Dover

Dover, New Hampshire, combines experiences in the downtown area with river landscapes and natural areas. Families can explore interactive exhibits, spend time in a riverside park on the Cochecho River, or enjoy the view from Garrison Hill. Which vacation rental in Dover is right for your trip also depends on whether you’d like to focus more on visits to downtown, trails in green spaces, or excursions in the surrounding area.

Discover with the kids: the Children’s Museum

The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire is located in Henry Law Park downtown. Across two floors, it offers custom-designed interactive exhibits for children from toddler age through middle school. Possible discoveries include dinosaur fossils to dig up, music, piloting a space shuttle, and navigating a submarine. The themes invite families to include a range of interests: while some children may be fascinated by fossils, others might prefer trying out instruments or exploring space travel and underwater journeys.

A visit to the museum therefore provides a distinct focus for a stay in Dover. If you’d like to center your plans around these kinds of activities, you can use downtown as a starting point for planning your trip. The museum is located in Henry Law Park; other downtown offerings complement a visit with the riverfront, local history, and local specialties.

Riverfront and trails through Dover

Nebi Park is a public riverfront park on the Cochecho River in the heart of downtown. The grounds include landscaped promenades, gathering spots, and seating areas, as well as river access and a pavilion. The park serves as a venue for community events, recreation, dining, and boating activities. So it’s not just a path along the water: the different areas are also designed as gathering places and for activities on the river.

The downtown section of the Dover Community Trail connects downtown—with a trailhead at the Transportation Center—to the Dover Middle School and Dover High School campuses, as well as Bellamy Park. It is suitable for pedestrians and cyclists. For much of its length, the trail follows a former railroad corridor. This historic use of the corridor sets the trail apart from an ordinary street connection; you can explore it on foot or by bike.

Additional sections are planned. They are intended to provide public access to protected green corridors along the Cochecho River and the Bellamy River. Where the trail follows the rivers, the rural extensions are planned to offer opportunities for biking, hiking, birdwatching, and fishing. These plans should be distinguished from the downtown section, which already connects the places mentioned above.

Views, gardens, and natural areas

Garrison Hill Park is home to the 76-foot-tall Garrison Hill Tower. The current steel tower was built in 1993. On a clear day, its 360-degree view extends to the White Mountains, the Maine coast, and Portsmouth Harbor. The site has been home to various observation structures since the 17th century. Visitors can therefore pair today’s views with a longer history as a scenic overlook.

Bellamy Preserve, also known as Bellamy River Wildlife Sanctuary, has two loop trails with a combined length of about 1.5 miles. The trails pass through forests, tidal streams, and salt marshes. Those who enjoy exploring landscapes on foot will find different scenery here than on the downtown Community Trail. The Joe B. Parks Riverwalk Public Gardens, in turn, offer a horticultural focus: opened in 2008, they include themed areas with wildflowers, rhododendrons, hostas, mountain laurels, daylilies, and other plants. The gardens invite visitors to stroll and linger, and are connected to Dover’s natural heritage.

Nearby, Willand Pond Recreation Area lies between Dover and Somersworth. A 66-acre pond is surrounded by wooded trails, and the area is suitable for walking, fishing, and wildlife viewing. Also between Dover and Portsmouth, on the west bank of the Bellamy River, is the 400-acre Bellamy River Wildlife Management Area. Its trail network is suitable for hiking, cross-country skiing, and wildlife viewing. These two areas offer different attractions: Willand Pond focuses on the pond and wooded trails, while the Bellamy River Wildlife Management Area also offers hiking and cross-country skiing.

Local history and flavors

“Faces of Dover” is a self-guided historical experience featuring photo markers and explanatory signs distributed throughout the city. It offers its own way to explore the city’s history, complementing the nature and family attractions with a history-focused tour. Downtown, the woman-owned business Auspicious Brew brews kombucha and serves it by the glass, as a flight, and in a growler. This offers a distinctive local flavor for travelers who want to explore Dover’s culinary scene as well as take excursions.

In the surrounding community, Cochecho River Recreation offers kayak and canoe rentals, private boat storage, and introductory safe-paddling courses. Founded by Paul and Maya Halthore-Kelley, the company aims to connect people in Dover with the Cochecho River. Together with the riverfront park and trails, these offerings cater to a range of interests around the river.

More places in the same broader area: Strafford, Durham.

Back to the broader travel overview: Strafford.