Scenic Drives in New Hampshire in Summer
Most people picturing a New Hampshire drive are picturing the Kancamagus Highway: 34.5 miles on NH Rt. 112 between Conway and Lincoln, with the Swift River and its swimming holes beside the road. For a day built around water rather than mountains, the Lakes Region Tour circles Lake Winnipesaukee in a 97-mile loop on NH 11, through Meredith, Wolfeboro and Weirs Beach.
Past those two, the fifteen drives differ mostly in how much time they ask of you. The Mount Washington Auto Road is 7.6 miles and the Coastal Byway 18.5, while the Presidential Range Trail runs to 213 miles of connected loops meant for two or three days. They also differ in what you are looking at: five sit in the White Mountains, two follow the Seacoast, and the two Merrimack Valley routes trade peaks for small rural towns.
Our picks
- Swimming stops on the way: Kancamagus Highway. Lower Falls, Rocky Gorge and Sabbaday Falls sit along the Swift River beside the road, though there is no gas station for all 34 miles.
- Driving to a summit: Mount Washington Auto Road. 7.6 miles from Pinkham Notch to the 6,288-foot top, at an average 12 percent grade with no guardrails, and guided van tours for anyone who would rather ride.
- Looking for moose: Moose Path Trail. 128 miles north from Gorham through the stretch called Moose Alley, where summer dawn and dusk are the times people go looking.
- A beach day by car: Coastal Byway. 18.5 miles on Routes 1A and 1B past ten state park units, Hampton Beach and the tidepools at Odiorne Point, and the flattest drive on the list.
- An easy trip from southern New Hampshire: Currier & Ives Scenic Byway. Roughly half an hour from Concord, 40 miles through five small towns, with kayaking on the Contoocook and Blackwater rivers.
At a glance
| Option | Length | Region | Byway Status | Highways | Towns | Loop or One Way |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34.5source | White Mountainssource | National Scenic Bywaysource | NH Rt. 112source | Conway and Lincolnsource | One waysource | |
| 100source | White Mountainssource | National Scenic Bywaysource | North Conway and Jacksonsource | Loopsource | ||
| White Mountainssource | I-93source | Lincolnsource | One waysource | |||
| 7.6source | White Mountainssource | Mt. Washington Auto Road, off Route 16source | Pinkham Notchsource | One waysource | ||
| 213source | White Mountainssource | State Scenic Bywaysource | US 2 and US 302source | Littleton and Lancastersource | ||
| 128source | Great North Woodssource | State Scenic Bywaysource | NH 16, NH 26, NH 145 and US 3source | Gorham, Berlin and Milansource | One waysource | |
| 72source | Great North Woodssource | State Scenic Bywaysource | US 2, US 3, NH 110 and NH 16source | Gorham, Lancaster and Berlinsource | Loopsource | |
| 97source | Lakes Regionsource | State Scenic Bywaysource | NH 11source | Alton, Gilford, Laconia, Meredith, Moultonborough and Wolfeborosource | Loopsource | |
| 18.5source | Seacoastsource | State Scenic Bywaysource | NH Routes 1A & 1Bsource | Portsmouth, New Castle, Rye, North Hampton, Hampton and Seabrooksource | One waysource | |
| 21source | Seacoastsource | State Scenic Bywaysource | Route 101E, Route 27, Route 108 and Route 150source | Exeter, Hampton Falls, Hampton and Kensingtonsource | Loopsource | |
| 39source | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapeesource | State Scenic Bywaysource | Sunapee, Newbury and New Londonsource | Loopsource | ||
| 140source | National Scenic Bywaysource | NH 12 and NH 12Asource | West Chesterfield to Littletonsource | One waysource | ||
| 40source | Merrimack Valleysource | State Scenic Bywaysource | Henniker, Hopkinton, Warner, Webster and Salisburysource | |||
| 34source | Merrimack Valleysource | State Scenic Bywaysource | Goffstown, Dunbarton, Weare and New Bostonsource | Loopsource | ||
| 80source | Monadnocksource | Rt. 101 and Rt. 124source | Keene, Marlborough and Jaffreysource | Loopsource |
A few hours or a few days
The short drives are the Mount Washington Auto Road at 7.6 miles, the Franconia Notch Parkway at about eight, the Coastal Byway at 18.5 and the American Independence Byway at 21. The last two share the Seacoast and pair into one day with little driving. In the middle band, the Kancamagus Highway (34.5), the General John Stark Scenic Byway (34), the Lake Sunapee Scenic Byway (39) and the Currier & Ives Scenic Byway (40) all fall between 34 and 40 miles.
