Scenic Foliage Drives →
New Hampshire Foliage Driving Tour
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Just past the hotel you'll see the turnoff for the Mount Washington Cog Railway -- the means for a journey to the summit of Mount Washington on the second-steepest railway track in the world. This was the world's first mountain-climbing cog railway; it opened in 1869, and it still ascends the highest peak in the Northeast under steam locomotion. No matter what the temperature, bring a sweater. Mount Washington is notorious for changeable conditions.
After you've seen the sights from on high, take Route 3 south to the Franconia Parkway (Route 93 South). Few drives in New England are more dramatic than this sinuous squeeze past craggy cliffs, including the Basin and Flume Gorge.
While you're here, take a five-minute ride on the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway to the 4,200-foot summit. In 1938 the first passenger aerial tramway operated from this site, and you can stand inside it at the New England Ski Museum next door. Five miles south lies one of the region's most awesome natural wonders -- the Flume Gorge.
You'll sleep well tonight in the quiet of Sugar Hill, a hilltop town named for its abundance of sugar maples. Drive north on I-93; turn onto Route 18 north, then left onto Route 117. A handful of inns dot the landscape.
Every one of the six rooms at Foxglove, A Country Inn, looks like a set from a romantic movie. The Hilltop Inn offers spectacular mountain views, handmade quilts, an outdoor hot tub, and a delicious buffet breakfast prepared by caterers/innkeepers Mike and Meri Hern.
At the Sugar Hill Inn, Bette Davis always stayed in the room overlooking mountains and fields of lupine (Sugar Hill is home to an annual lupine festival each June). You can dine in on weekends and choose from entrees such as rack of lamb or cranberry-glazed duck. The Homestead Inn was founded by Moses and Sarah Aldrich, Sugar Hill's first permanent settlers on the original King's Grant, and has been handed down through seven generations. Next door, visit the converted 90-foot-long barn called Sugar Hill Sampler, which houses a museum with family artifacts, heirlooms, photos, tools, and crafts and a gift shop featuring miniatures, pottery, jams, candy, quilts, and antiques.
Views don't get any better than those from Sunset Hill Road. At the end, you'll find Sunset Hill House; with 28 rooms, it is the largest lodging establishment in town. From their ridgetop location, you can see the Green Mountains to the west and the Whites to the east.
Start the day with breakfast at Polly's Pancake Parlor on Route 117 in Sugar Hill, a must for its no-sugar pancakes topped with pure maple syrup. They grind their own grains for six different pancake mixes, and all the baking is done on the premises. Also, they have been charting peak foliage for more than 30 years.
As you head west into the center of Sugar Hill, be sure to stop at Harman's Cheese & Country Store for a sampling of the "World's Greatest Cheddar Cheese." It's hard to beat the taste of this two-year-aged cheddar that is shipped nationwide. You'll also find maple products, crackers, homemade pickles, and an array of unique and hard-to-find products. After your snack of cheese and cheese spread samplings, follow signs from Main Street to Routes 302 and 10 South to Lisbon.
Reader Comments
Comment from Roger White on August 12, 2009
Can't print pages on N.H. or Connecticut after the 1st 2 pages....wassup?
Comment from sara young-knox on September 2, 2009
You might want to update this article. Yield House is long gone.
Comment from Ron Ruby on October 4, 2009
Visiting from the West Coast. Would love a photographer's perspective on the best sunrise and sunset areas. I am driving from Quebec to Conway over 3 or 4 days. Would like help from a photographer. Willing to get up early and shoot....
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