If you’re like me, you prefer to visit our local Seacoast parks with indoor bathrooms. Personally, I will do anything to avoid using a porta-potty. I just don’t want to see or smell other people’s business. I want to use a toilet that flushes and I want to wash my hands with soap and running water when I’m done. That being said it’s not always easy to find such luxury when you’re in the great outdoors with your kids. Typically when bringing your kids to a park or playground, you have to make sure you (and the potty-trained kids) go before you leave and then you have to hold it until you get back home.
Another downside of the porta-potty is that it’s a very tight squeeze for one person, and it’s an even tighter squeeze for you and your children. Plus a stroller doesn’t fit in a porta-potty very easily.
I have compiled my research for other moms looking for local Seacoast parks with indoor bathrooms while getting some quality outside time with their children. Keep in mind that most of these park’s bathrooms are seasonal so they may not be open in January when you want to go sledding there.
Stratham Hill Park
270 Portsmouth Avenue, Stratham, NH
Stratham Hill Park has a playground, ball fields, picnic tables, hiking trails and lots of open space. The bathrooms are only open in the summer months. During the summer, the park has food trucks and live music on Thursday nights.
Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and Discovery Center
89 Depot Road Greenland, NH
Great Bay Discovery Center has a playground and lots of areas to play and explore along the Great Bay. Their main building is open for visitors to use the facilities on certain days and times depending on the season. There is also a covered pavilion with picnic tables. They have a lot of different events and activities for kids throughout the year.
Newmarket’s Aqua Land Splash Pad
1 Terrace Drive Newmarket, NH
The Newmarket Splash Pad is part of a large park and playground in between the Rec Center and the middle school. The bathrooms are only available during certain times of the year. The Splash Pad is currently being used by their day camp on week days.
Four Tree Island
Peirce Island Road, Portsmouth, NH
Four Tree Island is just off of Peirce Island in Portsmouth so you can take your kids to the playground on Peirce Island and then use the bathroom on Four Tree Island if you have to go. The scenery on the Piscataqua River is beautiful year round.
Odiorne Point state Park
570 Ocean Blvd, Rye, NH
Odiorne Point State Park has hiking and biking trails, fishing, historic sites, a playground, picnic areas and bathrooms. As a state park, parking reservations can be made in advance. Other nearby state parks with bathrooms include Wallis Sands State Park, Jenness State Beach and Hampton Beach State Park. For more information on state parks, visit here
