Forget the chaotic Hampton Beach crowds. If you drive just a bit further up Route 1A into Rye, you'll find Wallis Sands State Park, a spot that offers a much tighter, cleaner stretch of Atlantic oceanfront. It has real grass right next to the sand. Perfect for tossing a Frisbee. You get roughly 500 feet of sandy beach here, which means you aren't hiking a mile from your car just to dip your toes in the frigid Gulf of Maine water.

Actually, the view is the real seller. On a clear NH afternoon, you can squint across the open water and easily spot the jagged outline of the Isles of Shoals sitting right on the horizon. Parents love this place. It features a massive brick bathhouse with hot showers, flushing toilets, and a little store selling ice cream. Just make sure you reserve your parking pass online before you head out, because the lot caps out fast on hot July mornings and the state troopers will absolutely tow you if you park on the highway. Worth the effort, though.

Local families owned the coast first. A prominent local family claimed the rocky acreage way back in the 1600s, using it to graze cattle and harvest salt marsh hay. It was a brutal existence. By the late 19th century, though, the federal government needed to protect passing ships from the treacherous ledges. They built a lifesaving station in 1897. Surfmen spent their winters watching the gray horizon for foundering schooners. They saved lives. That original shingled station actually still stands just off the beach.

Private owners eventually bought up pieces of the beach for summer cottages. But the state wanted public access. So, in the 1950s, officials began buying up the lots and clearing out the private homes. They brought in bulldozers. To stop the ocean from washing the sand away, workers built a massive stone jetty in 1963. Engineers pumped in tons of sand, and it worked. What used to be a rocky, private cove became a wide-open haven for sweaty summer crowds.