Fall in the White Mountains, Part 3
This is the third installment of a four-part blog post on a fall trip to the White Mountains. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven’t yet.
Flume Gorge
Our first stop was the Flume Gorge. The first thought that crossed my mind was how many people there were in the park despite it being 9:00 on a Friday morning—there was already a line at the entrance! I later heard from a friend who visited that Saturday around 10:00 AM that they turned down visitors without reservations, so make sure to get one from their official website at least the day before. (You also save $3!)
Flume Gorge, along with the previously documented viewpoints on the Kancamagus Highway, is a much more accessible destination for leaf peeping due to the park’s gravel trails and boardwalks. The trail passes by the vibrant red Flume Covered Bridge, one of many in the region, before delving into the namesake gorge. It’s actually a fantastic location to photograph long exposures with fall foliage, though since the boardwalks are fairly narrow, doing so might end up causing a traffic jam…
The trail then begins to loop around, but not before passing over a gorge carved by the Pemigewasset River (which the Flume Brook feeds). Sentinel Pine Covered Bridge offers good views of the gorge below. The most impressive views of the bridge can be accessed from a marked trail on the left just after crossing the bridge.
Overall the visit was certainly worth the crowds and $18 entrance fee; just make sure you’re happy with your pictures before leaving 
Crawford Notch State Park
We then headed over to the Crawford Notch, as driving through it the previous day had made us curious about the views in this area. A fortuitous pit stop (not words I normally use together) at the Willey House lead us across the street to the Willey Pond. The grandiose mountains and its fall foliage reflected perfectly on the water. I spent a good hour or two admiring and photographing the reflections and even stayed through a brief rain shower.
On a clear day I can imagine this area being the perfect place for a picnic.
Backtracking slightly, there are several more viewpoints also worth checking out. The Crawford Notch Scenic Parking Area is an easy way to look over the pass (see the header photo). You can also park at the Crawford Notch Depot to get reflections on Saco Lake or adventure on the railroad tracks (when the trains aren’t running!). I wasn’t enough of a daredevil to go on the tracks in case there was another train, but I hear you can get a shot of the train on the Willey Brook Trestle if you are adventurous.
You can see a Google My Maps of the locations listed in this post series here.
