New Hampshire's White Mountains - Making Memories Every Day!
The White Mountains region of New Hampshire is a place of active fun and adventure all year. It’s perfect place to take families with kids to explore natural wonders in the midst of towering mountains. At the same time, more-reserved adults will enjoy the mountain vistas, dining, and shopping.
Fun in the mountains includes, of course, hiking, biking, fishing and water sports. In addition, you can jump aboard the Cog Railway for a dizzying and memorable climb up some of the steepest slopes in the East. If extreme weather fascinates you, the Mount Washington Observatory at the mountain’s summit has sky-high and high-tech exhibits about extreme weather at the roof of the Eastern Seaboard.
On the flip side, you can explore the insides of the Earth at the Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves. Did we mention that this vacation is going to tire you out? Younger children in the family will love visits with Santa and mellow ride and Santa’s Village; rides and kid entertainments, including performing bears, also are at Clark’s Trading Post.
And lodgings — for a romantic getaway or at a luxurious mountain resort -- will bathe you in comfort during your White Mountains vacation.
Wildcat Mountain Ski Area
Route 16, Pinkham Notch Jackson, NH, 03846 Phone: 603-466-3326
Mountain resort’s scenic chairlift ride will elevate your vacation experience
White Mountains Attractions
200 Kancamagus Highway North Woodstock, NH, 03262 Phone: 603-745-8720 Toll-Free: 800-346-3687
New Hampshire's White Mountains boast a colorful array of activities for visitors of all ages
Cranmore Mountain Resort
1 Skimobile Road North Conway, NH, 03860 Phone: Toll-Free: 800-786-6754
Exciting outdoor adventures surround you at this mountain resort
Story Land
850 New Hampshire Route 16 Glen, NH, 03838 Phone: 603-383-4186
You’ll have great tales to tell after spending a day at the magical Story Land
Fairy tales do come true at Story Land, the children’s theme park that has been delighting families for over 65 years. And it’s no wonder! You can ride in Cinderella’s Pumpkin Coach or on a magical antique German carousel, sail on a pirate ship, visit with live storybook animals and with Mother Goose, travel through the park on the Huff Puff & Whistle Railroad or soar through the air on Flying Fish. There’s a Crazy Barn that raises itself off the ground, swan boats that glide, Alice’s Tea Cups that spin – and places to dig for fossils, pan for gemstones, ride rafts, drive mini antique cars and zip around on a wooden roller coaster called Roar-O-Saurus. Dining ranges from hot dogs to Mediterranean cuisine.
Cannon Mountain
Franconia Notch State Park Franconia, NH, 03580 Phone: 603-823-8800
Lots of fun decisions to make when you’re planning your day in Franconia Notch
Polar Caves
705 Rumney Route 25 Rumney, NH Phone: 603-536-1888
Feeling bold? Try your hand at exploring these boulder caves, mazes and trails
With nine granite boulder caves, boulder mazes and nature trails, Polar Caves Park really is an outdoor experience of glacial proportions. Formed during the last Ice Age, gigantic granite boulders were dropped at the base of Hawk’s Cliff, forming passageways. Now those passageways provide adventures for visitors, who squeeze through well-lit caves, scurry up stairs and over boardwalks as they explore this natural wonder. Stop for a rest on a bench fit for a pharaoh at King Tut’s Cave, then keep ducking, squeezing and shimmying your way through the trail. There’s also an animal park with fallow deer and ducks, the Baker River Mining Sluice where you can mine for gems, places to picnic and the Main Lodge with treats and trinkets.
Flume Gorge & Visitor Center
852 Daniel Webster Highway (Route 3) Franconia Notch, NH Phone: 603-745-8391
Nature walk that lets you get up close and personal with the beauty of this spectacular chasm
Explore the beauty of a natural gorge that extends 800 feet at the base of Mount Liberty. The Conway granite walls of the Flume Gorge rise to 90 feet in places, and you can gaze at them in awe on a one-way, 2-mile self-guided nature loop. Check out the Flume Covered Bridge across the scenic Pemigewasset River, scenic pools, the spectacular 45-foot Avalanche Falls as well as an intriguing variety of flowers, ferns and mosses. The walk finishes at the Flume Building, where a visitor’s center includes a cafeteria and interpretive exhibits about this breathtaking natural chasm. The walk takes about an hour and a half. Go on the website to make a reservation so you’re set to go on arrival.
