The Scenic White Mountains of New Hampshire


After spending almost a week in the White Mountains of Northern New Hampshire I wished for another week. I loved the scenery and wanted to spend more time sightseeing. But alas, we had reservations in Vermont and it was time to move on. I have said this before, but one of the hardest things about our RV travel is leaving places that we still want to explore. Since we were trying to see all of the New England states in a certain time period, we needed to move on. Although our campsite in New Hampshire was not one of my favorites, I loved walking down to the river next to the campground. A walking trail went along the shore with views of the mountains and forest.

The White Mountains are New Hampshire’s playground. People love to vacation here and enjoy many outdoor activities. The rivers, creeks and waterfalls are popular places and I don’t think I have seen people having more fun in the water than here. Armed with a brochure called “Waterfalls and Covered Bridges of the White Mountains” we set out to explore including the Kancamagus Scenic Highway, one of the favorite drives in the state, especially in the fall when the leaves change. In the photo below, Mark relaxes next to Jackson Falls, a series of small waterfalls with a number of happy swimmers. While in Jackson, we also checked out the Jackson Covered Bridge.

Jackson Falls

My favorite waterfall on this trek was Sabbaday Falls which has several drops through a narrow gorge. A series of stairways and bridges offered us different views of the rushing water. It is a real beauty.

Sabbaday Falls
Sabbaday Falls

We stopped at Rocky Gorge, another favorite swimming area. Kids were jumping off the cliffs into the gorge below. As I watched the action from a nearby bridge, myself and another “mom” had some anxiety watching the kids plunging in, even though they weren’t our kids. It looked like they were having a great time. One young boy was even jumping in with his arm in a cast. In the photo below, one of them is jumping into the water.

Rocky Gorge

Along our drive down the scenic byway we were on the look out for covered bridges. After a wild goose chase off our route trying to find one listed on the brochure map we gave up but did eventually come upon the Albany Bridge pictured below. It was built in 1858 and renovated in 1970.

Albany Covered Bridge
Mark checking out the Albany Covered Bridge

We ended our drive on the Byway at an overlook of the scenic White Mountains.

View of the White Mountains along the Kancamagus Highway

We next stopped for a short walk to Lower Ammonoosuc Falls (that’s a hard word to pronounce) which was a raging torrent after all the rain the area had recently experienced. The falls are low angle cascades that flow down a series of ledges beside a rugged granite wall. I loved sitting next to the rushing water and experiencing its power. It is also a favorite swimming area when conditions are right.

Lower Ammonoosuc Falls
Lower Ammonoosuc Falls

Glen Ellis Falls is one of the most popular falls in the White Mountains. There were a few more steps to get down to this one, but definitely worth it. It plunges 65 feet to a beautiful pool below.

I hope you enjoyed our trek as we explored some beautiful areas of New Hampshire. I will close with a sunset view from the river at our campground.

2 thoughts on “The Scenic White Mountains of New Hampshire”

  1. Covered bridges and waterfalls sounds like the perfect travel day for you!! Beautiful pictures, the area looks gorgeous. I was thinking how fun it would be to scoot to all these bridges and waterfalls

    1. Thanks for your comment Matt! Yes, I really enjoyed visiting the White Mountain area of New Hampshire and actually wished we could have stayed longer. There were more waterfalls and scenic areas I wanted to visit! Perhaps we would have stayed longer if we hadn’t had a reservation in the next state. What we saw was great though and it would be fun to travel there with your scooters!

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