The Road Trip Through The Nash Stream Forest Region In New Hampshire Will Take You Through Sheer Autumnal Perfection
By Michelle|Published October 28, 2019
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Michelle
Author
Michelle's life is a colorful map of exploration and adventure. From the iconic streets of New York to the sunny shores of Florida, the jagged coast of Maine to the rugged terrain of Montana, she's been fortunate to call some of America's most beautiful states home. Beyond the U.S., Michelle's wanderlust has taken her on a motorcycle journey through India, led her to teach English in Hanoi, and saw her studying Spanish in Guatemala. Michelle graduated with a communications degree from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and in addition to a career in advertising has worked with OnlyInYourState since 2016, where her love for travel and storytelling converges. Alongside writing and exploring, Michelle finds joy in photography, staying active, and time with her family.
For questions, comments and inquiries please email: mstarin@onlyinyourstate.com.
If you’ve always wanted to take a road trip through New Hampshire, this is certainly the time to do it! The colors are incredible and the air is crisp and wonderful. Plus, this is a great time of year to experience what the small towns dotted throughout the state are offering in the way of baked goods and pumpkin everything! This drive begins near the White Mountains and then meander up towards the Nash Stream Forest Natural Area. Hop in and let’s go! We’ve even put together the exact driving instructions with a map to get you from town-to-town.
You'll be starting your journey from Littleton, located in Grafton County. Home, of course, to Porfido's Market. This might be a good place to pick up a few snacks.
Despite its name, Littleton is one of the larger towns on this road trip. That makes it a great meeting point if you'll be driving with friends. It's also a great place to get a coffee or tea to fuel your ride! This is also where you'll find one of our favorite candy stores, Chutter's!
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Head East on NH Route 116 to Route 2 East to get to Gorham. This is when you'l want to take your time to enjoy the stunning back roads.
Next it's onto the home of Mount Washington. Here you can choose to head south for a bit to take the Auto Road up the mountain, but this will add quite a bit to your trip. If you have the time, go for it! But rest assured that you can see plenty from a lower elevation, including Moose Brook State Park.
As you continue you on you'll be going north on NH-16. That's where you'll reach the beautiful town of Milan. Stop for photos, but if you can make this an overnight trip and you've timed it right you might want to check out the yurt camping at Milan Hill State Park.
The main attraction here i Umbagog lake State Park. If the weather is nice, you'll want to carve out time to get out onto the water. This is the best way to see the foliage. Either bring your own kayak or canoe, or rent one in town.
If you can bear leaving the beauty of Errol, take NH-26 West towards Dixville Notch. This is notable as home to Balsams resort. It's not open at the moment, but the area is wonderful for photographs. To get your blood pumping you can get out and hike to the top of Table Rock to see the area from way up high. This isn't a short hike, so you'll want to have planned to do this.
You'll still be heading west at this point, heading towards Colebrook. This is where you'll find Beaver Falls. This waterfall is beautiful, but best of all you don't need to take a hike to see it. It's totally visible from the road.
And, last but not least is lovely Lancaster! Here you'll have sweeping views of the Presidential Range if you look south. This is also where you can choose to extend your trip by heading west into Vermont. Or, take I-93 south into other parts of New Hampshire. You can also head southeast into the White Mountain National Forest. There's no limit to what's available in New Hampshire and we intend to see as much of it as we can!
This isn’t the only way to drive through some of the most beautiful parts of the state. These 8 country roads in New Hampshire are pure bliss in the fall.
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