The long ones are the Monadnock Region Loop (80), the Lakes Region Tour (97), the White Mountains Trail (100), the Moose Path Trail (128), the Connecticut River Byway (140) and the Presidential Range Trail (213). Most people drive a segment of the Connecticut River route rather than all of it, and the Moose Path Trail has thin services, so plan fuel and food before heading north.
Where the crowds build and where it stays quiet
Pull-offs on the Kancamagus fill early on clear weekends, and October foliage makes it the busiest drive on the list. The Lakes Region Tour slows around Meredith and Weirs Beach on July and August weekends, and parking at Hampton Beach is the Coastal Byway's main constraint. The Monadnock Region Loop is not a designated byway, which means fewer signs and less traffic, and the Woodland Heritage Scenic Byway, a 72-mile loop through Berlin and Gorham, is the quieter side of the mountains for anyone who has already driven the notches.
Kancamagus, Franconia Notch and the White Mountains Trail overlap
Three rows share pavement. The White Mountains Trail is a 100-mile loop that includes the Kancamagus Highway, Crawford Notch and Franconia Notch, and the Franconia Notch Parkway is the stretch of I-93 where the road narrows to two lanes through the notch. Choosing between them is about time, not scenery: the parkway is a half day with the Flume Gorge and Cannon Mountain tramway, the Kanc is an afternoon, and the full loop is a long day or the frame for a longer trip.
The options in detail
Kancamagus Highway
The Kanc is the drive most people picture when they think of New Hampshire: a two-lane road over a 3,000-foot pass through the White Mountain National Forest with no gas stations, restaurants or hotels along the way. In summer the draw is the Swift River, which runs beside the road and feeds the swimming holes and cascades at Lower Falls, Rocky Gorge and Sabbaday Falls, plus six campgrounds and a string of trailheads. It is famous for fall foliage, which also means it is the most crowded drive on this list in October, and the pull-offs fill early on clear weekends. Fill the tank before you start, because you will not pass a pump for 34 miles.
White Mountains Trail
This is the big loop that strings the White Mountains' greatest hits together: it takes in the Kancamagus Highway, Crawford Notch and Franconia Notch in one circuit, so you pass three mountain notches without repeating a mile. It can be driven in a single long day, but it is really a frame for a multi-day trip, with the Mount Washington Cog Railway, the Flume Gorge, Echo Lake and Omni Mount Washington Resort all on or just off the route. Because it overlaps the Kancamagus, picking this instead of the Kanc is a choice about how much time you have rather than about different scenery. Towns like North Conway and Jackson give you places to stop, eat and stay along the way.
Franconia Notch Parkway
This is the rare stretch of interstate that counts as a scenic drive: to protect the notch, I-93 narrows to a two-lane parkway for about eight miles between the Kinsman and Franconia ranges. It is the shortest real drive here and the densest in things to stop for, with the Flume Gorge at the south end, the Basin, Echo Lake and the Cannon Mountain aerial tramway strung along it, and the site of the Old Man of the Mountain part-way up. That makes it a good half-day for families who do not want to spend hours in the car, and an easy add-on to a Kancamagus day since the two meet near Lincoln. The trade-off is that it is a highway with limited pull-offs, so you exit for the sights rather than stopping wherever you like.