Santa's Village
528 Presidential Highway Jefferson, NH, 03583 Phone: 603-586-4445
It’s OK to be a little elfish at this enchanting, attraction-filled Christmas village
Satisfy your inner elf at Santa’s Village, where Christmas is celebrated all year long. Admission includes all features for a full day: And there are so many features! You can feed Santa’s reindeer, go on a parkwide scavenger hunt, get a good luck ring from the blacksmith shop, take a photo at home with Santa, squirt water blasters at the village fire department, go on the Skyway Sleigh monorail or bumper cars or flume or Ferris wheel or reindeer carousel! And then there’s Santa’s Water Park with splashes, slides and a splash pad for little ones, and a Christmas Light Show. Dine at the Burger Meister Food Court, Nick’s Pizza Emporium or get a panini at the Merry Mess Hall.
Hobo Railroad
64 Railroad Street Lincoln, NH, 03251 Phone: 603-745-2135
Ride the rails, and marvel at the scenery, on these old-fashioned train excursions
Take in some of the White Mountain region’s most stunning scenery from a restored vintage coach on the Hobo Railroad. Choose an 80-minute ride along the winding Pemigewasset River on the rail system that dates back to the late 1800s, or relax on the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad as you rumble along the lake’s western shore for a two-hour ride from the Meredith Station or a one-hour ride from Weirs Beach. Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy on board. Or, for something really different, pedal along the line in a state-of-the-art rail bike in a guided rail bike adventure, which takes you over a trestle bridge crossing Winnipesaukee River to the shore of Lake Winnisquam.
Attitash Grand Summit Hotel & Ski Area
104 Grand Summit Road - Route 302 Bartlett, NH, 03812 Phone: 603-374-6700
Summertime in the mountains means a new role for scenic ski-slope chairlift
Conway Scenic Railroad
38 Norcross Circle North Conway, NH, 03860 Phone: 603-356-5251
Get your vacation on track with an excursion aboard a scenic railroad train
Alpine Adventures
41 Main Street Lincoln, NH, 03251 Phone: 603-745-9911
Lots of ways to experience pure exhilaration at this mountain adventure center
Whale's Tale Waterpark
481 Daniel Webster Highway - Route 3 Lincoln, NH, 03251 Phone: 603-745-8810
Surf, splash and slide your way through a fun day at this world-class water park
It’s easy to see why the Whale’s Tale Water Park is one of TripAdvisor’s Top 25 waterparks in the U.S. There are so many ways to slide, swim and splash your way through this world-class park. You can surf on simulated waves at Akua Beach, slide down a bobsled-style course at the Harpoon Express, watch the kids get soaked at Shipwreck Island, race down dual side-by-side speed slides with your pal or shoot down a dark, enclosed tube into the Eye of the Storm. Little ones will love tubing down a lazy river or splashing in shallow water at Whale Harbor. Plenty to eat here, from a snack bar, beach bar and pizza place.
Mount Washington Cog Railway
Off Route 302 Bretton Woods, NH, 03589 Phone: 603-278-5404 Toll-Free: 800-922-8825
Travel through history, and see stunning mountain scenery, on this famous Cog Railway
Mt. Washington Auto Road
Route 16, Pinkham Notch Gorham, NH, 03581 Phone: 603-466-3988
The legendary auto road, built in 1861, takes you up to the Northeast's Highest summit
Lost River Gorge & Boulder Caves
1712 Lost River Road -- Route 112W North Woodstock, NH, 03262 Phone: 603-745-8031
Millions of years in the making, the gorge and boulder caves will amaze you
History tells us that Lost River Gorge & Boulder Caves is 300 million years old. It is believed the gorge was former during the Ice Age because of its sculpted & jagged rock walls, cascading waterfalls and glacial boulder caves that you can marvel at with a self-guided adventure walk. The gorge, in Kinsman Notch, winds its way along the Lost River, and you can check out its amazing features on the one-way 1-mile boardwalk trail. Explore or bypass 11 boulder caves, go over a suspension bridge and climb onto the Giant Bird’s Nest platform to view the gorge, the Kinsman Notch and the surrounding forests that seem to go on forever. You can also pan for gemstones and fossils at the Lost River Mining Company. Advanced online reservations are highly encouraged.
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