Fall in the White Mountains, Part 1
New England is renowned for its fall colors. Despite reports that the drought would affect this year’s foliage, we took our chances to travel to the White Mountains of New Hampshire in early October.
Franconia Notch
After a roughly two hour drive from Boston, our trip started with visiting the famous view from Artist’s Bluff. We took the trail from the free parking lot at the trail head, skipping the view from Bald Mountain. We were greeted by a wide sweeping vista of the Franconia Notch (notch is just another term for narrow mountain pass that is frequently used in this area) with I-93 cutting through the bottom of the pass.
Even on a Wednesday there were a considerable number of folks there, though far less than what we encountered nearing the weekend. (More on that in a later post.) We then headed down to Echo Lake and checked out the reflections of the surrounding mountains. Although the parking lot next to the lake is paid, it might be worth the cost to park here and hit both Artist’s Bluff and the lake if Bald Mountain isn’t a priority.
Kancamagus Highway
Our next stop was driving along the Kancamagus Highway. There are a bunch of different overlooks along the way that are all worth hopping out and taking a look from. Below are a list of them in order from west to east (i.e. driving from Lincoln):
- Hancock Overlook: as this is the first overlook, it can get crowded; has a famous hairpin loop but you’re not allowed to fly drones here
- Unnamed Overlook (no really, there’s not an official name for this overlook yet): often skipped but worth it
- Pemigewasset Overlook: come here for sunsets
- CL Graham Wangan Overlook: if the clouds are low enough, you can see them float through the surrounding mountains for a mystical effect
- Sugar Hill Scenic Vista: perhaps the least impressive of them all
After stopping through the overlooks, there are a couple of places worth pulling over for in the valley. Sabbaday Falls is an easily accessible area with an easy walk among waterfalls and a calm creek surrounded by falling leaves. Rocky Gorge Scenic Area is just a little more eastward and is the first paid area among this list (either buy a pass beforehand or make sure to bring cash so you can pay and hang a pass from your windshield). I think the fall foliage around the gorge was more impressive and colorful than that at Sabbaday Falls, but both are still worth visiting.
We managed to catch sunset over Rocky Gorge, where my girlfriend took this fantastic shot:
Lodging
For the next couple of days, we booked at White Mountain Motel and Cottages for just a little over $100 a night. I’d highly recommend a stay here; the accomodation is clean, quiet, and well-priced, and has amenities like a small fridge and microwave. There are also plenty of outlets and reasonably fast WiFi.
You can see a Google My Maps of the locations listed in this post series here.
