Franconia Notch: NH Vacation Spot
Natural Attractions, Wilderness and Activities for Kids and Adults
The White Mountain National Forest and Franconia Notch State Park cover a huge part of northern New Hampshire, a place with scenery as awesome as some western National Parks and far more accessible to those who live in the eastern United States. Within a two-hour drive of Boston and only five hours from New York City lies a forested wilderness filled with natural attractions and activities for the whole family.
Although New Hampshire mourns the loss of the Old Man of the Mountain, that was not the only natural stone profile. Leave I-93 at Lincoln and follow Route 3 north to see Indian Head, off the highway to the west. Watch for it on the left, through a narrow opening in the woods.
Route 3 is preferable to I-93 through North Woodstock because there is more to do. Children like Whale’s Tale water park and everyone enjoys riding an authentic steam engine and seeing trained bears and acrobats at Clark’s Trading Post, or taking a longer ride along the river on the nearby Hobo Railroad.
Near The Flume, I-93 becomes a 2-lane throughway through Franconia Notch, a mountain pass carved millennia ago when a mile-high ice sheet rode over the tops of these mountains, grinding away summits once as tall as the Rockies. It left behind the stark cliffs of Cannon Mountain and Mounts Lafayette, Lincoln and Liberty that tower above as you drive through.
Since The Flume Gorge’s discovery in 1808, when tourism was in its infancy, thousands have followed the trail through this natural gorge that cuts more than 800 feet between vertical granite walls 70 to 90 feet high. Caused by a fissure in the rock at the foot of Mount Liberty, the gorge was further eroded by the stream that flows through it, creating a series of beautiful waterfalls and cascades. Learn about its formation at the Visitor Center.
Nearby is The Basin (parking is off the northbound lane). Follow the path under the road and to a pool that Henry David Thoreau described as the bathtub of a goddess when he visited here in 1839. A small stream flows through a rock sluiceway and falls into a giant natural bowl carved in solid granite bedrock. Over 15’ deep, it was formed when melting glacier waters roared through this valley 25,000 years ago, swirling in a whirlpool below a waterfall and wearing away the rock.
Follow signs along a trail through beautiful woods to the Baby Flume, where the same stream flows across granite ledges through a deepening grove in the rock, forming sets of natural steps and waterslides. This powerful little stream that starts at Profile Lake just up the road gathers water from streams to become the Merrimac River.
Further up I-93 watch for signs for Boise Rock. In the early 1800s, when few people lived here, Thomas Boise and his horse were stopped by a blizzard in the valley. He and the horse found shelter under this huge glacial erratic. He survived, but the horse did not.
At the top of the notch is Cannon Mountain, whose Aerial Tramway carries skiers in winter and in summer visitors to the summit for spectacular views of the White Mountains and straight down into Franconia Notch. Above Profile Lake is a small museum about The Old Man of the Mountain, a landmark profile that slid into the notch in 2001. Hiking trails on Cannon Mountain offer a good chance to breath in the fragrance of the green coniferous forests that cover these mountains.
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