v v v v v v LEAF PEEPING IN
NEW HAMPSHIRE v v v v v
v Introduction to New Hampshire
FOLIAGE WEBSITES
·
Foliage Hotline
tel. 800/258-3608
·
Visit New England.com – Link to
Weather.com foliage report, New Hampshire tourism info
TRAVEL
WEBSITES
·
New Hampshire
Maple Producers
·
asd
v Top
Recommended Drives
1. Around Winnipesaukee (a Native American name
for “smile of the great spirit” and has about 240 miles of shoreline)
A drive around New Hampshire’s largest lake will provide you beautiful across
the water and bring you through delightful towns and villages. Begin in Laconia and take Route 3 to Weirs Beach, and enjoy the arcade atmosphere. Continue
north on Route 3 to the beautiful lakeside village of Meredith. Leave this village on Route 25 heading for
Center Harbor and then Moultonborough at the northern
most point of the lake. Now turn right on to Route 117 and after a few miles go
right on to Route 109. Take this all the way to Wolfeboro (recommended
in a blog as a great town), a town with great views, shopping and
food. Now pick up Route 28 South to Alton Bay, the south tip of Lake Winnipesaukee. There pick up Route 11 Travel back north
close to the lakeside and look for signs to take you back to Laconia.
Laconia 
-
Meredith -
Wolfeboro
2. Route 112,
the Kancamagus Highway
Hit the "Kanc" for a Real Autumn Leaf Spectacular. The "Kanc," as the locals call it, allows visitors to watch
the maple, beech and birch trees burst into color without distraction. The Kancamagus
Trail along the foot of the White Mountains (Rte. 112) is often listed as a "top ten" scenic drive; it
leads to Conway, NH.
·
No
region of the United States is more famous for its stunning displays of
fall foliage than New
England. New Hampshire's Kancamagus
Scenic Byway, a 34.5-mile section of Route 112 running through the White Mountain National Forest, is renowned for its autumn leaf
spectacular, making it one of the top road trips to drive during the fall
leaf-viewing season. The "Kanc," as the locals call it, allows
visitors to watch the maple, beech and birch trees burst into color without
distraction.
·
As a
National Scenic Byway, the "Kanc," as the
locals call it, remains unspoiled by homes or service stations, allowing
visitors to watch the maple, beech and birch trees burst into color without
distraction.
·
When to
Go: Prime viewing begins during the second week of September at high
elevations, peaking along the rest of the route during the first two weeks of
October. Set aside approximately three hours to enjoy one of the most popular
fall foliage road trips in the world.
·
Where
to Drive: Traditionally, leaf-peepers
take the route west from Conway, N.H., at the junction of highways 112 and 16, to
Lincoln, N.H., at the junction of Interstate 93 and Highway 112. At the Saco Ranger
Station, near Route 16 in Conway, and at the White Mountains Gateway Visitors Center, in Lincoln, you can pick up trail maps highlighting
key stops at the various scenic overlooks, picnic areas, hiking trails and
historic sites along the route. Rangers at the Saco Ranger Station also offer
expertise on camping and hiking.
·
What to
See and Do: Step back in time by
stopping at the Russell-Colbath Homestead. Built in
the 1800s, this restored farmhouse, now a museum, is all that remains of the
former farming and old logging community of Passaconaway, N.H.. The historic house sits 13 miles west of
the Kancamagus
Highway, in Conway.
·
As you
continue along the highway, ascending 2,860 feet up the Kancamagus Pass, to the highest point of the highway, stop
to appreciate the views at various scenic lookouts. The Sugar Hill, Pemigewasset and Hancock overlooks make for nice photo ops,
as well as Falls Pond and Rocky Gorge. Another scenic highlight is a short and
easy hike of less than half a mile to see the picturesque Sabbaday Falls, a popular stop on the highway.
·
Road-trippers
might want to plan to hop out of their cars for a bit after they descend the
highway into Lincoln – at the end of the route. At the Loon Mountain Ski Resort, the
Franconia Notch Bike Tour (running until the first week of October) offers a
chance for drivers to work their legs at a relatively easy pace while in the
midst of the scenic fall foliage. You don’t have to be an expert biker to take
this self-guided tour; a shuttle bus will bring you to the start of the tour at
Echo Lake, where the relaxed downhill ride to Loon Mountain begins. As you ride along, stop and gaze at
New
Hampshire’s natural wonders, including the Flume Gorge and the former site of the
Old Man of the Mountain.
·
If
you’re passing through Lincoln at the end of September, consider participating in the New Hampshire
Highland Games, the largest Scottish cultural event in the northeastern United States. Activities include whiskey tasting,
dancing, music and traditional athletic competitions.