Mount Washington Auto Road
The only drive here that ends on a summit: a private toll road, open since 1861, that climbs 7.6 miles from Pinkham Notch to the 6,288-foot top of Mount Washington through four ecological zones. It is a paid attraction rather than a public highway, and it is seasonal, which is what makes it a summer drive in practice. The road is narrow, averages a 12 percent grade with pitches of 18 and 22 percent, and has no guardrails, so it is not for everyone: the operator sells guided van tours for people who would rather not drive it themselves. Check the summit forecast before you go, because the weather at the top is routinely nothing like the weather at the base.
Presidential Range Trail
The longest White Mountains route on this list, and less a single road than a network of loops on the north and west sides of the Presidential Range. The point of it is the view of the range itself, which sits as a backdrop for long stretches and then swings into the windshield as you round curves on US 2, with Pinkham Notch adding a high mountain pass at the eastern end. Because it is a set of connected loops rather than one line, it suits travellers who want to spend two or three days working through the northern White Mountains rather than driving one route end to end. Littleton and Lancaster are the natural bases at the western end.
Moose Path Trail
This is the drive to pick if you want wilderness rather than villages: it runs from Gorham all the way north to the Connecticut Lakes and the Canadian border, through the least populated corner of the state. The name is not marketing, the stretch known as Moose Alley is one of the better places in New England to see moose, and summer dawn and dusk are when people go looking. Along the way it passes the Thirteen Mile Woods on the Androscoggin, the Umbagog wildlife refuge and Dixville Notch. Services are thin and the distances are long, so treat it as a full day with fuel and food planned rather than a casual afternoon.
Woodland Heritage Scenic Byway
A compact loop around the northern edge of the White Mountain National Forest that doubles as a tour of New Hampshire's logging and paper-mill country. It runs US 2 west from Gorham to Lancaster, cuts north and east on US 3 and NH 110 through old mill towns, then comes back down NH 16 beside the Androscoggin, the river that once carried logs to the mills at Berlin and Gorham. The industrial history is the hook, with the Northern Forest Heritage Park in Berlin the main stop, and the northern slopes of the Presidential Range in view for much of the western leg. It is a good half-day alternative for anyone who has already driven the notches and wants the quieter side of the mountains.
Lakes Region Tour
A full circuit of Lake Winnipesaukee, the largest lake in the state, and the most summer-shaped drive on this list. The western side on NH 11 gives you the open lake views and the climb up Mount Major; the eastern side is quieter and takes in Wolfeboro, which bills itself as the oldest summer resort in America. Weirs Beach in the middle is the loud, fun end of the spectrum with arcades and amusements, and the MS Mount Washington runs cruises from there if you want to swap the car for a boat. Expect traffic on July and August weekends, especially around Meredith and Weirs Beach.
Coastal Byway
New Hampshire only has eighteen miles of coastline and this drive covers essentially all of it, running the length of the shore between Seabrook and Portsmouth on Routes 1A and 1B. It is the shortest of the state byways and the one most worth going slowly on: it strings together ten state park units, the beaches and boardwalk at Hampton Beach, tidepools and old forts at Odiorne Point, Rye Harbor for fishing and boat trips, and finishes in Portsmouth's historic downtown. Because it hugs the water the whole way it is also the flattest and easiest drive here, and it carries US Bicycle Route 1, so expect cyclists. Summer weekends at Hampton Beach are busy and parking is the main constraint.
American Independence Byway
A short loop just inland from the coast through four of New Hampshire's oldest towns, settled in 1638 and 1639, where the draw is colonial architecture rather than landscape. Exeter was the state capital during the Revolution and holds the American Independence Museum, which displays an original Dunlap broadside of the Declaration of Independence and one of the three surviving original Purple Hearts. Between the villages the road crosses fields, woodland and salt marsh with occasional ocean views. It pairs naturally with the Coastal Byway: the two together make a full day on the Seacoast without much driving.
