder Loop Trail
Stone steps, glacial blocks, forest, and overlooks above the Swift River make a satisfying half-day circuit.
Mount Kearsarge via Winslow Trail
The Winslow and Barlow trails form a compact loop through forest and ledges to a fire tower and broad regional views.
Bedrock Gardens
Woodland paths, spiral beds, specimen plants, hardscape, and found-object art reward curiosity rather than a single grand axis.
Fuller Gardens
Thousands of roses, clipped borders, dahlias, conservatory plants, and a Japanese garden create concentrated seasonal color near the coast.
Prescott Park Gardens
Formal plantings, fountains, docks, and summer performance spaces turn reclaimed industrial land into a civic garden.
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center
Black bear, mountain lion, river otter, raptors, bobcat, and woodland exhibits emphasize native habitats and conservation.
Living Shores Aquarium
Tide pools, stingrays, local fish, otters, and digital exhibits connect watershed choices to coastal life.
Portland Museum of Art
The collection gives Winslow Homer, Marsden Hartley, and the Wyeth family room to converse with European, American, and contemporary work.
Farnsworth Art Museum
Wyeth holdings, modernists, folk art, and living Maine artists turn regional identity into a broad artistic argument rather than a souvenir view.
Maine Maritime Museum
A 20-acre Kennebec River campus combines shipbuilding tools, historic buildings, full-scale sculpture, lighthouse interpretation, and waterborne excursions.
Colby College Museum of Art
The museum is especially strong in American modernism, works on paper, and art connected to Maine, while campus installations and changing projects keep the visit from feeling sealed inside galleries.
Bowdoin College Museum of Art
Ancient Mediterranean objects, European painting, American art, and contemporary exhibitions support unusually close comparison in a compact museum.
Maine State Museum
The collections span archaeology, industry, natural history, domestic life, and the labor that shaped Maine.
Abbe Museum
The museum centers Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Penobscot, and Passamaquoddy voices through archaeology, art, language, and living cultural practice.
Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine
A makerspace, water play, a camera obscura, small-animal interpretation, and an active children’s theater encourage sustained experimentation rather than passive display.
Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum
Historic locomotives, coaches, artifacts, and a waterfront train ride explain why unusually narrow railways once connected rural Maine communities and industries.
Seashore Trolley Museum
Streetcars, interurbans, buses, restoration shops, and a demonstration railway show how public transit shaped cities before automobile dominance.
Owls Head Transportation Museum
Aircraft, automobiles, motorcycles, engines, and bicycles are interpreted as functioning systems rather than polished shells.
Maine Mineral & Gem Museum
Exceptional local minerals, gemstones, mining history, and extraterrestrial material move from the state’s pegmatites to planetary science.
Penobscot Marine Museum
Historic buildings, marine paintings, photography, tools, vessels, and domestic objects reveal how Penobscot Bay communities participated in worldwide commerce.
Center for Maine Contemporary Art
Changing exhibitions give artists room for installation, abstraction, social inquiry, and new media without pretending there is one Maine style.
Maine Discovery Museum
Nature, anatomy, engineering, art, play, and Maine environments are built for touching, climbing, making, and conversation.