·
Before
heading home from Lincoln, make the obligatory stop at Clark’s
Trading Post, where the Clark
family has welcomed visitors for more than 70 years. Florence and Ed Clark opened Ed Clark’s Eskimo Sled
Dog Ranch in 1928. Their plan was to attract White Mountains visitors with their pure-bred Eskimo sled dogs
and goods from the far north, as well as souvenirs, tonic and maple candy.
After the Clarks purchased a black bear in 1931, visitors
began to take notice of this growing attraction as the couple trained their
animals to entertain passers-by. If circus-like animal acts aren’t your cup of
tea, you can still pick up authentic New England
souvenirs, including maple syrup and stoneware.
·
Sabbaday Falls, Kancamagus
Scenic Byway, One particularly scenic highlight along the byway is a short and easy
hike of less than half a mile to see the picturesque Sabbaday Falls, a popular stop on the highway.
PLACES TO STAY
ALONG KANC HIGHWAY (recommended by guy John works with)
·
Great resort/hotel near Franconia Notch/Kancamagus Highway – Mt. Washington
Hotel (year round heated outdoor
pool, movie room)
·
Great resort/hotel near Bear Notch – Attitash
Resort (mountain biking, mountain slide)
3. Upper connecticutt river
valley
(follow I-91)
starting in Vermont at Putney at Exit 4 (known for apples and crafts and
baskets), heading north to Bellow Falls at Exit 5 (largest natural falls on Conn River and is departure point for Green Mountain Railraod which has 26-mile rides to Chester Depot and
back), north up to Exit 8 and take Hwy 12A across to New Hampshire to Cornish
(can canoe or see Cornish-Windsor Bridge
which is the longest covered bridge in the country) can then backtrack and
take Hwy 5 to Hwy 44A to Mount Ascutney state park
and take road to 3,144 ft summit
v Other
Recommended Drives
1. Dartmouth Connecticut
River Route
Start in West Lebanon and take Route 10 north
into Hanover, the home of Dartmouth College and its beautiful and
historic campus. Continue north on Route 10 to the town of Oxford where you can turn right
onto Route 25A. You’ll now be heading east toward the White Mountains. In Wentworth turn right onto
Routes 25/118. After 3 miles take the right turn to continue on Route 118. You
will travel though the small towns of Cheever and Dorchester and then arriving at Canaan where you get on to Route 4
West that will take you back to Lebanon and West Lebanon. Hanover
2.
Merrimack Valley Route 129, through Loudon
Leave Concord on Route 106 North Loudon. In town pick up Route 129 north through Loudon Center, and Lower Gilmanton. Ypu
then pick up Route 107 though Pittsfield and then to Route 9 West
that will take you back to Concord. Concord -
Loudon
or Manchester – Derry
Leave Manchester taking Route 27 East to Candia.After
Eastr Candia turn right on to Route 107. Drive
through Raymond and follow Route 107 and then get on to Route 102 Going south
toward Chester and then Derry. Route 28 will take you
back to Manchester.
Manchester - Derry
3. Monadnock
Mount Monadnock Circle
Leave Keene on Route 101 East. You’ll
pass through Dublin, home of Yankee Magazine,
and then to Peterborough (recommended
in a blog as a great town). In Peterborough switch to Route 202 South and travel through Jaffrey to the small town of West Rindge. Turn right on to Route 199
and travel through the pretty town of Fitzwilliam to Winchester where you turn onto Route
10 North back to Keene.
Keene -
Peterborough -
Fitzwilliam
4.
White Mountains
5.
Spectacular mountains and too many drives for us to just pick one or two.
So find the towns you will traveling to and pick one, or more, of these routes
to drive. Don’t you wish you had time for all of them!
·Mount Washington Auto Road ($27
for 2 people, great views, museum/observatory)
·Bear Notch Road, between Bartlett and the Kancamagus Highway
(MID)
·NH Route 26, between Colebrook, Dixville and Errol (FAR NORTH)
·NH Route 16, between Conway and Errol (FAR NORTH)
·NH Route 2, between Lancaster and
Shelburne (MID NORTH)
·Franconia Notch Parkway, which runs between Franconia and Lincoln
(MID)
·NH Route 302, between Bethlehem and Glen
·NH Route 10, between Orford
and Woodsville
·NH Route 112, between Bath and North Woodstock
·NH Route 118, between North Woodstock and Rumney
·NH Route 16, between Errol and Milan
·U.S. Route 3 between Colebrook and
the Canadian border
·NH Route 49 in the Waterville Valley
·NH Route 110, between Dummer
and Northumberland
·NH Route 117, between Franconia and Lisbon
v More Sightseeing
·Lots of covered bridges in the
state
·Dixville Notch has prettiest views in state at the
narrowest point east of Lake Gloriette
·Franconia Notch State Park
is 7-mile pass and state park with deep valley and Flume Gorge looks awesome to
hike along (lots of stuff to see, open 9am-5pm for $10/adult, has a covered
bridge within the state park – see MSN pictorial tour picture #1)
·eat pancakes at Polly's Pancake Parlor in 672
Route 117, Sugar Hill, NH 03586 (White Mts. area near Franconia
Notch, 603-823-5575)
·Holderness
is where Squam
Lake is (filmed On Golden Pond),
possible B&B is Glynn House Inn
·Poverty Lane Orchards in Lebanon,
NH (fruit stand and pick your own apple) 98
Poverty Lane, Lebanon, NH
03766, Phone : (603) 448-1511
·Mount
Washington is highest point in Northeastern
US at 6,288 ft in White Mtns. Has state
park at top and world's first cog railway
(3 hrs roundtrip) hiking trails 603-466-2725. Great Glen Trails runs tours.
