White Mountains: Kancamagus Highway, Flume Gorge & Franconia Notch

The 34-mile Kancamagus Highway (NH-112) crosses the White Mountain National Forest between Lincoln and Conway — one of the most scenic drives in New England, without a traffic signal or commercial development along its entire length. Sabbaday Falls (0.3-mile walk from the highway) drops through a two-stage cascade in a narrow pothole gorge carved by the Swift River; Rocky Gorge (0.2-mile walk) passes through a gorge where the river narrows to 10 feet between vertical walls. The highway crosses the Kancamagus Pass at 2,855 feet, with views west toward the Franconia Range.

A 2-mile loop through an 800-foot glacially carved granite gorge — the Flume is a natural chasm 20 feet wide at the base and up to 90 feet deep, with Avalanche Falls dropping 45 feet at its upper end. The gorge walls are composed of Conway granite formed 180 million years ago; the chasm was carved by meltwater flowing under the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the last glaciation. Wooden walkways installed along the gorge walls allow passage through the narrowest sections; the loop extends through covered bridges, Liberty Gorge, and along the edge of the Pemigewasset Wilderness.

The first aerial passenger tramway in North America (1938) on Cannon Mountain — the tram rises 2,022 feet to the summit at 4,080 feet in under 10 minutes, with views of Franconia Notch, Echo Lake, and the Presidential Range on clear days. The Artist's Bluff Trail (1.0 mile loop from Echo Lake) is the alternative for those skipping the tram — a short climb to a granite ledge with the most photographed view of Franconia Notch, with the cannon cliff and Notch valley framed below.

A 1923 railroad station converted to a brewpub and inn in North Woodstock — the original Woodstock Inn property, with rooms in the station and a craft brewery in the former baggage room. Central location between the Kancamagus (Lincoln) and Franconia Notch; tomorrow's Lonesome Lake trailhead is 10 minutes north at Lafayette Campground.

A 3.2-mile loop from Lafayette Campground to Lonesome Lake at 2,740 feet — the most rewarding moderate hike in Franconia Notch, gaining 1,000 feet to a glacial cirque lake sitting above the notch floor with direct views of the Kinsman Ridge. The AMC Lonesome Lake Hut sits on the lake's east shore; the Fishin' Jimmy and Cascade Brook trails complete the loop back. The lake is above the hardwood-spruce transition zone and often has loons in summer.

Echo Lake (a sandy-beached swimming lake at the Cannon Mountain ski area base) and Profile Lake directly below the former Old Man of the Mountain site — the granite face collapsed in 2003 but the talus pile and the lake below it remain. Profile Lake was called 'the Old Man's Washbowl' when the granite face was intact; the Franconia Notch State Park visitor center has the most comprehensive exhibit on the formation's geological history and cultural significance. A flat 1.5-mile bike path connects the two lakes.

A 700-foot sheer granite face in Echo Lake State Park — one of the premier rock climbing destinations in the eastern United States, with 200+ technical routes. The summit is accessible by a paved road or by the cliff-top hiking trail (1.4 miles from Echo Lake); the view from the top looks straight down the face to the Saco River valley and north Conway below. The AMC Base Camp climbing school operates here; watching technical climbers on the face from the summit trail is a legitimate spectator activity.

A full-service hotel at the base of Cranmore Mountain in North Conway with views of Cathedral Ledge and the surrounding valley. North Conway's main street has a strong restaurant selection. Tomorrow's Diana's Baths trailhead is 15 minutes west.

A 1.8-mile round trip to Diana's Baths — a series of cascading waterfalls over smooth granite slabs on Lucy Brook, with circular pools carved by the current into the Conway granite. The baths are the series of plunge pools that give the site its name: smooth granite basins of varying sizes, some large enough to sit in, carved by waterfall action over thousands of years. The flat trail through old-growth hemlock is one of the easier White Mountains forest walks, appropriate for a final morning before the drive south.

A 2.7-mile round trip up the back face of Whitehorse Ledge — the companion granite cliff to Cathedral Ledge, accessible via the Bryce Path from Echo Lake State Park. The trail climbs steeply through open rock slabs to a summit ridge with views across the Saco River valley toward Cathedral Ledge opposite. The open rock summit (unlike the forested summits of the Whites) gives immediate elevation and views for a relatively short hiking distance.

The Swift River along the Kancamagus Highway has several accessible swimming holes on the return south toward Boston — the Lower Falls (directly on the Kancamagus) is the most popular, a series of granite cascades with a large plunge pool. The river runs cold even in August from the mountain snowmelt; the crystal clarity is typical of White Mountain streams draining granite bedrock.