A PHOTO TOUR OF NEW CASTLE, NH

It is a long walk – eight miles – or a moderate bike ride from the South End of Portsmouth and around "the loop" as locals call it. New Castle is New Hampshire’s smallest town at one square mile and, acre for acre, arguably the most scenic.

We won’t wax poetic here. Let the pictures of a recent tour speak for themselves. Many of these stops have been covered in detail here before. This photo gallery is merely a reminder that this popular tour is possibly the most continuously beautiful and surprising in the state, equivalent with the White Mountains highway or the Cog Railway tour. It passes exactly one gas station and almost no stores or ugly spots.

First time "loopers" consider starting at Prescott Park and travel down Route 1B, across the causeways at Shapleigh Island and Goat Island to New Castle Island itself with the Piscataqua and the Navy Yard on your left and Little Harbor on your right. The road winds though the gentrified former fishing village that was the center of Portsmouth population in the early 1600s. Explore the side roads that run along the river and stop by the William and Mary Fort and Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse – but don’t miss the downtown village with its church and town hall and post office. Side trips include the New Castle beach, Fort Stark, New Castle Common and Wentworth by the Sea with a private marina and expansive seaside golf course.

Your have now crossed briefly into Rye, NH that passes by the Ice House seasonal restaurant. Turn right at the marina onto Sagamore Road and across the "singing bridge". Little Harbor Road leads to the Wentworth Coolidge Mansion, Creek Farm, Turn right onto South Street at the lovely South Cemetery and you’ll find yourself back in the South End of Portsmouth. -- JDR

Continue NEW CASTLE ISLAND photo tour