Winter Getaway to the White Mountains of New Hampshire

A couple weeks ago, we took a trip to the White Mountains after a short trip to Killington, Vermont. We love visiting this part of New Hampshire year-round, but it’s extra magical seeing the White Mountains when they’re actually white! It’s truly a winter wonderland. This spot is worth visiting in the winter even if you’re not into winter sports like skiing or snowboarding.

Day 1

We started the trip by going to the scenic viewpoint where you can see the Mount Washington Resort. This along Route 302. It offers great views of the resort, Mount Washington, and there’s also an informational sign in the parking lot that gives the history of the resort’s historical significance. When we were there, it was snowing so the mountains behind the resort weren’t super visible, but it was still pretty!

After, we continued south on 302 to head towards Crawford Notch State Park. It was still snowing pretty heavily when we got there. At some points, it was almost white out conditions with pretty low visibility. Before we officially entered the park, we stopped by Saco Lake and Crawford Depot to take some quick pictures. Since the visibility was so low, we didn’t stay long before continuing.

When we got into Crawford Notch State Park, we stopped at the Willey House area. It was still snowing, so I just quickly got out to snap some pictures here before continuing through the park. It was late afternoon and I wanted to try and make it to the Kancamagus Highway before the sun went down.

Before the Kanc, we made a couple quick stops in North Conway and Conway since we were driving right through. First, we stopped at the Intervale Scenic Vista. I’ve never actually been here before, but there were some great views that didn’t require any effort. However, it was really windy when we got there, so we went inside the building where we could still enjoy the views without being super cold. In addition to still being able to enjoy the mountain views, there was a lot of information about the White Mountains inside the building as well as bathrooms.

Our last stop before we went to the Kanc was the Saco Covered Bridge. We parked on the street since the parking lot for the park close to the bridge wasn’t plowed. It was just a short walk from the street parking to get to the bridge. We walked over the bridge before getting back in the car to head to the scenic byway.

Thankfully, we were able to make it to the Kancamagus Highway before the sun set. Unfortunately, many of the overlooks were not plowed likely due to how much snow there was. But, we were able to stop at three of them that were plowed. The three we were able to stop at were the CL Graham Wangan Overlook, the Panoramic Overlook, and the Hancock Overlook. Between the three stops and the views you get just from driving the byway, it was a beautiful end to the day.

When we finished driving the scenic byway, we decided to go to the Airbnb we got in Lincoln. We got a condo in the Lodge At Lincoln Station. This is the second time we have gotten a condo in this complex. The location is great. It has river access in the back (which was not open in the winter, but we enjoyed the river when we stayed here in the fall of 2023) and it’s close to things like the White Mountain National Forest, Franconia Notch State Park, and the Kancamagus Highway.

We ended the day by going to North Woodstock (which is the town over) to grab dinner. Typically, we go to the Woodstock Inn Brewery, but we decided to try something new. We went to Pemi Public House. This spot was recommended by Amanda from Next Stop New England. The food here was absolutely delicious and honestly, I can’t believe that we had never gone there before. I can say with certainty that we will be going there again in the future!

Day 2

We started off day two by grabbing breakfast at The Moon Cafe and Bakery in Lincoln. I got a cinnamon roll, an egg sandwich, and a hot chocolate. I think out of everything I got, the cinnamon roll was my favorite. The atmosphere was nice with a very strong moon theme (as the name suggests). It was a cute spot to grab breakfast!

This bakery was located in The Mills Marketplace at the base of South Peak Mountain Resort. I’d never been in there before, so we decided to wander around a bit after I saw some things that caught my attention when I walked to the bathroom. There were some cool vehicles inside and I scoped out a chocolate shop I wanted to check out later. It was definitely a cool indoor shopping area with a couple restaurants and a brewery.

After, I dropped my boyfriend off at Loon Mountain Resort so he could snowboard with my brother. My plans brought me to Franconia Notch State Park to enjoy some time outdoors in the mountains. My first stop was the Old Man of the Mountain Historic Site. The views from the parking lot were great. I’d never actually stopped here before, but I’ll definitely be visiting this spot again once the weather is a bit warmer.

Then, I went to the Governor Gallen Memorial, which is a super scenic spot that’s very accessible. I didn’t actually get any great pictures here because I was staring right into the sun to look at the mountains. There were also two guys having a little photoshoot with their snowmobiles in the best spot there is to take pictures from. I didn’t want to awkwardly wait around for them to be done, so I just left and headed to the next spot, which was Echo Lake. At Echo Lake, I made the short walk from the parking lot to the lake and took in one of my favorite views in the area that doesn’t involve a hike.

Then from the parking lot of Echo Lake, I walked across the street to hike up to Artist’s Bluff, which is one of the most well-known views in the White Mountains. This wasn’t my first time doing the hike, but it was my first time doing it in the winter. The views in the winter did not disappoint. And, I had the whole trail and viewpoint to myself. If you’re looking to do this hike in the winter, make sure you’re prepared with either snowshoes or micro spikes.

When I finished my hike, I went back to Loon to pick up my boyfriend. We then took another drive down the Kancamagus Highway. However, this time we were going to the Albany Covered Bridge, which was at the opposite end of the byway. We could have hit this spot on day one, but I didn’t want to spend a bunch of time there while we were trying to race the setting sun. Seeing the covered bridge in the winter was so pretty with the snow. I took some pictures before we headed back towards Lincoln.

When we got back to the area we were staying, we headed to the Woodstock Inn Brewery to grab dinner. It’s really not a trip to the White Mountains for me if I don’t stop here. I’m very much a creature of habit!

After dinner, we stopped at The Chocolatier at South Peak in the Mills Marketplace. They had a huge selection of chocolates to choose from. I think my favorite thing about this spot was they had every flavor of chocolate in both milk chocolate and dark chocolate. This was a huge win for me because I really only like dark chocolate. We got a box to bring back to Connecticut with us.

Day Three

This was our last day. We started the morning off with breakfast at Moose on the Run Cafe in Lincoln. I got my usual egg sandwich and hot chocolate. The egg sandwich was really good. They had a lot of different bagel options to choose from and I went with an Asiago bagel. It was small inside, but we were able to dine-in and enjoy our breakfast!

Then, we headed a bit west to do just a little more sightseeing before we started to head home. I really wanted to go to Beaver Pond in the White National Forest. I was inspired to go here because someone I follow posted really beautiful pictures of this spot (you can see the pictures here). Unfortunately, the parking lot wasn’t plowed for the scenic area, but the parking lot for a trail on the other side of pond was plowed. We stopped there and I took a picture of a mountain from the parking lot. We weren’t dressed to trek through the snow, so we didn’t stay long. I’ll go back in the warmer months to check this spot out.

I had one more thing pinned on my Google Maps that I wanted to check out nearby. It was an overlook that I had never heard of before, but it looked really pretty. This overlook was the Warren Woodstock Overlook on Route 118. Thankfully the pull-off was plowed and we were able to fully enjoy the views. It was a great overlook, and I can’t believe I had missed it all of the times I’ve been to the White Mountains. This stop made for a great end of the trip.

Final Thoughts

Even as someone who doesn’t partake in winter sports (yet), I absolutely love visiting this area in the winter! There are a lot of ways to enjoy the area without having to hop on a snowboard or skis. You can honestly just take scenic drives and enjoy the views from your car or do quick stops and overlooks like I did. And if you don’t mind the cold, there are plenty of trails you can explore in the area! Maybe next winter, I’ll be enjoying this spot from Loon’s summit and snowboarding my way down.

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