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Written by GOseacoast Walks
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SCENIC SEACOAST WALKS
Durham, NH
Nature has reclaimed this 19th century Durham farm. Lesser known and not easy to locate, Adams Point offers a mile-long view of the tidal Great Bay estuary on a wild promontory. A great place for bird watching, hiking, photography and launching small boats.
Name: Adams Point
Address: Durham, NH on Great Bay
Resources: Walking trail, boat ramp, a number of benches along the shore. Sometimes you can find printed information. There are no rest rooms or posted interpretation.
Rules: Dawn to dusk in season. Do not removed flora, fauna, sea life or natural environment.
Boat Ramp: Posted warning notes that due to tides, ramps can be used only three hours before and after high tide. Larger boats should use caution due to shallow draft.
Parking: Yes.
Dogs: On leash.
Directions: Off Durham Point Road or Great Bay Road (U-shaped road beginning and ending on Route 108). Turn up a sign with metal fence.
A reader recently wondered why we had not included the best walking site in the Seacoast in this series. Answer: We just didn’t get to it. When we arrived in spring the rocky shore by the boat ramp was overrun by mating horseshoe crabs. There is a mile or more of walking trails along the heavily eroded shoreline, but the little known natural site is rarely busy.
 This used to be a family farm and if you walk the entire path around this farm-gone-wild, you will see a large obelisk above the Adams family tomb. The patriarch, "Reformation John" Adams (1791 - 1851) was a fire-and-brimstone preacher back during "The Second Great Awakening". Most people thought he was just plain crazy. The obelisk lists members of the family who ran the farm from 1830 to 1960. Edward Hamlin Adams (1860 – 1950) was the last skipper of the distinctive Piscataqua gundalows that once flourished in the region and last resident of the farm.
The Jackson Estuarine Lab run by UNH is located here and the natural site is managed by the state of New Hampshire. The rocks along the shore seem to be rising straight up from the center of the Earth. The shoreline is so eroded that trees cling to 10-foot cliffs, their roots grown sideways as they hover above the marsh grass. It’s eerie. And sometimes romantic. And confusing. This is the Piscataqua "inner coast" which I’m told is at least twice the length of the ocean coast. Sailboats drift by. Strange birds call. The air is thick with flowery scent. I saw a snake. The farmers are dead and gone and no one seems to be in charge. And all around the horseshoe crabs mate silently. -- JDR. All photos (c) SeacoastNH.com
Outside Links:
Jackson Lab web site.
NH Estuarine Project web site
UNH Marine Program web site
Town of Durham web site
CONTINUE GREAT BAY Walking Trail
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