League of NH Craftsmen 32 Main St., Center Sandwich 603-284-6831; nhcrafts.org Flagship location of this Granite State organization; quality contemporary and traditional works in a range of media. The Loon Center & Markus Wildlife Center 183 Lee’s Mill Road, Moultonborough 603-476-5666; loon.org Displays and nature trails celebrating loons and other Granite State wildlife, on 200 […]
Water, woods, and light so brilliant it’ll take your breath away: Join us for a fabulous fall tour through the very heart of New Hampshire.
New England’s autumn progression is in a bit of a holding pattern this week as we wait for the tropical air associated with Isaac’s remnants to pass. It’s not at all unusual to have a warm week or two in September, and tropical remnants work through New England with regularity as well, so I don’t […]
Possibly the most beautiful orchard view in New England, with vistas as far as the White Mountains. When you turn your attention back to the trees, you’ll find 80-plus apple cultivars tended by owners Tim and Amy Bassett. One variety especially worth noting: ‘Hampshire’, a tree that sprang up from seed on this very farm […]
7000 B.C. The first maples appear on the New England landscape. New Jersey tourists soon follow. September 1818 Mass.’ Topsfield Fair, now one of the oldest existing agricultural fairs in the country, opens. September 7-8, 1846 Henry David Thoreau, with friends, makes his first ascent of Maine’s Mount Katahdin. His finding: “Nature was here something […]
I hewed the road out of wilderness in 1779 with my pickaxe as one of Colonel Hazen’s men. I took over the yoke in 1789 when one of the oxen sickened, pulling the sled the last hundred miles to Wolcott. I herded a thousand turkeys over to Boston in 1826, making twelve miles a day […]
An earlier title for Up: A Mother and Daughter’s Peakbagging Adventure was Alex and the 4,000-Foot Classroom, a reasonable choice because it’s about a little girl named Alex who climbs all 48 of New Hampshire’s 4,000-foot mountains before losing her first baby tooth. But that sounds like a children’s book, and this is a book […]
This past weekend, a cold front came through New England, bringing some much needed rainfall and a wonderful break from the heat. When I awoke early Sunday morning to do some fly fishing in the mountains, temperatures were in the lower forties, and there was a crispness to the air. Heavy mist was coming off […]
“Dogtown looks like a cross between Easter Island and Stonehenge – essentially druidic in its appearance – it gives the feeling that an ancient race might turn up at any moment and renew an ageless rite there. Dogtown is therefore not the ground for sketch artists and that is why they never go there […]
The most direct walk up to the Appalachian Mountain Club’s hut on Mount Madison rises from the north, along the Valley Way, an ancient, eroded pack trail that lifts 3,550 feet in less than four miles. The gain is relentless, but the grade is moderate, well sheltered, and efficient, and therefore preferred by the hut […]
BEST WHEELCHAIR-ACCESSIBLE TRAIl Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Wells The mile-long gravel Carson Trail loops through the reserve, passing tidal creeks, salt pans, and salt marshes, and providing excellent vistas for birdwatching. Interpretive signs explain sights. 321 Port Road (Route 9). 207-646-9226; fws.gov/northeast/rachelcarson/ BEST VICTORIANA IMMERSION Victoria Mansion, Portland First-time visitors’ jaws often drop upon […]
BEST PLACE TO LET ‘ER RIP Okemo Mountain Timber Ripper, Ludlow On the Ripper, billed as “Vermont’s first roller coaster,” riders rocket down 3,100 feet of curves and straightaways on the face of Okemo Mountain. Control your own two-person cart as it hurtles along steel rails at speeds of up to 25 mph. 77 Okemo […]
