Best Outdoor Attractions in New Hampshire | 2015 Editors’ Choice Awards

The Granite State has plenty to offer in the Great Outdoors. Read our picks for the best outdoor attractions in New Hampshire for 2015.

Best Berry Picking Monadnock Berries, Troy The expansive setting, with majestic Mount Monadnock in the foreground, is as delicious as the grape-sized blueberries clustered on row after row of bushes. The rustic café/gift shop provides a quick pick-me-up before you hit the outdoors for a full range of PYO delectables: gooseberries, currants, and blackberries, oh my. 545 West Hill Road. 603-242-6417; monadnockberries.com Best Moose Watching Moose Alley, Pittsburg The state’s most impressive inhabitants are often found in some of its prettiest, wildest countryside in the White Mountains and Great North Woods. For best chance of a sighting, follow the Moose Path Trail: Take Route 16 north from Gorham to Errol; then Route 26 to Dixville Notch; then U.S. 3 north to Pittsburg. Professional guides will be happy to take you out, too. Best Foliage Retreat Squam Lake Inn, Holderness When fall blazes across the countryside, it’s like a clash of beautiful titans, a riot of red, orange, yellow. Pick a spot, any spot, but why not the Lakes Region? How about a setting so gorgeous that On Golden Pond was filmed there? Bingo, Squam Lake—second-largest in the state. And there’s no better base camp than the Squam Lake Inn, renowned for its gourmet breakfasts and a restaurant that’s open to the public for lunch and dinner. Fresh local ingredients elevate the menu, but homemade ice-cream sandwiches make the perfect fall treat. 28 Shepard Hill Road. 603-968-4417; squamlakeinn.com Best Bike Trail Northern Rail Trail, Lebanon to Boscawen Kudos to this 50+-mile stretch: It’s been added to “100 Top Trails in the U.S.” by the Rails-to- Trails Conservancy in Washington, D.C. The longest rail trail in the state and still growing, thanks to its devoted volunteers, it glides past farms, orchards, lakes, mill sites, and covered bridges, with possible moose sightings in Grafton and Orange. northernrailtrail.org Best Year-Round Christmas-Tree Farm The Rocks Estate, Bethlehem Balsam firs stretch to the horizon at the 1,400- acre Rocks Estate, a Christmas-tree farm extraordinaire in the White Mountains, and former home of International Harvester co-founder John Jacob Glessner. Though the two mansions are long gone, many historic buildings remain. His heirs deeded the estate to the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, which today offers programs on everything from vernal pools to wild turkeys to maple sugaring—plus tours, carriage rides, and trail open year-round. 4 Christmas Lane. 603-444-6228; therocks.org

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