Weekend Itinerary and Map

Day 1 (The Squam Lakes Area and Plymouth)

• West Rattlesnake Natural Area (Old Bridle Path) (1.7 mi out and back)
• Walter Newton Natural Area (1.6 mi loop past Rainbow Falls; CW)

Day 2 (Franconia Notch and Crawford Notch)

• Artist Bluff (1.5 mi loop, 436 ft elev. gain; CCW)
• Bronson Hill Conservation Area (1.6-mile Overlook Farm Loop; CCW)
• Mount Willard (3.1 mi out and back, 895 ft elev. gain)
• Bonus: View of Mount Washington from the Bretton Woods Nordic Center

Rainbow Falls (Walter Newton Natural Area)

• An easy but icy forest trek to a waterfall that looks like it is frozen in time
• Difficulty: easy
• Trail Map (1.6 mile loop)
• Parking: Next to a bridge on Cummings Hill Rd.

We had time for a quick hike before dark on our first day and managed to sneak in this great trail to the frozen Rainbow Falls. The trail was quite easy but had an excellent payoff at the end! Frozen waterfalls are always an amazing sight, but we’ve never seen one quite like this. The texture of the water in the falls really made it look like the waterfall was frozen in time, although you could still hear and see unfrozen water flowing behind it.

Artist’s Bluff and Bald Mountain Loop (Franconia Notch State Park)

• A trek over rocky and icy staircases to commanding views of the White Mountains, including the Cannon Mountain Resort
• Difficulty: hard because of large, icy steps
• Trail Map (1.5 mile loop counter-clockwise)
• Parking: The parking lot of Cannon Mountain Ski Resort

Artist’s Point shows up on many “best of” lists in the White Mountains because it is an accessible hike to a close-up view of the mountain peaks and Echo Lake in the Franconia Notch area. It’s famous for the views of fall colors, but it is also very beautiful in the winter. We combined this destination with a higher panoramic viewpoint at Bald Mountain (above) on a suggested counter-clockwise loop. The views from both locations were magnificent, but required scrambling over totally frozen rocky staircases (including some teamwork on a tricky section up to Bald Mountain). Conveniently, after your hike, you can use the restrooms or grab a bite to eat across the street at the base of Cannon Mountain. This is a great option if you want to enjoy some of the views in Franconia Notch in the winter without hitting the slopes!

Overlook Farm Loop (Bronson Hill Conservation Area)

• Hike out to a warming cabin framed by mountain peaks
• Diffculty: easy
• Trail Map (1.6 mile loop, CCW)
• Parking: At the end of Dyke Road, near the intersection with Hadley Road

This hike in the picturesque Sugar Hill area is a bit of a hidden gem that we discovered on an excellent blog about the White Moutains. If you take the trail counter-clockwise, as we did, you meander through the woods and quickly spit out in a clearing near a warming hut (you can go in the hut, but we did not on this trip). If you walk up the hill a bit to near the bench on the trail marked “Harry’s Way” and turn around, you get an awesome view of the hut framed by the White Mountains in the background. This would be a great family walk or stroll if you were in the mood for a short but pretty winter walk after a long day of hard hiking or skiing. The trail is also open to dogs, and there are other trails in the area if you wanted to make your walk a little longer!

Mount Willard (Crawford Notch Area)

• The biggest bang for your buck: a beautiful wooded trail to an iconic view in the White Mountains
• Difficulty: moderate
• Trail Map (1.2 mile loop)
• Parking: On route 302 near Crawford Notch Station and the AMC Highland Center

Crawford Notch is just a few minutes drive from a famous viewpoint of Mount Washington, and this is the area of the White Mountains that is famous for its blustery conditions. After walking in relatively balmy weather near Franconia Notch, the whipping winds on the road at Crawford Notch nearly deterred us from making the uphill trek to Mount Willard. We stopped in at the AMC Highland Center to use the bathroom, and the staff assured us that many people had ventured up to Mount Willard on the day we visited. So, we decided to persevere through the wind and make our way towards the forest trailhead behind the historic train station.

As soon as we got into the woods, the wind died down and we were treated to beautiful rays of light tumbling through the trees. The way up was more packed down and snowy here than on many of the other trails we visited on the trip, but we were still glad to be wearing micro spikes! The view at the top of Mount Willard through Crawford Notch was spectacular. There are also some views along the ridge line out to Mount Washington and down the Notch at different angles, but it seemed like the views from near where the main trail spit out were among the best. When we came out of the woods near the top, the wind picked up again, and so we made sure to stand far away from the edge and check our footing to avoid any problems.

After the hike at Mount Willard, we drove back down route 302 and made a stop at the Bretton Woods Nordic Center on the grounds of the Omni Mount Washington Resort. Normally, the Nordic Center charges a fee to go on the groomed trails, but you can explore the trails closer to the hotel and near the bridge over the Ammonosuc River without paying a fee. The trails and hotel grounds were particularly nice for catching the start of the orange glow on the snowy summit of Mount Washington in the late afternoon. The hotel itself is also magnificent, with an outdoor swimming pool that sits in the shadow of Mount Washington as well as lovely shops to get local gifts (including local candy and treats at the sweet shop). This was a perfect end to our exciting day of hiking!