I don’t even know where to begin this blog post! I fear I’m only going to tap the surface of the best things to do in the White Mountains because there is just so much to do there. This is the place to be if you like shopping, hiking, water sports, lounging in the woods – and it’s perfect in every season!
**As always, this is an ever evolving list so check back often for updates! We aren’t paid to promote any of these businesses and only list ones we’ve worked with personally.
The Best Things to Do In The White Mountains
1) Visiting the lakes and rivers
With so many amazing lakes, rivers, and streams you can’t go wrong with pretty much any of them. From floating down the Saco River to a warm afternoon dip in lakes like Echo Lake pictured above there’s no bad spots. It just depends on what you want to do. Dean and I have spent many a day on our river tubes floating around on the Saco River while simultaneously scouting photo locations. Unless there’s been a big rain recently it’s a nice, slow float and pretty shallow in places while also being surprisingly clear! We’ve often anchored tubes to a shallow section and let the kids run upstream a few, hop in their tubes and float down to us – which they repeat over and over again. If you’re looking for more of a weekend trip, want tubes provided for you, and want transportation to/from the river we highly recommend Saco Bound.
You can also enjoy non-motorized water sports on most of the lakes in the area. We love taking our Stand Up Paddleboards out on Echo Lake, but this couple took their rowboat out on Conway Lake for a romantic spin around the cove. With an easy to access boat ramp it was a breeze to put in and take out. We were there during the beginning of the COVID closures so it was a rather quiet day on the lake so we can’t verify, however I do believe you can use motorized boats on the lake.
2) Take A Hike
It would be next to impossible to mention all of the trails that go through the White Mountains so I recommend using the All Trails app to find all the hikes in the area that fit your fitness level and length of hike. Dean and I have done everything to hiking around the Flume Gorge in both the summer and the winter to a lengthy trek around the Franconia Ridge trail. In college Brittany even camped and hiked Mt. Washington with a group of friends. A lot of these hikes can be done in any season – although please make sure your skill level is up and you are prepared for what the weather can throw at you.
Our favorite winter hike is the Flume Gorge. It’s a short trail that packs in a lot of scenery. In the spring the waterfalls are flowing and echoing through the gorge. In summer it’s so refreshing to walk along and get sprayed by them and see all the gorgeous green foliage growing out of every crack in the rocks. In the winter, if you’re big on ice climbing, you can climb up the waterfalls – or just get out for a hike and watch others climb them.
If you like rock climbing we definitely recommend checking out the climbing on Cathedral Ledge. You can climb it, hike it, or drive up to enjoy the views.
3) Enjoy the Seasons
As we mentioned, winter hiking can be super fun (as long as you’re prepared!) But there’s also ice skating on the many many lakes. And I’d be remiss if I left out the Ice Castles! They’re only around for a short time but it’s so worth it. Get a mid-afternoon ticket so you can see the ice during the daylight but then hang around and experience it all lit up at night! We had planned to do that for the wintery engagement session pictured above but unfortunately the weather was in the 50’s all week and make the ice unsafe.
Another big winter activity in the area is skiing, snowboarding, and snow tubing. Most of the mountains in the area offer everything but we love Loon Mountain because they have a big tubing park as well as a smaller one for the littler kids. Even if you don’t participate in the winter fun, you can grab a beverage at one of the many on-site restaurants and enjoy watching everyone else.
If all else fails, get yourself a cozy cabin rental in the woods, snuggle by the fireplace and enjoy some S’mores!
4) Shopping!
You can’t go wrong with a trip into North Conway to enjoy all their outlet shopping and their no sales tax! But also, don’t forget to stop in downtown North Conway for all their local shops, coffee shops, and restaurants. We could spend, and probably have spent, days just wandering the street shopping at some unique stores like Zeb’s General Store and grabbing lunch at HorseFeathers before snagging some caffeine from The Met for the drive home.
At Zeb’s you can find lots of souvenirs for friends and family along with homemade treats and a huge counter of “penny candy”. While it’s not a penny anymore, you can still find those old favorites!
At HorseFeathers we highly recommend the panko chicken tenders. They always hit the spot after a day spent in the mountains.
