<<< - New Hampshire
Recreation and Places of Interest

The rugged White Mountains, the many woodland lakes and scenic splendors, and the cool summers bring many visitors to New Hampshire. The attractions include hunting, camping, hiking, and mountain climbing in the summer and fall; swimming and boating in summer; skiing and snowmobiling in winter; and local theater and music programs.

One of the most famous New Hampshire sights was the “Old Man of the Mountain,” a striking rock formation resembling a human face on Profile Mountain that fell off the mountainside in 2003. Other scenic features of Franconia Notch include the Flume, a spectacular gorge, and the Basin, a deep glacial pothole. Also in the White Mountains are the glacial caverns of Lost River, near North Woodstock, and the view from the top of Mount Washington, New England’s highest mountain. A cog railway and a toll road allow access to a visitor’s center at the summit. The larger lakes of New Hampshire all have well-developed resorts with excellent boating and water-skiing facilities. Weirs Beach, on Lake Winnipesaukee near Laconia, is one of the better-known inland resorts. Hampton Beach is New Hampshire’s most popular seaside resort.

New Hampshire has many major ski areas. Many large ski lifts and gondolas operate during the summer for sightseers and picnickers. These lifts include those at Mount Sunapee State Park; Loon Mountain, near North Woodstock; and the aerial tramway at Cannon Mountain, near Easton.

National Forests

The White Mountain National Forest covers 292,000 hectares (721,000 acres) of northeastern New Hampshire with hardwood forests and the largest alpine area east of the Rocky Mountains and south of Canada. Some of the state’s most popular sites are located in the forest, which also contains five national wilderness areas: the Caribou-Speckled, Great Gulf, Presidential Range-Dry River, Pemigewasset, and Sandwich Range. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, which travels nearly the length of the Eastern United States, traverses the White Mountains.

State Parks

New Hampshire has 42 state parks. Among them are popular year round sites that include camping, hiking, boating, fishing and other recreational opportunities, such as those at Mount Sunapee, Pillsbury, Hampton Beach, and Sculptured Rocks Natural Area. Bear Brook State Park provides recreation as well as a museum, a nature center and an historic meeting house.

Museums

Two of the state’s leading art galleries are the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College and the Currier Gallery of Art in Manchester. Both have fine permanent collections as well as special periodic exhibitions. Other notable galleries include the Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, the Art Gallery at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, and the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery at Keene State College. The museum of the New Hampshire Historical Society houses period rooms and art objects. The League of New Hampshire Craftsmen is a statewide organization that promotes handicrafts through a teaching program as well as through the shops it operates in various parts of the state and the gallery at its headquarters in Concord. The Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish features the home, gardens, and studios of the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

The MacDowell Colony at Peterborough, named for the noted American composer Edward MacDowell, is a special haven for artists in all creative fields. This colony was originally MacDowell’s summer home.

Other Places to Visit

Throughout New Hampshire the visitor will find well-preserved 18th-century towns, many of which still have white wooden churches, public greens or commons, and early homes. Some of the historic sites in the state include the Franklin Pierce Homestead in Hillsboro, the birthplace of Daniel Webster near Franklin, the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion near Portsmouth, which was the residence of New Hampshire’s royal governor, and the Robert Frost farm at Derry. Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site preserves the home and studio in Cornish of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, one of the country’s noted sculptors. Strawbery Banke, at Portsmouth, is a restored maritime community dating from the 1630s. New Hampshire has 53 covered bridges dating from the 19th century.

Source: MSN Encarta: Online Encyclopedia