·Newport
has Fort at No. 4 reconstructed
·North
Conway is in Mount Washington
Valley and has great views, Conway Scenic Railroad (1 hour
roundtrip) and also has covered bridges
·Portsmouth has famous houses of
old architecture (603-436-3988, with free maps at Chamber of Commerce, 500
Market St.), has Fort Constituition (603-436-1552),
and Old Harbour Area (neat area), visit Strawberry Banke for a great look into the history of the early
seacoast region, visit Prescott Park on the water and see the magnificant gardens, eat at one of the many great and
interesting restaurants in Portsmouth and try a live lobster cooked to order,
take a cruise out to the Isles of Shoals on the Thomas M. Leighton (takes
visitors for either a two hour trip or a stopover on Star Island, where you can
wander about, picnic, sit in the rockers on the porch of the grand white hotel
or swim; they also do fall foliage tours on the Piscataqua
river)
·
If you like history, Canterbury
Shaker Village
in Canterbury is a beautiful spot
with a wonderful tour, nice restaurant..very
unspoiled. It is near the white mountains (Kancagamus Highway is a
beautiful ride) and the beautiful lakes region.
·
Great foliage viewing spot from Crawford Notch,
NH
·
Cannon
Mountain aerial tram (recommended by guy John works with) - has tram ride and hiking
·
Neat resort area on Lake Winnipesaukee – Mills Falls Inn
·
Neat B&B on Lake
Sunapee – Turtle Pond Farm
·
Nice B&B in Littleton
(north of Lincoln) – Thavers Inn
·
Neat B&B in Ashland
– The Glynn House Inn
a.
the Autumn Colors
package at The Glynn House Inn (tel. 866/686-4362) in Ashland.
b.
The special is based on two nights
accommodations, breakfast, wine and hors d'oeuvres, along with admission to the
Canterbury Shaker
Village.
c.
Room rates start at $130 and the package is
available September 1 through October 28. Glynn House also has a package for
cycling, available through October 31. Rates start at $80, and include gourmet
breakfast, evening wine and hors d'oeuvres and a full day rental of a two
mountain bikes, and a boxed lunch for two.
d.
The Inn's location in the
Lakes Region puts you near covered bridges, winding country lanes, mountains,
and other bucolic sites.
·
TIMING OF SIGHTSEEING
a.
One tour traveled from Essex Junction, Vermont,
through New Hampshire’s White Mtns (Franconia Notch and Kancamagus
Scenic Byway to North Conway) in one day
b.
One tour traveled from North
Conway, New Hampshire, to Portland,
Maine and explored in one day
v FROMMER’S SUGGESTED ITINERARIES
3 Days Afoot in New Hampshire's White Mountains
New Hampshire's
White Mountains offer extraordinary natural grandeur
from the roadside, along with the opportunity to explore mountain crags and
crystalline streams.
Day 1
Start at the town of Lincoln,
at Exit 32 of I-93, and drive to North Conway via the
scenic Kancamagus Highway,
stopping for some short hikes or a picnic. Indulge in a few shopping forays in
town, and savor the views of the Mount Washington
Valley. Head to
the village of Jackson to check in for the night. Relax before dinner at Jackson
Falls, or with a bike ride up Carter
Notch Road or other back roads in the hills above
the village.
Day 2
Stay another night in Jackson,
and spend the day exploring by foot around Pinkham
Notch. Stop at Glen Ellis
Falls en route to the base of Mount
Washington. Park at Pinkham
Notch and then hike to dramatic Tuckerman's Ravine for a picnic lunch.
Return to your car and continue north to Wildcat Ski Area. Take the chairlift
to the summit for spectacular views of Mount Washington,
the Presidentials, and the Carter
Range. Return to Jackson
for the night.
