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Where is North Conway located?
- North Conway is a charming New Hampshire village in the heart of the Mount Washington Valley, at the foothills of the White Mountains.
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What is special about North Conway’s downtown?
- Its historic downtown is full of beautifully restored old buildings, such as the one that houses North Conway 5 and 10.
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What types of shops can visitors find in North Conway?
- Visitors can enjoy charming coffee shops, wonderful bakeries, antique stores, bookstores, galleries, and outlets.
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1. Black Cap Hiking Trail
Black Cap Hiking Trail is one of the most popular hikes through the White Mountains. This short 2.4-mile path is fairly easy and starts at the dirt parking lot at the end of Hurricane Mountain Road and will take you through the Green Hills Preserve, managed by the Nature Conservancy. Most of the way you will be hiking through lush, dense beech and spruce forest, until you arrive above the tree line and encounter bare rock. No camping or fires are allowed. Once you get to the summit, the views of the White Mountains, North Conway, and the Mount Washington Valley are breathtaking. The trail goes straight to the Black Cap Mountain summit, but along the way you can join other trails such as the Cranmore Mountain Connection, Middle Mountain Trail, Peaked Mountain Trail, and a few others. By taking any of them you can extend your hike to about 10 miles.
Hurricane Mountain Road, North Conway, Conway, NH 03860
2. Conway Scenic Railroad
The Conway Scenic Railroad is a historic railway in North Conway with two routes, the first from North Conway to Conway, which was once part of the Boston and Maine Railroad, Conway Branch. The second line goes from North Conway to Fabyan through Crawford Notch. It was once part of the Maine Central Railroad Mountain Division. The main terminal of the railroad is located in downtown North Conway and the whole station is now registered on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the railroad runs a range of excursions such as the 55-minute "Valley Train," which runs south to Conway or west to Bartlett. The train includes an 1898 Pullman open-deck observation car named Gertrude Emma, a dining car named Chocorua, and several 1920s heavyweight fully restored coaches. The "Notch Train" runs through Crawford Notch.
38 Norcross Cir, North Conway, NH 03860, Phone: 603-356-5251, Facebook
3. Cranmore Mountain Resort
Cranmore Mountain Resort is a popular year-round resort in North Conway Village in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. It has been a family destination for the last 77 years. In the winter, it has 57 trails and glades for skiing, ten lanes of tubing, the Giant Swing, a mountain coaster, and the Soaring Eagle zipline. In the fall, there is the Ghoullog, Cranmore's haunted house, and the night rides at the Haunted Playground. Summertime is full of action with rides in the Mountain Adventure Park and a treetop aerial adventure park. The resort is the location of the first ski school in the area, opened by the celebrated ski master Hannes Schneider. His original skimobile is today a museum piece.
1 Skimobile Rd, North Conway, NH 03860, Phone: 603-356-5543, Facebook
4. Diana's Baths
Located in the heart of the White Mountains, in the small town of Bartlett near the village of North Conway, Diana's Baths is a chain of small and pretty waterfalls. In the 1800s they were the location of a sawmill owned by the Lucy family. They abandoned it in the 1940s, and since then it has become a historic site protected by the Forest Service. The waterfalls’ accumulated drop is 75 feet. There is a 0.6-mile trail that leads to the base of the waterfall. The stream flow is naturally most powerful in the spring, when the snowmelt brings a torrent of water, creating quite a spectacle. This lovely spot is a popular family destination, but bug spray is a must.
3725 West Side Rd, Bartlett, NH 03812, Phone: 603-447-5448
5. Frontside Grind
Frontside Grind opened their doors in downtown North Conway in 1998 and quickly became a spot where local coffee connoisseurs as well as all others in need of a good cup of java come to indulge in freshly roasted, fragrant coffee. Full control of the quality throughout the roasting process allows the shop to produce some unique flavors and blends. Their downtown shop is cozy, bright, and pleasant, and their outdoor patio is a popular spot to sit, relax, enjoy a cup of coffee, and watch the snowy peaks of the Moat Mountains. Frontside is also well known for their delicious bagel sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches, and daily fresh hot soup.
2697 White Mountain Hwy, North Conway, NH 03860, Phone: 603-356-3603
6. New England Ski Museum
The New England Ski Museum’s Eastern Slope branch can be found in a building that formerly housed the North Conway Community Center and was founded by Harvey Dow Gibson, a well known person in skiing history. Typically open on a daily basis, the museum features 4,400 square feet consisting of the Wilkinson-Greenberg Library, a store, archives and equipment storage, and the Robert J.A. Irwin Exhibit Hall. The New England Ski Museum aims to transport guests to a time when the rugged and steep peaks of the White Mountains attracted innovators, investors, and enthusiasts from all over the world.
2628 White Mountain Hwy, North Conway, NH 03860, 603-730-5044
7. Kancamagus Highway
Highway 112, also called Kancamagus Highway or just the Kanc, is a 32-mile-long road that runs between Center Conway and North Woodstock, just a bit south of Franconia Notch. It passes through the magnificent White Mountain National Forest and is considered to be one of the most scenic American highways. The highway is particularly popular in the fall because of the spectacular autumn foliage, but it stays open throughout the winter. Only Bear Notch Road, which links the highway to the town of Bartlett, is closed for the winter. The highway passes through two very popular tourist destinations – Kinsman Notch and Lost River.
Route 112, North Conway, Conway, NH 03251
8. Madison Boulder
Located near the town of Madison in New Hampshire, Madison Boulder is a massive 83-foot-long and 23-foot high granite rock that weighs more than 5,000 tons. The entire 17-acre area around it is developed to protect this National Natural Landmark, which "is an outstanding illustration of the power of an ice sheet to pluck out very large blocks of fractured bedrock and move them substantial distances," according to the US Department of the Interior. Madison Boulder is believed to be North America’s largest glacial erratic, a rock that was moved by glacier and deposited on an area of completely different type of rock. It was once a piece of a ledge of Conway Granite and was moved about 2 miles to its current location, where it now sits on a field of Concord Granite.
473 Boulder Rd, Madison, NH 03849, Phone: 603-227-8745
9. Dahl Wildlife Sanctuary
Spanning across approximately sixty acres, the Dahl Wildlife Sanctuary is located near where NH-302 and NH-16 meet along the Saco River. Owned and operated by the New Hampshire Audubon as a wildlife sanctuary, this conservation area features a private campground and a trail system providing access to various habitats, such as a cobble barren plant community, riverine, wetlands, floodplain forest, fields, early successional forest, and upland pine forest. The land was formerly farmland from the 1800’s through the early 1900’s, but was donated in 1988 by Ruth and Helen Dahl to be used for wildlife habitat and open space.
1390 White Mountain Hwy, North Conway, NH 03860
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