New Hampshire route for April
Jan 18th, 2016, 08:17 AM
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New Hampshire route for April
Myself and two friends are visiting Boston and will have 5 nights to spend exploring new Hampshire and Vermont. Could someone give me a scenic route (not Interstate) through New Hampshire leaving from Salem? Our destination in Vermont is Chester. It looks like we need to go through North Conway? I have read posts which say a good route is going west from Portland Maine, but think for our purposes that is too far North? Roughly the length of time to drive the route would be appreciated and we may well stay a night en route. It will be 4th April, so that again is why avoiding more northern routes in case of snow?
Jan 18th, 2016, 11:27 AM
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Salem Mass to Chester Vt is a long drive, but you definitely don't want to go waayyy up to North Conway! The easiest thing to do is take I-95 to I-93 north into New Hampshire. Shortly after getting into NH, take rte 111 west towards Nashua. From Nashua, take rte 101 to Peterborough. Peterborough is a very pleasant little town, a great spot for a meal or even an overnight. From Peterborough continue on rte 101 to Keene. Keene is a fairly good sized college town, another good place to stop and eat or shop. From Keene take rte 12 north to Bellows Falls Vt. From here, take rte 5 north to rte 103 which will take you to Chester. I'm guessing the drive is about 3-4 hours. There are some beautiful little towns in southwestern NH like Dublin, Harrisville, and Hancock. The countryside around Chester Vt is also quite scenic. Early April is not the best time to visit this part of the country, (mud season) but you probably won't encounter any snow.
Jan 21st, 2016, 12:20 PM
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Unless you are driving on back country dirt roads, which most tourists don't do, mud season isn't a problem. Yes, there are gravel parking lots in some places which will be mildly muddy but not the deep muddy ruts of a poorly maintained country road. And some years even the bad roads aren't so bad.
Zootsi's suggestion is a good one if you want to keep to southern NH. But since you have some time, even a detour to Portsmouth NH isn't that much out of the way Portland ME is way too far north but is a wonderful place to visit depending on the weather. Some early April days are lovely. Rt 1 is pretty commercial but a nice drive north from MA although some sections are very nice but once you get near Hamptonn NH, plot a route to get over to Rt 1A thru Rye NH. This coastal route will take you past the beautiful private mansions. I also like Rt 1B which goes past the beautifully restored Wentworth Hotel thru the historic town of Newcastle to the Strawbery Banke historic area of Portsmouth.
If you aren't going to Maine, get on Rt 16 West toward Durham. Googlemaps and GPS will try to make you got Rt 101 but that's a boring limited access highway. Rt 16 toward Durham and then Rt 4 will take you over Great Bay/Piscataqua River area and then to Concord NH. There are some antique shops along the way in Northwood. By voiding Rt 101 you will also avoid the congested Manchester area.
From Rt 4 you can take I393 to bypass Concord's congested commercial area ending up on the northern end of Main Street. Concord has a recently renovated downtown area you might want to explore. The League of NH Arts and Crafts has a shop on Main street as does several other boutique type stores. Take a left onto Main Street to head south, then take a right onto Pleasant Street to head west. This will become Rt 103. Once you get past the hospital and St. Paul's exclusive boarding school, it starts to get a little rural. Drive thru the towns of Hopkinton and Contoocook. Then you'll have to take Googlemaps direction to Rt 9 through Hillsborough to Rt 123 etc. Although Hillsborough is a little rough, the town just before it, Henniker, is a small college town and probably your last chance for a good lunch stop.
If you aren't interested in visiting Portsmouth, I would definitely go for Zootsi's route.
Zootsi's suggestion is a good one if you want to keep to southern NH. But since you have some time, even a detour to Portsmouth NH isn't that much out of the way Portland ME is way too far north but is a wonderful place to visit depending on the weather. Some early April days are lovely. Rt 1 is pretty commercial but a nice drive north from MA although some sections are very nice but once you get near Hamptonn NH, plot a route to get over to Rt 1A thru Rye NH. This coastal route will take you past the beautiful private mansions. I also like Rt 1B which goes past the beautifully restored Wentworth Hotel thru the historic town of Newcastle to the Strawbery Banke historic area of Portsmouth.
If you aren't going to Maine, get on Rt 16 West toward Durham. Googlemaps and GPS will try to make you got Rt 101 but that's a boring limited access highway. Rt 16 toward Durham and then Rt 4 will take you over Great Bay/Piscataqua River area and then to Concord NH. There are some antique shops along the way in Northwood. By voiding Rt 101 you will also avoid the congested Manchester area.
From Rt 4 you can take I393 to bypass Concord's congested commercial area ending up on the northern end of Main Street. Concord has a recently renovated downtown area you might want to explore. The League of NH Arts and Crafts has a shop on Main street as does several other boutique type stores. Take a left onto Main Street to head south, then take a right onto Pleasant Street to head west. This will become Rt 103. Once you get past the hospital and St. Paul's exclusive boarding school, it starts to get a little rural. Drive thru the towns of Hopkinton and Contoocook. Then you'll have to take Googlemaps direction to Rt 9 through Hillsborough to Rt 123 etc. Although Hillsborough is a little rough, the town just before it, Henniker, is a small college town and probably your last chance for a good lunch stop.
If you aren't interested in visiting Portsmouth, I would definitely go for Zootsi's route.
Jan 21st, 2016, 02:00 PM
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Thank you so much both of you.Really helpful and I am sorry I meant Concorde not Conway!!! I will look carefully at these detailed routes with a map to hand! I have read about mud season so just keep fingers x bright days! I presume there may still be snow seen on the peaks of Green Mountains maybe?
Jan 22nd, 2016, 02:09 AM
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Pats Peak ski area in Henniker NH is visible from I89 northbound (driving to VT) not far from Concord but darned if I can remember if it's before or after exit 5 to Henniker. The ski season is supposed to go until last weekend in March. If there's a lot of snow it might go longer. If we don't get a lot of rain and warm weather, the last of the snow on the ski trails should still be visible.
You can check before your trip since it's possible there will be some late season skiing someplace in NH or VT. NH's White Mountains are taller and craggier. Spring skiing is possible at Tuckerman's Ravine. You can see the snow on Mt Washington from downtown North Conway NH so you might want to go to North Conway after all. Here's a photo
http://www.northconwayvillage.net/
You can check before your trip since it's possible there will be some late season skiing someplace in NH or VT. NH's White Mountains are taller and craggier. Spring skiing is possible at Tuckerman's Ravine. You can see the snow on Mt Washington from downtown North Conway NH so you might want to go to North Conway after all. Here's a photo
http://www.northconwayvillage.net/
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