The Cedars of Portsmouth is ideally located for people who work in town, love the beaches or do outdoorsy activities.
Biking/walking/running/snowshoeing:
The Urban Forestry Center is just 1.8 miles (a 6 minute drive by car) away from The Cedars. These forested woodlands offer many beautiful trails to explore. It’s also the perfect winter spot for snowshoeing or cross-country skiing. Parking is free.
A 10-minute bike ride away from The Cedars is the New Hampshire Seacoast Greenway From there, you have available miles of a well-visited non-paved trail for walking, running, biking or snowshoeing in the wintertime.
Odiorne Point State Park is a scenic park with beautiful trails and water views. It is only 4.9 miles from The Cedars, which translates to a 12 minute car ride. It is also the site of the Seacoast Science Center, a must-see for little ones.
A quick 15-minute car ride from our condo complex brings us to Stratham Hill Park which is a relatively easy hill to conquer, and the cherry on top will be an observation tower with 360 degree views! In winter, people do snowshoe there too.
Just a 20-minute car drive away, past Stratham Hill, is the closest (free) parking lot (“Rockingham Junction B&M Station“) and access point to the Rockingham Recreational Trail (unpaved). This is another wonderful trail for walking, running, biking and/or snowshoeing and if you refuse to stop running or biking, this trail will take you many miles east, all the way to Manchester, NH!
And if you don’t feel like leaving the condo complex, you are welcome to exercise right on our grounds. We have residents who jog or walk daily within our complex! Or, use our gym, swimming pool or play a tennis match!
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Kayaking/Paddleboarding:
There are many possibilities to launch your kayak. One convenient launch area is on Pierce Island, a 15-minute car ride. There is no launch fee for kayaks (from the dock) and parking, albeit limited, is free too, depending where you park. Caution though, the current can be swift in this area!
If you’re looking for an easy spot to get on the water, Creek Farm is about a 12-minute drive from the Cedars and has a nice hand-carry public launch (also free) right on Sagamore Creek. You can park at the small lot off Little Harbor Road (free, but it fills up on nice days) and carry your kayak or paddleboard about 200 yards down a grassy path to the water. It’s a peaceful place to paddle, with views of the marsh and plenty of wildlife around. Just keep an eye on the tides—the shoreline can get muddy at low tide.
Creek Farm is also a good starting point to hike the Little Harbor Loop – about 1.5 miles, with scenic views of the water, marshes, and forest along the way.
Sagamore Creek
Swimming/beaches:
There are so many swimming beaches so close to The Cedars! Mingle on the beach with all the sun and sand lovers in Hampton Beach, NH, or find a quieter spot somewhere else… the choices are seemingly endless! The closest beach with available parking is just a quick 13-minute drive away (Wallis Sands Beach).
Shopping/sightseeing:
It’s just a quick 4 miles (about 13 minutes) car ride to charming downtown Portsmouth, NH!
(Grocery) Shopping:
Right across Route 1 from The Cedars is Walmart, with Market Basket just 1.7 miles (7 minutes by car) away. It will take you longer to get into the car than to sit in traffic and get there! Nearby is the USPS office, UPS and Fedex. Hardware stores like Lowes, ACE Hardware and Harbor Freight are also within a small radius of our condo complex.
Stores like Trader Joe’s, Whole Food Market or the ever popular Aldi are in the north end of Portsmouth, in Newington, which is just 6 miles from our community, or a realistic 20 minute drive. This is where you will find larger malls, Best Buy, Homesense, Marshalls etc.
This area really has so much to offer that it is impossible to make a comprehensive list of attractions. Therefore, this is just a sliver of the gems that are in close proximity to The Cedars.
The Cedars of Portsmouth, NH 