Lake Sunapee Scenic Byway
A loop right around Lake Sunapee, one of the cleanest lakes in the state, linking the three towns on its shore. The lake itself is only intermittently in view, glimpsed between forested hills and fields rather than followed shoreline-style, and the drive is as much about the village centres as the water: Sunapee Harbor, Newbury Harbor and New London, each with a visitor centre. Mount Sunapee and The Fells, a lakeside historic estate and garden, are the two big stops. At under 40 miles it is a genuine half-day, which makes it a realistic option for anyone based in the Upper Valley or around Concord rather than up north.
Connecticut River Byway
The long one: a National Scenic Byway that runs almost the entire western border of the state, following the Connecticut River north from West Chesterfield up to Littleton. It is a river-valley drive rather than a mountain one, through farmland, terraces and old river towns, and it collects a lot of history along the way, including the Cornish-Windsor covered bridge and the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. Hanover, home to Dartmouth College, is the natural halfway stop. Because it is roughly 140 miles in New Hampshire alone and connects to the Vermont and Massachusetts sections, most people drive a segment rather than the whole thing.
Currier & Ives Scenic Byway
Named for the nineteenth-century printmakers whose lithographs this landscape is supposed to resemble, this byway runs through five small central New Hampshire towns of hayfields, stone walls, covered bridges and village greens. It is the least dramatic drive here and the most everyday-pleasant: the summer version is kayaking the Contoocook or Blackwater rivers, hiking in Rollins State Park up Mount Kearsarge, and stopping at orchards and farm stands. Daniel Webster's birthplace and the Franklin Pierce Homestead bookend the route. Its real advantage is location, roughly half an hour from Concord, which makes it the easiest of these drives to reach from southern New Hampshire.
General John Stark Scenic Byway
The most off-the-beaten-path drive on this list, and the closest to a city: a circular route through four rural towns about twenty minutes from Manchester, designated a state byway only in 2008. It is built around John Stark, the Revolutionary War general credited with the state motto "Live Free or Die", and it takes in the Molly Stark cannon, the Stark family cemetery in Dunbarton and other sites tied to the family. The Piscataquog River runs alongside much of the route, and old railroad beds through Weare, New Boston and Goffstown are now walking and biking paths. Summer here means agricultural fairs and farmers' markets rather than mountain views, so choose it for small-town New Hampshire rather than scenery.
Monadnock Region Loop
The state tourism office's own southwestern loop, and the only drive here in the Monadnock region. It circles out from Keene through Marlborough, Jaffrey, Peterborough, Hancock and Marlow, a run of the towns people mean when they say quintessential New England, with Mount Monadnock as the constant reference point. Peterborough is the cultural anchor and Monadnock State Park the main outdoor stop, so most people combine the drive with the hike up the mountain. It is not a designated scenic byway, just a route the state publishes, which means fewer signs and less traffic than the named byways further north.
How we researched this
The list is built from New Hampshire's byway system: all three National Scenic Byways and nine of the state-designated ones, plus three famous drives with no designation, which is why Byway Status is empty for the Franconia Notch Parkway, the Mount Washington Auto Road and the Monadnock Region Loop. Official sources disagree on mileage, sometimes by a factor of two (the Presidential Range Trail is 213 miles by one count and 115 by another), so lengths come from Visit New Hampshire's page for each drive where one exists and the National Scenic Byway Foundation otherwise. The Connecticut River figure is the 140-mile New Hampshire drive, not the full multi-state byway, and the Coastal Byway's own page gives both 18.5 and 22 miles.
Some Highways cells are empty because the byway's own pages describe the route by its towns or notches rather than its road numbers. The Connecticut River Byway has no region because it runs the whole western border. Urban byways like the Amoskeag Millyard, the Shaker village routes that lead to a single site, and Crawford Notch and Bear Notch Road (segments of the White Mountains Trail) were left out. The Auto Road is the one seasonal drive here, and the weather at its summit is routinely unlike the base, so its own forecast deserves a look on the morning you drive.