Parking is affordable and just a short, very short walk to the beach. Bathrooms are close and very…read moreclean for beach bathrooms. Little beach shop/store is usually open in the summer for some yummy treats.

Do you like relaxation -- maybe with a lil sand snuggled between ur toesy-wozies? If yes, grab your…read morecrockpot + maracas, lather ur bod in dat SPF protectant, and get over to Wallis Sands State Beach for a little R&R&RT (rest & relaxation & rad times). Yes, yes -- get to dat beach + plop ur dump truck down in that flimsy Walgreens beach chair that has been rotting in your garage for, like, 9+ months now. Breathe it in: yes, yes dat fresh salt air. Salt! Mmm, yes... Also politely ask that person on the beach blanket next to you to crank up "Daisies" by Justin Bieber from their portable JBL speaker just a smidge louder. That's right -- set the mood for ur ultimate New Hampshiran beach day. Smack a beachball, David. Slurp a wine cooler, Darlene. Hold a hermit crab captive (they don't have feelings, silly). And go on and say things like "ew, seaweed!" and "wow, look at that kite!" and "Ed Sheeran is one of my favorite artists!" Yay! Enjoy your day, Freddie + Barbara -- hopefully you trekked to Wallis Sands State Beach without the kids...ya know? They are, like, so annoying. Brutal. R&R&RT is best without juice boxes and bad attitudes. Children belong in front of YouTube. You belong in front of the Atlantic -- alone + unbothered -- left to simply worry about ur sun exposure. It's cute. Soak up the sun, Sheryl Crow! Enjoy da beach + ur yacht rock playlist, also. Cheers! Seashells! Toes! Crockpots!

clean, vast, and open beach. lots of room and hasn't been overcrowded when i've came.read more

LOVE this beach! It's close to my Mom's & I have been coming here for over 20yrs. It's known as Rye…read moreon the Rocks because its surrounded by a big wall of rocks. Get ready to do some climbing folks to get to this beach. There are a few flat board ramps planted along the rock wall on the outside to get up onto the top. There are not any planks to get down to the beach once your on top. So you have to be really careful climbing down the rocks. Probably kinda hard to do carrying a bunch of stuff & kids. I like this beach because its never crowded or full of screaming kids. When it's high tide you have to sit on top of the rock wall so you better bring a chair. Also it doesn't hurt to have some bug spray because it can get a little buggy @ times. Also there are no bathrooms @ this beach....big down fall if you don't live close by. So you better go pody before you come to this beach & don't forget your sunscreen!! Also there are no trash cans to throw your trash away so be prepared to take your trash home with you! This beach is a very clean one so lets keeping this way! Thanks! :-)

One of my favorite New England beaches for the superior waves. Attracts lots of local surfers plus…read moretourists that rent surfboards from the shop across the street. Luckily, the surfers don't clash with the swimmers, bodysurfers, and boogie boarders and all share the waves. The parking lot is very small, with metered parking. Better yet, plenty of free, on-street parking if you're willing to walk. High tide takes up a good portion of the beach, so it can get cramped if it's crowded. Pretty beach, family friendly.

My favorite beach. Very small though. Hard to get parking once the day progresses. Very clean…read more Water is cold. Onsite bathroom and changing facility. Lifeguards start at 10 am so don't drown before then. Very popular spot with surfers in the early morning and evenings. Not too too rocky. You wouldn't be able to fly a kite here.. too small. People bring their dogs in the early morning even though there are no dogs allowed so watchout that you don't step in a poop.

This review is intended for loud tourists from MA that don't know how to park their Abrams…read moretank-sized car. DO NOT GO THERE. If someone has told you that this is a beautiful beach park with fabulous views, they were dead wrong. If you think it might be a great place to fire up a grill and relax, you are sorely mistaken. If you got the crazy idea in your head that this would be the perfect way to spend a summer day, I say, no way, Jose. This place is not for you. Keep on trucking in your monstrous SUV. The fried dough at Old Orchard Beach is calling out to you.

Parking, $25, very close to the beach, or strangely, $25 per person, to park outside the gate and…read morewalk in. Big picture: Quiet remote secluded beach front, with wooded winding gravel walkways along its coast, and interior park pavilion for hosting larger parties. Details: You're going to have to scramble down boulders and rocks, to get down to the water. Most of the shore beyond the boulders and rocks is river stone, with scant areas of sand. Relatively convenient restrooms. Never jammed with people, like the wide sandy NH and MA beaches. Bring your own food and drink, there's nothing nearby, but does have picnic tables. Constant breeze, quite cool as of late afternoon.

Odiorne Point State Park is a public recreation area that opened in Rye, New Hampshire in July…read more1972. It is administered by the New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation. The park is located along the Atlantic seacoast in Rye, not far from Portsmouth. The area is the site of the Pannaway Plantation: the first European settlement in New Hampshire. Settled in 1622, the plantation was completely abandoned by the 1630s when the settlers moved to nearby Strawberry Banke. The land was settled in the mid-1660s by the Odiorne Family, whom the park is now named after. From 1942 to 1947, the park was the home of Fort Dearborn. The ruins of the deactivated World War II-era fort can still be seen today. Today the park is home to hiking trails, bike paths, a playground, picnic areas, pavilions, and a Seacoast Science Center which opened in 1992. My family and I visited Odiorne Point State Park this summer while we were heading to Maine for a summer getaway. We had some time to kill before we could check in to our AirBnb, so we decided to stop at the park. We had fun exploring the grounds and my two sons especially enjoyed playing on the nautical-themed playground. The highlight of the park is the Seacoast Science Center. There are all sorts of exhibits devoted to the conservation of marine and coastal environments. My two sons loved learning about whales, local shellfish populations, the local fishing industry, the fight against ocean pollution, and underwater exploration. There was even a cool gift shop where we picked up a few things. Whether you live in the area or you're just passing through like us, Odiorne Point State Park is a fun place for the whole family!

