Exploring the Great Outdoors in the White Mountains
While in Maine, we took a vacation to explore the great outdoors in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. It was Suzannah’s birthday weekend and she wanted her family to see all the sites she’d seen as a child. Gorham, New Hampshire is a small town located in the White Mountains and is central to many attractions in the area. The White Mountains are a perfect setting for all those who love the outdoors and the area has activities for all seasons.
Mount Washington
The initial reason for going to explore the White Mountains was to see Mount Washington. Mount Washington is the tallest peak in the Northeastern United States. It’s over 6,000 feet and there are multiple ways to get to the top. You can hike, take a guided tour, ride the train, or do the Auto Road. Be aware that the train and Auto Road are on opposite sides of the mountain, so plan ahead! It was a beautiful day, promising magnificent views from the summit, so we decided to take the Auto Road.
Auto Road
The Mount Washington Auto Road is the oldest manmade attraction in the US, first opening in 1861. It operates from May through October, depending on the weather, with specific opening hours as well. The rates are for each individual person and your vehicle and it includes an audio tour…$31 for the driver and vehicle. The audio tour has lots of history about the road and Mount Washington and was a good distraction for Suzannah as she was very nervous on the drive up and down!
The drive is about 30-45 minutes to get to the top and is right along the edge of the mountain most of the way. You can see for miles and miles on a good clear day. Once at the top, the views are spectacular and it was significantly colder and windier than at the bottom. Good thing we had sweatshirts!! In addition to the views, there’s a museum, a restaurant and souvenir shops. Suzannah got her Lord of the Rings “you shall not pass!” walking stick at the top! You can also check out the building with the highest wind speed recorded by a man in 1934…231 MPH…the building is chained down!!
Cog Railway
The Cog Railway is a nice, not-so-scary way to climb Mount Washington. The Mount Washington Cog Railway was the first mountain cog rail in the US and 2019 marked its 150th year. The train takes about an hour and you can purchase tickets online or at the station. The scenery from the rail is amazing and the train conductors highlight important sites along the way. You can see the hiking trail and how the landscape changes with altitude. Once you get to the top, you have about an hour to explore before the train leaves for the base.
ATV Rental
What better way to explore the White Mountains than with an ATV ride? Northeast Snowmobile offers 2 or 4-person all-terrain vehicles for rent. For $189 we got a 4-person ATV so the boys could ride together in the back. We signed a waiver, picked out helmets, and after a quick lesson, we were off. 2 hours of glorious riding along the muddy mountain trails, up to the windmills and back. It was completely exhilarating and we all enjoyed it, especially Chris because he got to drive. After the ATV ride, we headed up to the Flume Gorge in Lincoln, New Hampshire.
Flume Gorge & Cannon Mountain
The Flume Gorge, discovered in 1808, is an 800-foot natural gorge at the base of Mount Liberty in Franconia Notch State Park. We purchased a Discovery Pass ($31/adults & $25/child) which included the gorge and the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway. The 2-mile hike up to the gorge follows along some beautiful water features with granite walls rising 90 feet up! The hike has a stairway that goes up to the gorge and you can look down over the gorge and path you just climbed. The temperature is much cooler in the gorge due to the glacial water pools and rivers. There are different rock formations that the kids could crawl through if they weren’t too scared. Overall, it was a nice, family-friendly hike.
The Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway takes you to the top of, wait for it, Cannon Mountain! The summit has multiple different hiking trails up, down, and around the mountain. The summit trail took us along the edge of the mountain and then to a lookout with a 360-degree view of the White Mountains. Another clear sky day and we could see so far. The trail was great but just a little scary as there weren’t very many barriers on the cliff edge!
Ziplines & Coaster!
Wildcat Mountain
What better way to explore the White Mountains than with speed and adventure. On our last day, we started at Wildcat Mountain in Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire to do a little ziplining. The ZipRider is a 4-person (4 across in own seats) zipline that takes you for a 1/2-mile ride over the treetops and Peabody River. It was only $25 each and we decided to do just one run. The ride was amazing, we all enjoyed it and found out that the more you weigh, the faster you go! We would have stayed longer but found a mountain coaster at a nearby resort we had to try.
Cranmore Mountain
Cranmore Mountain in North Conway, New Hampshire has a summer adventure park with activities for all ages. It offers multiple passes to enjoy their adventure park. We chose the Mountain Adventure Park Pass which includes unlimited rides on the mountain coaster, zipline, scenic chairlift, tubing, and a giant 4-person swing. The prices go by height so $53 for 54 inches and up and $43 for less than 54 inches. Not too bad for a few hours of fun!
On the mountain coaster, you ride down at your own speed, twisting and turning the whole way. This was a favorite for Corbin who so desperately wanted to drive but was just a bit too little. The zipline whipped you backward to one end and then you soared like an eagle (hence the name: Soaring Eagle) back to the start. The giant swing went so high your stomach did flips! Have you ever been snow tubing in the summer? You can do that at Cranmore Mountain. It was fun and you aren’t cold or covered in snow. They even had misters at the end to cool you off!
Goodbye White Mountains
We enjoyed exploring the great outdoors in the White Mountains and the surrounding area. It is beautiful and has a lot to offer the outdoor adventurer, no matter what the season is. It was time for us to head home to Maine though. We had a much-awaited family reunion and we needed to prepare for the next leg of Hop 1, crossing the border to Canada and exploring Quebec City.