Day 3
Retrace your path down Route 16 back to Route 302, turn
right, and drive through Crawford Notch. If weather and time allow, hike to one
of the scenic waterfalls. Go to the Mount Washington Cog Railway on the far
side of the Notch. Take the train ride to the summit of Mount
Washington (dress warmly). On your return, stop
by the grand Mount Washington Hotel for a celebratory snack. Continue
west on Route 302 until reaching Route 3. Turn left (south) to I-93. Continue
southward through scenic Franconia Notch and visit some of the scenic
attractions (such as the Flume Gorge or the tram ride to Cannon
Mountain) as time allows.
v FROMMER’S The Best Places to See Fall
Foliage
Crawford
Notch (New Hampshire): Route 302 passes through this scenic
valley, where you can see the brilliant red maples and yellow birches high on
the hillsides. Mount
Washington stands
guard in the background and, in fall, is likely to be dusted with an early
snow.
v FROMMER’S The Best Small Towns and
Villages
Hancock (New
Hampshire):
This quiet hamlet -- a sort of satellite of the commercial center of Peterborough -- has a historic and settled white-clapboard
grace that's been utterly unperturbed since it was founded in the 18th century.
v Information about the cities we visited
New Hampshire Moto: Live Free or Die / New
Hampshire Nickname: Granite
State
New Hampshire
is known for its mountains with their rugged “notches” (called “gaps” and
“passes” everywhere else) and primarily is supported by manufacturing
(including mining of lots of rocks and minerals) and tourism. We essentially
drove around the White Mountains of New Hampshire (including Bartlett, Gorham,
Jackson), through the Lakes Regio (passed through ?), and the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Region (including
Dartmouth College).
·
asdf
·
Hanover
– parked on the Dartmouth College
(known for its medical school) green to go have dinner at Murphey’s
(saw the Hood art museum as we waked past it), we actually stayed at the
Marriott Courtyard,
·
Bartlett
– ate at the Muddy Moose for dinner, stayed at Attitash
Grand Summit Resort (the room was clean, but the resort is definitely dated)
which we took Bear Notch Road
off of the Kancamagus Hwy
to get there.
·
North Conway – passed by
the Conway Scenic Railroad depot.
·
Bretton Woods –
located on a long glacial plain in the shadow of Mount Washington
and the Presidential Range (I think we went through Crawford Notch by accident
due to the GPS)
·
Jackson
– passed through here after driving through Maine
(south end of Pinkham Notch) and has a covered bridge
(?) over the Ellis River
and passed by Story Land (looks kinda scary if you
ask me, funny character type buildings)
·
Gorham – passed through here after entering from
Maine (north end of Pinkham Notch) and is the northeast approach to the
Presidential Range
·
Mount Washington – we stopped and took photos of
the Mt Washington (the central peak of the White Mountains and the highest
point in the northeastern US at 6288 ft), we didn’t take the AutoRoad because it was snowcapped (weather on top is very
violent, timberline is at 4000 ft (10000 ft in Rockies) and highest wind speed
recorded here, year-round average temp is below freezing)
·
Franconia – hiked in Franconia Notch State Park
(a 7-mile pass and state park between the Franconia and Kinsman ranges of the
White Mountains – Mount Liberty (4460 ft), Mount Lincoln (5108 ft), and
Lafayette (5249 ft) on the east and Cannon Mountain (4200 ft). The Pemigewasset River
follows the length of the Notch. We saw The Basin (a deep galacial
pothole, 20 ft in diameter at the foot of a waterfall), went to the foot of
Cannon Mountain ski area (didn’t take the gondola because the top was in the
clouds), we walked through the Flume Gorge (narrow, 800-ft long natural gorge
and waterfall along the flank of Mount Liberty), saw the Old Man of the
Mountain Historic Site (he actually crumbled in 2003) that discovered in 1805
and also known as the “Great Stone Face” and Profile Lake ( lake at bottom of
Man of Mtn viewing site)
v Information
These are places that we would like to revisit on a future
trip or places we didn’t get to see and would like to next time.
·
Bellows
Falls – see the largest natural
falls on the entire Connecticut River and maybe ride the
Green Mountain Railroad (26-mile ride to Chester Depot and back)
·
Cornish – see the longest covered bridge in the
country (Cornish-Windsor Bridge)
on Hwy 12A
·
Mount Washington – take
the Auto Road and maybe the Cog Railway (world’s first one built in 1869)
·
Franconia – Polly’s
Pancake Parlor and Cannon Mountain Aerial Tram Way
·
Kancamagus
Highway – all of it and things mentioned above.
● NEW YORK INFO ●
VERMONT
INFO ●
NEW
HAMPSHIRE INFO ● MASSACHUSETTS INFO
● PLANNED ROUTE ●
