It was an easy and short (less than two hours) drive from Freeport, Maine to our next destination, North Conway, New Hampshire. The drive was made even better by the fact that it was all on two lane country roads. This gave us time to relax and enjoy the scenery.
North Conway is a village in Carroll County, New Hampshire. It is a year-round resort area. The White Mountain Forrest is to the west and north. There are lakes, rivers, trails, golf courses, ski areas and plenty more to keep you busy for a long time. We had two nights booked for North Conway and thanks to Beth's expert planning and a very helpful front desk employee at our hotel, I think we made very good use of our time.
North Conway, New Hampshire
Within minutes of checking into the hotel, we were back in the car, heading out to explore the area. There are numerous covered bridges in the North Conway area. Our friend from the hotel suggested heading for the small village of Jackson, which was about 15 miles away. There was a really nice, covered bridge spanning the Ellis River. As an added bonus, just a couple of miles upriver from the bridge was Jackson Falls, which is definitely worth checking out. We finished the day with a really nice meal at the Red Fox Bar and Grille.
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| The Jackson covered bridge was built in 1876. It is also known as "Honeymoon Bridge". |
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| Perpetual Honeymooner on the Honeymoon Bridge |
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| The Ellis River |
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| Ellis Falls |
Red Fox Bar and Grille
Our second day in North Conway started with a very adventurous drive into the clouds. The 36-mile drive from North Conway to the entrance of the Mount Washington Auto Road was peaceful and incredibly beautiful. The 7.6 mile journey from the entrance of the auto road to the summit of the mountain was a little more harrowing. The narrow, winding road climbs over 4,000 feet. The average grade of the road is 12%, with some extended sections around 18% and finishes with the last 50 yards at a 22% grade. Oh yeah, and there are no guardrails!
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Into the clouds! Beth did the drive up and I did the drive down.
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| We made it! So did the fog and clouds. |
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It wasn't quite this breezy during our visit. There are weather monitors in the visitor's center. The winds were blowing around 30 mph during our visit. This made the "feels like" temperature around 30 degrees. The road does close often due to weather. You can check the website for current conditions.
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Mount Washington-Drive Yourself
If you don't feel like driving up the mountain there is another option. There is a cog railroad that operates from the base to the summit. Beth, her mom and two sisters did the cog railroad some years back and enjoyed it.
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| After safely making it back down from the summit we enjoyed a very colorful afternoon. |
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| This was a trailhead between Mount Washington and North Conway that was actually part of the Appalachian Trail |
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| We finished our day with a round of miniature golf at the course adjacent to our hotel...........a little more laid back than the morning adventure up Mount Washington! |
After our second night in North Conway, we loaded up the rental car and pointed it towards Smugglers Notch which is near Stowe, Vermont. However, we had one more New Hampshire adventure planned before we sang our way across the state line (we always sing when crossing from one state to another) into Vermont.
Our routing first took us on the 34.5 mile Kancamagus Scenic Byway (commonly known as "The Kanc". It was a Saturday morning, but it seemed as if most of the leaf peepers were getting a late start, so it wasn't too crowded, and we enjoyed several stops along the way.
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| A few shots from along "The Kanc" |
We stopped at Franconia Notch State Park for a gondola ride on the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway. The tramway to the 4,080 summit of Cannon Mountain has been in operation since 1938. Unlike the clouds and fog we had at the top of Mount Washington we had a beautiful clear day, which made for great views on the way up, at the summit and on the way down.
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| It was about a ten-minute ride up and down |
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| Going up..... |
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| at the top or on the way down, the views were great! |
Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway
