About the Area

Quechee Gorge

Some 13,000 years ago, during the Ice Age, Quechee, like the majority of our continent, was covered by a glacier. As the glacier receded from the ocean waters, the melting waters slowly and steadily cut away the bedrock ridge that has become Vermont’s most spectacular natural wonder, Quechee Gorge. Enjoy beautiful vistas 168 feet above the Ottaquechee River, have a picnic overlooking the waterfalls or get something to eat at the snack bar. Enjoy hiking or walking the trails along the mile-long chasm. Go shopping at Quechee Gorge gift shop. The Quality Inn, Shephard’s Pie Restaurant and State Park are located within walking distance of the Gorge. Visit the Quechee Gorge Visitors Center, built in 2005. It offers ample bus parking and public restrooms. This two-story building with an elevator houses the Chamber of Commerce and Information Center. Walking trails abound; shopping and restaurants are across the street. It’s also known as Vermont’s Little Grand Canyon.

Mt. Washington

Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288 ft (1,917 m) and the most prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. It is famous for dangerously erratic weather. For 76 years, until 2010, a weather observatory on the summit held the record for the highest wind gust directly measured at the Earth’s surface, 231 mph (372 km/h or 103 m/s), on the afternoon of April 12, 1934. The mountain is located in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, in the township of Sargent’s Purchase, Coos County, New Hampshire. While nearly the whole mountain is in the White Mountain National Forest, an area of 59 acres (24 ha) surrounding and including the summit is occupied by Mount Washington State Park.

Lake Winnipesaukee

Visit Website: http://www.lakewinnipesaukee.net/

Lake Winnipesaukee /ˌwɪnɪpəˈsɔːki/ is the largest lake in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It is approximately 21 miles (34 km) long (northwest-southeast) and from 1 to 9 miles (1.6 to 14.5 km) wide (northeast-southwest), covering 69 square miles (179 km2)—71 square miles (184 km2) when Paugus Bay is included[2]—with a maximum depth of 212 feet (65 m).

Lake Winnipesaukee has been a tourist destination for more than a century, especially for residents seeking respite from the summer heat of Boston and New York City. The Native American name Winnipesaukee means either “smile of the Great Spirit” or “beautiful water in a high place.” At the outlet of the Winnipesaukee River, the Winnipesaukee Indians, a subtribe of the Pennacook, lived and fished at a village called Acquadocton. Today, the site is called The Weirs, named for the weirs colonists discovered when first exploring the region.

Winnipesaukee is a glacial lake but an unusual one, since the last glaciation actually reversed the flow of its waters. Draining the central portion of New Hampshire, it once flowed southeast, leaving via what is now Alton Bay toward the Atlantic Ocean. When glacial debris blocked this path, flow was redirected westward through Paugus Bay into the Winnipesaukee River. The latter flows west from the lake and joins the Pemigewasset River in Franklin to form the Merrimack River, which flows south to Massachusetts and into the Atlantic.

The Seacoast

New Hampshire’s slice of Atlantic Ocean waterfront is slight – only 18 miles of shoreline. But that shoreline, and the entire Seacoast region, is a delight. Among the highlights of the region are family-friendly Hampton Beach and the hip little city of Portsmouth.

Hampton Beach is a lavish, old-time family beach with day-and-night activities for everyone from toddlers to the old folks. There is a band shell with free concerts and weekly fireworks; the Casino Ballroom, hosting top national entertainers; and, lining the main street, row after row of lodgings, amusements, restaurants, and shops. Annual events at Hampton Beach include a volleyball tournament, children’s festival, sand-sculpting contest, and Hampton Beach Idol contest. Alongside all this activity is a luxurious sweep of white-sand beach where families can lounge and play in the surf. When kids want to get out of the sun, the Happy Hampton Arcade and Funarama offer video and table games.

The Seacoast also is home to the city of Portsmouth, a historic port city with cobblestoned streets, a pleasant downtown filled with charming shops and restaurants overlooking the harbor, and the beautiful waterfront Prescott Park. A fun and educational day event for adults and kids is a visit to Portsmouth’s Strawbery Banke Museum. This is a living history museum that describes everyday life from the 1600s to the 1950s in this neighborhood, known as Puddle Dock. Visitors may walk through furnished historic houses, join costumed role-players, or relax in period gardens.

Other attractions of the Seacoast region are the Fuller Gardens, a turn-of-the-century estate garden four miles north of Hampton Beach; the Seabrook Greyhound Park; and the Seacoast Science Center at Odiorne Point State Park in Rye. Lodging ranges from sophisticated downtown hotels and beachfront motels to inns and B&Bs nestled along quiet lanes.