Salem

Salem is New Hampshire's border city, with a population of roughly 29,000, lying just over the border with Massachusetts on Interstate 93. It is largely a marketing and distribution center, but it does have a handful of places of visitor interest.

Perhaps the most interesting of Salem's tourist attractions is a place popularly known as America's Stonehenge, which is essentially a stone site in North Salem that may represent an astronomical construction similar to England's famous Stonehenge. At the site is a visitors’ center, which displays stone artifacts as well as 18th- and 19th-century housewares found at the site. Admission is around $7. To find it, take Exit 3 from Interstate 93 for Route 111 east, which you follow for five miles to a right on Island Pond Road, which becomes Haverhill Road and goes to the entrance of Stonehenge. 893-8300; open daily from April through November, hours change seasonally.

Salem also has a horse racing track, Rockingham Park, at Exit 1 off the interstate; call for post times and reservations (898-2311).

Lastly, there’s Canobie Lake Park, a traditional family amusement park at Exit 2, full of action excitement with a roller coaster, bumper cars, ferris wheels, and water rides. It’s especially fun in the evening, offering colored lights and the scent of carnival food in the air. Open weekends from mid-April through May, then daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day ( 893-3506). Don’t bring food or beverages; you have to buy them there.

Londonderry

On the way north from Salem on Interstate 93, pause in the primarily-agricultural community of Londonderry, where you can tour the Stonyfield Farm Yogurt Works. Here, you can actually see the entire cow-to-milk-to-yogurt process and get a taste of the end product as well. The plant is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30 am to 5 pm, with tours on the hour from February through November; closed in December except for the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Call ahead to check on tours, especially during holiday weeks (437-4040, ext. 243).

Derry

Derry is a small town north of Salem that is especially interesting to poetry buffs, for it has deep associations with Robert Frost. Frost and his family actually lived here for more than a decade. The Robert Frost Farm, dating from 1900, is situated just on the periphery of Derry, where you can take a guided tour of the Frost house that includes a video presentation, exhibits, and a finally a self-guided saunter down down a nature-cum-poetry trail. To get there, take Exit 4 off the Interstate and head straight through town of Derry to Route 28 (which is 2 miles from the Interstate exit), from a right turn and another 2-mile drive will bring you to the Robert Frost Farm. The farm and house are open June to October, daily 10 am to 6 pm; (432-3091 or 485-2651).

Nashua

Nashua is essentially a center for business and industry that was built around the textile trade. It is nevertheless New Hampshire's second largest city, with a population of nearly 90,000. For visitors, the only place of year-round interest here is the Mines Falls Park, a 325-acre park situated smack in the center of town, which has walking trails, boating possibilities and, in the wintertime, cross-country ski trails (more information for the park is available at 594-3367). Another, the Greeley Park on Concord Street, at the north end of town, is the locale for Summerfest events that take place in a band shell in the park. Greeley Park also has walking trails.

Just outside Nashua, however, journeying along Route 101A from Nashua west to Wilton, you can search out a “treasure trail” of antique shops: 1,500 dealers down a nine-mile stretch! Many of the shops here are group endeavors and most are open daily. There’s a lot of shopping offered here!