2026 RT New Hampshire

Y'all - New Hampshire is a small state but it has so much to offer if you love the outdoors!

We arrived Tuesday via the Kancamangus Highway. This is one of several scenic byways across the state. Amazing scenery!

Our little apartment for these few days is up a long, dark road tucked up in a forest, but only two miles from town. Perfect!

Our first outing on Wednesday was to Flume Gorge. This hike is in the Franconia Notch State Park. It has everything you could want:

Giant boulders left behind by receding glaciers tens of thousands of years ago:


Covered bridges:


Water features:


A gorge:



Overlooks:



Wolf's den crawl thru - this was fun but difficult - I really had to be gumby to squeeze through the rocks to exit the den.


More water features:


Another massive boulder (Sheri for scale):


The way the trees would grow on/over/around the massive rocks was impressive:


Life will find a way!

After completing this hike we had a picnic lunch and headed to another hike, Artist Bluff Trail. This hike was not nearly as nice. It was too close to the highway, a loud helicopter 🚁 was overhead, it was very technical and was mostly uphill. We had one good overlook:

Some fall colors are peeking through:


Note I-93 below:


Boulders are everywhere:


We were tired after this but decided we deserved ice cream. The small towns in NH are very cute. We bought cheese at Harman's country store in Sugar Hill and tried to find ice cream in Bethlehem (it was closed). We ended up back in Littleton where we are staying and did some window shopping. We found ice cream too!

On Thursday we investigated White Mountain National Forest with four hikes.

We started out with the Basin. My favorite type of hike is not too technical and involves water. This one was perfect!


The basin.


Lovely waterfall on the Cascade part of the trail:


We moved on down the road, stopping at an overlook:



Excited to see the leaves changing!!!

Next hike was Sabbaday Falls. Nice easy hike. Had a long conversation with some Canadians.



Lunch time!


Next up: Rocky Gorge:




There are  potholes like this one everywhere. They are formed as the granite is worn away over time by rocks spinning around and around in the middle.



Q: what is the nickname of New Hampshire?

Last hike is Diana's Bath. The name is for the Greek goddess Diana. 



We climbed all over the rocks up and down the river/falls. Super fun!

The Answer to the question should be obvious by now - The Granite State!!! 

Final day in NH. So sad to leave! We hit the Lost River Gorge. This was really fun! A wooden platform/trail through a gorge with caves to explore.




So blessed to explore all of this together!




There were some tight squeezes, crawling on hands and knees and slippery rocks involved. It was a hoot!


The colors are dazzling!



So, this is the Lemon Squeezer Gauge. If you can fit thru the gap at the bottom you can fit thru the cave. 
I could fit but when I went into the cave I decided that I may not enjoy the squeeze. 


Oh well, out of 11 caves we did 9 of them. Pretty good for a couple of old farts! LOL

Time to head for Vermont!

Sheri and Carsten 




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