I feel the need to preface all of my nature reviews with this: being 90% forested and having around…read more3500 miles of coastline, Maine (and NH) has a tremendous amount of spaces, walkways, paths, and trails of all kinds and of all levels. There's something for everyone. What I'm reviewing is how a spot compares to similar outdoor spots in my personal opinion. Being in nature - and remembering to carry in, carry out - is always five stars! :) Parking? Yes. Loop trail? Yes. Well marked signs? Yes. Element of surprise? Yes. I was looking for state parks in New Hampshire and this one caught my eye because of the name, if we're being honest. It sounded magical! So was the way it was advertised: "picnickers can enjoy sweeping views of the ocean and rocky shore, and explorers can uncover evidence of past military occupation. An extensive network of trails wind through the dense vegetation and traverse the park. [t]he property is also renowned for its... seven distinct habitats that can be visited within an hour's walk. Although the spectacular rocky shore is the one of the most notable, the woodlands, uplands, salt marsh, freshwater and salt ponds, and sandy beach (non-swimming) combine to create one of the region's most diverse nature walks." I like a little bit of everything, and this sounded like it had just that! The first time I came I bought a pass online; when we arrived it was a freak snowstorm and we were the only ones there. So we had a literal winter wonderland to play around it. The views from the coast were lovely and offer plenty of picnic tables to sit and enjoy yourself at, but exploring the woods that day was even more amazing - we spent a lot of time with a big buck who kept finding himself lazily meandering on the same trail as us. Thank goodness for binoculars! And the element of surprise! There was also some tremendously graffitied old batteries, a breakwater (that becomes nearly inaccessible when the tide is high; reversely when the tide is low that same area exposes a Sandy beach), there's an area called Pirate's Cove, an old cemetery, and Dolphin Fountain (which looks like it belongs in France, not NH). This became an immediate favorite! I can't wait to come back and see it in Spring and Summer! (SIDE NOTE: There's also the Seacoast Science Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, that provides educational exhibits related to the seacoast area for a separate fee; but, I haven't been able to check that out yet!)

This beach allows leashed dogs all day off season, before and after peak hours during the summer…read more Gronk had a great time digging in the sand, listening to ocean waves, talking to other dogs, and people watching! 1/2 the beach has sand but bring water shoes because you'll walk on small rocks in the ocean.

Plum Island Beach, in Newburyport, is a great & lowkey beach on the North Shore to go to!…read moreThe beach is clean & pretty quiet, mostly locals. Much less congested compared to the popular beaches in MA & no traffic jams. I usually only come here if I'm planning a trip to see my friends in Newburyport ;) Not sure how much the parking is; I park at a friend's house. Very calm beach ONLY THING IS, avoid going in the month of July, OR be very careful of the greenhead flies! They are everywhere here during that month & their bites hurt lol. Not sure if greenheads are only specific to this beach in particular, however, I've only really ever experienced this here.

Visited plum island beach river side of it. I was sad to see how much they let things go there but…read morestill charge $15 to park?Trash on the beach / glass. The wooden wall way was closed off on the parking lot side and on the beach side the stairs/ramp removed. The view is still beautiful. They no longer have life guards on duty..

Our favorite spot to see the sunrise! The beach is not too crowded. Love walking on the beach…read moreduring low tide. Lots of surfers catching the waves even late November!

It used to be fun, but I'm not okay with how the beach has become unsafe. I'll never bring my kids…read morehere again--it's just not like it used to be. Unfortunately, online rumors ruined it for me, and others around the area feel the same way.

Our favorite beach to picnic inside the car when it's cold. Beautiful scenery and right next to…read morethe Beach Plum which is handy! Lots of photo ops here! The beach is nice and walkable.

Came here with my sisters & had a perfect day (except for the parking ticket). There is lots of…read morevery convenient parking (make sure to correctly calculate how long you will be staying when you pay @ the central meter. Something we did not do; thus, the parking ticket). Beach is rocky@ the waterline so, either wear water shoes or brave the rocks. There was ample room to stretch out, take long walks to the nearby town (or, go across the street for great ice cream & seafood), there are bathrooms, showers, water fountain &, for the most part, it is a clean, inviting beach with adorable former fishing houses along its edge. Will happily return.

So beautiful. Small and quiet with friendly and helpful people in the area. Nice lunch and dinner…read morespots nearby

So, I can't speak to this beach in the summer time - just the shoulder season - but that's when I'd…read moreadvise locals to go (unless you need to swim; which I totally get as I'm a mermaid, but there is something to be said about just sitting peacefully and letting the sounds, smells, and site of the Atlantic wash over you - it's relaxing, rejuvenating, and a reminder of the bigger world... what? the ocean doesn't inspire profound thoughts in you as well?). We came in early November on a Sunday, parked on Route 1A by a 2-hr parking sign, and walked down to the loop at the end of Harbor Beach Rd near Cliff Walk, and just sat on the concrete path leading to the beach eating our lunch. It was bliss. The abundant and unseasonably warm sunshine, the vast expanse of ocean ebbing and flowing, the sloping crescent shaped sandy beach... there was nothing not perfect about it. Definitely one of the most memorable afternoons I've had in a long time!