Coastal Byway
Coastal Byway is a State Scenic Byway in New Hampshire. Within New Hampshire it covers roughly 25 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Coastal Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Coastal Byway is an 18-mile scenic drive along New Hampshire's short stretch of Atlantic coastline, following state Routes 1A and 1B from Seabrook north to Portsmouth. Despite covering one of the shortest ocean fronts of any U.S. state, the byway packs in sandy beaches, rocky headlands, and the ecologically rich Hampton Seabrook Marsh, an estuary that supports a wide range of coastal birds. The road also doubles as an active cycling route, carrying both U.S. Bicycle Route 1 and the East Coast Greenway along its length, so travelers frequently share the shoulder with long-distance riders. Because it's short enough to drive end to end in under an hour, most visitors treat the byway as a slow beach-hopping route rather than a single destination drive, pulling off at the public beaches and marsh overlooks that line NH 1A between Seabrook and Portsmouth's historic waterfront.
- Seabrook to Portsmouth
- ~18-22 miles (NH 1A / 1B)
- Hampton Seabrook Marsh
- Gulf of Maine coastline
- US Bicycle Route 1 / East Coast Greenway
- New Hampshire seacoast
Plan a drive on Coastal Byway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Coastal Byway
No campgrounds are listed close to Coastal Byway yet, but there are rooms near the route.
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