Portsmouth, NH Outdoor Activities

While the 90-foot long Thomas E. Lannon schooner boasts many impressive characteristics—including a 64.5-foot deck, a spacious 18-foot beam, and a resemblance to a 1903 sword-fishing schooner—none of them rivals the story of how the vessel got its name.

Before the ship was built in 1997, owner Tom Ellis was visiting his relatives in Newfoundland when he overhead them reciting stories of his grandfather Thomas Lannon, who had fished the Gloucester coastline for more than 40 years. On one particularly stormy day in 1908, Lannon and five other men set out into the waters off Nauset aboard two dories and rescued the crew of the capsized schooner Eric amid 70-mph winds. Each of the rescuers received the eternal admiration of the rescued men and a medal from the Massachusetts Humane Society, which Ellis possesses to this day.

More than a century later, the crew of the Thomas E. Lannon keeps its namesake's love of the sea alive by chartering an array of sailing voyages that have attracted more than 100,000 passengers to date. After helping raise the sails at the voyage’s start, passengers capture vivid views of Gloucester harbor's lighthouses, castles, beaches, and waterfront homes sold by Poseidon himself.

At Amesbury Sports Park, windswept passengers sail tubes down the snow-less summer lanes or, during winter, the powdery pathways of packed snow that dot hillsides of varying steepness. A conveyor belt returns them to the top of the hill in 90 seconds, where they can repeat the ride or hop inside of one of Amesbury Sports Park's plastic spheres, to take what they call a zorb ride. Their outdoor event venue can accommodate up to 30,000 people, and has previously hosted events such as the Warrior Dash, the Spartan Race, and their annual Brewfest. An onsite restaurant refuels recreationers with tasty American fare, and also hosts regular wine dinners that often sell out in advance. The park also has a function hall available for private parties, and a full-service catering business with cuisine prepared by executive chef Kevin Jacques.

Adventurers glide past pine and deciduous trees, navigating branches at 200 feet above the ground. As they reach a treetop platform, guides wave them along onto a bridge that swings high above the forest floor. This nerve-racking scene is the norm at Alpine Adventures, where professionals have led guests soaring through the woodlands of New Hampshire's White Mountains since 2006. Today, in addition to leading guests on three distinct canopy tours, each testing adventurers' courage with swinging bridges and fast speeds, they captain off-road adventures in six-wheeled Swiss Pinzgauers. Up to 11 passengers sit protected by seat harnesses and an overhead roll cage as guides narrate and charge through fall foliage, winter flurries, or summer volleyball games. An aerial park invites thrill seekers to explore cargo nets, rope ladders, ziplines, a treehouse, a climbing tower, and many other elevated obstacles.

Hunter’s Haven Farm sprawls across multiple acres of verdant farmland in Groveland, fostering a bucolic atmosphere dedicated to teaching equestrian riding techniques in lessons for riders 8 and older. The center’s two horse whisperers call upon three decades of training and riding experience to coach students in the center’s dual riding modalities, hunt seat and dressage. Hunt seat displays the horse’s prowess while running flat or jumping over small hurdles, and dressage showcases the horse’s natural impulses, whether running freely with a rider or stopping to vote “neigh” on a potential future of donkey riding. The farm’s facilities encompass an indoor arena, cross-country fences, and a galloping track. Students can also guide their steeds around a lit outdoor ring or practice circuits around the onsite dressage ring during private or group sessions. Children can experience guided pony rides and natural interactions with ponies, goats, pigs, and a philosophical saddle at Hunter’s Haven Farm’s petting zoo.