Last weekend we headed up to the white mountains in New Hampshire for a weekend away. The White Mountains cover about a 1/4 of the state of New Hampshire and are an absolutely gorgeous place to explore nature in New England. Whether you’re looking for an outdoor adventure, beautiful vistas, or charming towns, you’ll find in all in the White Mountains. Here’s a travel guide for the White Mountains, sharing where we stayed, what we did, and were we ate. I’ve also included some things we’d like to do the next time we head north to the White Mountains.
Where we stayed:
We stayed at Eagle Mountain House. Finding this hotel was one of those magical moments of total serendipity, where you accidentally stumble into something spectacular. Craig booked this place simply because it was close to the hikes we were planning, and it had good reviews, without realizing it was this completely magical spot and exactly the kind of hotel we absolutely love staying at. If you love old, charming, hotels this place is for you.
Eagle Mountain house is tucked away in the most beautiful and peaceful location, right in the heart of the white mountains. The views are amazing, and the whole property feels like something out of a dream. The historic hotel, which was built in 1879 is a beautiful white building with green shutters and a green metal roof. It’s got a full veranda on the front with lovely green rocking chairs to sit and enjoy the views. You can order drinks right from your rocking chair and sit and chat for hours. The lobby is lovely the decor honors the period of the building, they have a small a library, a game room in the basement (this was a big hit with Ava) and they even have a classic elevator where you operate the doors yourself. We kept saying it feels like something out of Disneyland except it’s real. Even better.
The hotel has a great restaurant, we ate dinner there one night and it was delicious. They serve a breakfast buffet in the mornings which was also quite good. The rooms are comfortable, and of course, charming. There’s a golf course on site, and if you enjoy playing I can’t imagine a better location for it. But my favorite part of the property by far, the pool. I have never seen a hotel pool done so well. It is tucked so naturally and so beautifully into the landscape, it creates the loveliest most peaceful scene for an afternoon swim.
The location is great for getting to lots of different trailheads (especially The Presidentials), the Mount Washington Auto road, the Conway Scenic Railroad and several super cute towns, like Jackson and North Conway are just minutes away. It’s also close to ski resorts, and cross country skiing for the winter time. There are plenty of places to get a bite to eat and explore close by. If you enjoy historic buildings and would like to be transported to another time, I highly recommend staying at Eagle Mountain House.
What to do:
Hike!
Our main plan for this trip was hiking and there are so many hikes you can do in the White Mountains. On our first day did the Mount Willard trail starting from Saco Lake. It’s a moderate hike, about 3 miles round trip and the views at the top of Crawford Notch are gorgeous. We did the hike in just about 2 hours (even with a 20 minute nursing session on top of the mountain). And it was no problem for any of us, including Ava. (Ava is 9, but she’s also a very proficient hiker for her age.)
The Conway Scenic Railway runs right through the area, and there’s a cute trail station, and places to use the restroom and buy snacks. Such a charming spot for a hike.
In the past we have also done the Welch-Dickey loop trail which is a bit longer and more challenging, with spectacular views.
On day two, we split up, we dropped Craig and Ethan off before dawn at the start of the Presidential Traverse trail. This is an extremely difficult hike, for advanced/experienced hikers only, it’s long, like 23 miles. Last year, Craig and the big kids backpacked the whole trail over 3 days. This year, because Hannah and Carter had to stay home for work, Craig and Ethan decided to do the first half as a day hike (still very difficult) and meet us on top of Mount Washington, the highest peak in New England.
Which brings me to: driving the Mount Washington Auto Road.
Mount Washington Auto Road
If you aren’t up for the serious challenge of hiking mount Washington you can drive to the top! If you’ve driven anywhere around New England you’ve probably spotted a bumper sticker that says “this car climbed Mount Washington.” I always wondered why people would actually stick those on their car, and after driving the road, I now know why. It’s terrifying. But also incredible. I’ve seriously never driven anything like it, even in the Alps. The Auto Road is a steep, narrow mountain road without guardrails. The average grade is 12%. You are basically driving up the side of a mountain, with tight turns, and barely enough space for 2 cars… literally nothing between you and tumbling to your death. It was such a crazy drive, but a very cool experience. Meeting the boys on top was super fun, and the views on top were the cherry on top. There’s a visitors center on top with a cafeteria, gift shop, and small museum. There’s also an observatory and weather huts to explore. If a terrifying car ride to the top is not your cup of tea, you can also ride the cog railway to the top. I’d definitely like to try that next time!
Where we ate:
As I mentioned earlier, we ate several meals right at Eagle Mountain house and we were only in New Hampshire for a couple nights. We headed down to Jackson and ate at the Wildcat Tavern. There was a live band playing that night out in the back patio, but since we had the baby we ate inside. If we had been there without Finn, it probably would have been super fun. The food was so good, and the decor was super cool. We didn’t get the best service, but I suspect that was because there was almost no one in the restaurant (everyone was outside), we had to keep walking around to find someone and ask where our food was, could we get our check, etc. I think our server left for the night before we got our dinner, and didn’t tell us she was leaving. It was a bit bizarre. But, even so, I’d be willing to give it another shot, because the food was so good and I love the ski decor.
As with any trip, there’s always more I’d like to do, and here are a few things at the top of my list:
Things we’d like to do when we go back:
There is so much to do in the White Mountains, I feel like you could spend every weekend there for years and never run out of fun ideas. Here are a few things we’d like to do when we go back:
Spend more time in North Conway.
Ride the Conway Scenic Railway
More hikes!
Float the River around North Conway
More New England travel guides:
TRAVEL GUIDE: New Hampshire/ Lake Winnipesaukee.
