Go Back  Fodor's Travel Talk Forums > Destinations > United States
Reload this Page >

A day at Franconia Notch State Park and White Mountain National Forest

A day at Franconia Notch State Park and White Mountain National Forest

Old May 25th, 2016, 11:55 AM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
A day at Franconia Notch State Park and White Mountain National Forest

We plan to spend a day at Franconia Notch State Park at the end of June. We will be staying in North Conway because we found a very affordable room there so we'll enter the park/forest from there. We are thinking our basic route will be 302 to 3 to 93 and back on 112 - we are estimating that this will be about 3-4 hours of driving, which leaves us with 8-10 more hours in the day for stops and exploring. We aren't tied to this route - or necessarily touring by car - at all, though.

We know we obviously won't be able to explore the park in great depth with this short amount of time so we are looking for suggestions for the best hikes and best sites/views. Is the Aerial Tramway a good idea and what do we need to know about that? What about the Conway Scenic Railroad?

Food recommendations for the North Conway area are also appreciated! We like diners and casual pub-type places.
bc7ate9 is offline  
Old May 25th, 2016, 12:48 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 30,915
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Just spent two days in the North Conway area. Have not been on the Scenic Railroad. Friends say good things about the Tramway but the last time we were on it, visibility was zero. But there was a summer when dh said when there was a really clear day we would go on the Cog Railroad. What I didn't like about it was if you wanted a guaranteed return seat, you didn't have very long at the top.

I know the Kancamagus Hwy is very popular but if you go a little further south on I93 you can take exit 23 for Meredith and a good view of Lake Winnipesaukee, continue towards Moultonborough and then north to Center Sandwich and over to Tamworth. Then connect with Rt 16 north back to North Conway.

Since this was before tourist season got going, we found that 2 out of 3 Thai restaurants were closed on Tuesdays. We had a birding class in Conway and headed to North Conway to eat. It is really sad to see so many fast food restaurants and chain stores. The view of the mountain is still beautiful and there are some fun stores to visit but the invasion of dollar stores has started. Most of the bakeries were also closed on Tuesday. There are some recommendations on chowhound. We stayed in an airb&b apartment for slightly more than $100/night in Chocurua/Tamworth since the second day of birding was an early morning walk around the Remick Country Doctor Museum in Tamworth. We had dinner at reasonable prices at Jake's Seafood Restaurant. Our hostess a lot of people like Hobb's Tavern (beer). We had hoped to have dinner at the Corner House in Center Sandwich but they, too, were closed on Tuesdays. We had lunch there last summer and enjoyed it. Have had dinners there in the past. We also would have had lunch at the Red Hill Dairy in Moultonborough but right now it is open weekends only. (drive in type place) We had reasonably price food a the Center Harbor Diner. Friendly service but sound echoes. I thought food quality was only a C. In Conway we had breakfast at Bea's Café which seems like a popular local place for breakfast and lunch. It was my second breakfast so I had a Belgium waffle with strawberries. dh had French toast with a sausage patty. Good menu with reasonable prices and good service. For breakfast at our airb&b we got some pastries and donuts at Leavitt's Country Bakery: lemon Bismark, 2 donuts and one apple turnover totaled $4.04. I will not eat Dunkin Donuts because I pick up a chemical taste and dh doesn't like their coffee. It's a very popular chain in New England.

Arethusa Falls was challenging for me because I'm not a hiker but it's very popular. The Flume is an expensive but very impressive hike through a gorge. What we did today was more my speed. The grounds around the Remick farm in Tamworth are open to the public. We started in the public parking lot across the street and walked the farm road along the cow pasture and along the pine woods and back. It's hilly but we had a nice view of the farm buildings and a really nice view of Mount Chocurua. Someone has opened a very beautiful building housing a distillery right there, too.

Although there's nothing to see now, this is the area where sled dogs were trained for polar expeditions and a distance race is held each winter. You'll see lots of stone walls and wonder and beautiful old homes and wonder what people were doing this far north and inland in the late 1700s. At one time the demand for wool was so high that sheep farms were all over the place and NH didn't have much forest. In Chocurua the mill pond with a waterfall in still there but we didn't find out what kind of mill it was. Very pretty little park that is not going to be full of tourists.

In Tamworth, you can get a sandwich at "the other store" and see what a current general store looks like. We've had lunch there before but today just got refreshments after the walk. The cooler held organic milk and dairy products plus local rhubarb, scallions, and radishes. The meat fridge held meat from different local farms.

Friends like hiking Mount Major 3.8 miles r/t for the view of Lake Winnipesaukee. This would be on the other side of the lake (Alton) from the Center Sandwich area and completely different from the route you propose but something to think about for the view.

If you get a DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer for NH, there will be list of waterfalls, covered bridges, and some hikes. It is a very detailed road map, including seasonal roads. There's a small waterfall on the Sandwich Notch road but it's not visible from the road. If you drive the Kancamagus, I would visit Diana's Baths. We keep meaning to but haven't.

The traffic wasn't bad in the Conway area but it's May and mid-week.
dfrostnh is offline  
Old May 26th, 2016, 06:22 AM
  #3  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Awesome! Thank you for the detailed information and suggestions! Crazy how so many things are closed on Tuesdays. We will be there Sunday-Monday so I guess that's good!
bc7ate9 is offline  
Old May 27th, 2016, 05:04 AM
  #4  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We are thinking about changing our hotel from North Conway to Littleton. Thoughts?
bc7ate9 is offline  
Old May 28th, 2016, 01:51 AM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 30,915
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
North Conway was developed by tourism but on our recent visit I was dismayed by the amount of chain store places. It's a beautiful setting and you will find lots of restaurant choices.
Littleton is a real town. We haven't visited in several years but it's home to the highly regarded Littleton Diner. We stayed at the Mountain View Grand nearby but it wasn't our type of place. Littleton also has Bishop's ice cream. I don't think the scenery is as pretty as further south into the mountains and there's not a lot of restaurant choices. It will be quieter and shouldn't have a lot of traffic congestion. It will be handier to Cannon Mountain tram and other White Mountain activities.
dfrostnh is offline  
Old May 31st, 2016, 07:52 AM
  #6  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks!
bc7ate9 is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
wannafly7
United States
10
Oct 4th, 2014 05:59 PM
trekkerman17
United States
5
Apr 17th, 2013 05:05 AM
BillJ
United States
11
Oct 29th, 2011 11:20 AM
DianeJo
United States
5
Aug 11th, 2010 08:59 AM
janie
United States
4
Aug 13th, 2009 09:58 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -