Portsmouth & Kittery Loop

This is a really fun run with great water views and a variety of sights and terrain. It includes a tour of Peirce Island (not a typo!), and then the Memorial Bridge over to Kittery, ME.

Start at the Portsmouth Memorial, and run along the pleasant paths of Prescott Park to Peirce Island Rd. You’ll then do a ~2 mile tour of Pierce Island, using Peirce Island Rd. and the gentle S. End Loop Trail and N. Shoreline Trail. Back at the parking lot, take a quick jaunt out to Four Tree Island. After returning to Prescott Park, it’s easy to run over to Maine, just 0.5 miles over the Memorial Bridge (which has a good pedestrian path). Turn around at Water St. and head back to Portsmouth. Bonus: There’s a public pool on Pierce Island.

Add-Ons: Enjoy some of the lovely, historic streets around the center of Portsmouth and the grounds of the Strawbery Banke Museum. Can also connect to our Newcastle Island route. It’s a spectacular 1.5 miles from Prescott Park along Marcy St. to Rt. 1B, over to New Castle, passing  Shapleigh Island and Goat Island.