The Mount Washington Auto Road was built in 1861 and was a fantastic achievement at the time. It was called the carriage road for obvious reasons when it was first built. It is a winding mostly paved (there is one dirt section) with no guard rails and some interesting drops over the ledge if you are not careful. Not for the feint of heart or the timid driver.
To get to Mount Washington you can fly into the Manchester, NH airport or drive the three hours up from Boston. Taking route 16 North will bring you to Conway, NH; the gateway to the White Mountains. Conway is an interesting town with many shops and restaurants catering to the tourist crowd.
Numerous accommodations can be had in the Conway area the most interesting are the Adventure Suites which offer such rooms as; a Roman Spa, a cave, a tree house, etc. A bit kitschy but great for the kids.
At Conway the road splits you can take NH Route 302 which will take you to the western side of Mount Washington where you will find the Mount Washington Cog Railroad and the Mount Washington Inn a holdover grand hotel from the early 20th century. To get to the auto road stay on NH Route 16. An interesting stop if you have young children is the amusement park Storyland (see separate post) on the right going northbound on 16.
Continue on until you get to the auto road. On the right there is an inn and gift shop where you can find an ATM, convenience items and souvenirs. On the left you will come directly to the auto road toll booth. $29 for car and driver and $9 for each additional person, $7 for children under 12. At the tollbooth you get an audio CD with a history of the road and some safe driving suggestions. You also receive the famous “This Car Climbed Mount Washington” bumper sticker that you will see throughout New England. The road starts out very steep and winding as it curls through a heavily wooded section of the mountain. You can practice passing oncoming vehicles while still in the relative safety of an absence of cliff edges.
The road now enters into a transitional zone of scrub pines and low laying bushes.
As you continue into the alpine tundra area the views and the driving become dramatic. As the driver is clinging to the road the passengers can marvel at views not often seen on the east coast. On a clear day you can see 100 miles. Be prepared the temperature change can also be just as dramatic. Our September trip saw two inches of snow on the summit and temperatures of 28° Fahrenheit.
The weather station at the top of the mountain has been in service for over 100 years and has the unique distinction of recording the highest wind speed ever recorded on planet Earth at 231 miles per hour! The top of the mountain has more than 100 days with wind speeds of greater than 100 mph! There is a deck on top of the visitor center for the State Park and if you can walk the circumference of the deck during a 100 mph wind without falling down you get bragging rights.
There is a cafeteria on the top of the mountain, a visitor center, the Tip Top house (one of the original structures) and the terminus for the cog railroad.
The Mount Washington Autoroad is a great attraction for New England and the eastern United States providing views rarely available east of the Mississippi.
Civil War Battlefields and Shenandoah National Park
We left our home in New Hampshire to begin a week long tour of civil war battlefields and Shenandoah National Park. After a travel stop for refueling and some Roy Rogers chicken we arrived at our first hotel Crown Plaza in Monroe, New Jersey. Our mode of travel is to have a set list of attractions that we want to see but to travel leisurely stopping when we see fit using and adjusting schedules as a place of interest takes more or less time.
After a night of restful sleep in a clean comfortable hotel we set out for Fort McHenry Natioanl Monument in Baltimore. The visitor center is a must stop and be sure to take in the short film with its impressive flag emphasis. A short walk up to the fort brought us just in time to the flag raising ceremony. We had fun with a self guided tour of the fort as Alex worked on his junior ranger booklet. The single passport cancellation station is in the visitor’s center.
We next drove to Frederick, Maryland where we had lunch at the Beijing Chinese restaurant a typical corner take out location the likes of which you will find in any American city. Monocacy National Battlefield was next on our itinerary. This is touted as the battle that saved Washington. In 1864 the Confederacy made a push into Maryland in an effort to capture the capital. Vastly outnumbered union troops were able to hold off the confederate army until reinforcements arrived. The visitor center has a nice museum describing the battle and this is where you can pick up your junior ranger materials and get your passport stamp. There are some nice walks through the battlefield but there is not much in terms of monuments or infrastructure.
Our last stop for the day was at Great Falls Park and the Billy Goat trail along the Potomac River. A pleasant place to stroll along the river in a nice wooded area.
We stayed the night after making our way to West Virginia at the Quality Hotel and Conference Center in Harpers Ferry. The White Horse Tavern attached to the hotel had wonderful meals and drinks. Try the Old Bay chicken wings as an appetizer.
We made our way the next morning to Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. We spent the day exploring the park and the preserved old town, this was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. There is a visitor center with passport cancellation station on a bluff above the town, This is where you catch a shuttle bus down into the old town where there are museums, preserved buildings and views of the river.
After a short drive to Front Royal, Virginia we ate at Joe’s Steakhouse and stayed the night at the Quality Inn Skyline Drive. In the morning we headed into Shenandoah National Park along the Skyline Drive. This park raod runs along the ridge of the mountains offering spectacular views at every turn.
The visitor center is close to the start of the drive coming down from Front Royal and is where you get your passport stamped. Keep your eyes open not only for the views but for wildlife as well. The family of bears in the video below was a welcome sight.
We traveled just a few miles on the parkway to get a flavor of it before heading to Appomattox Courthouse National Historic Park. There are several buildings on site included the reconstructed McLean house where the surrender was signed by Lee and Grant.
A 4.5 mile walking tour called the History Trail takes you to several historic areas all the while traversing quiet country fields and glens. The passport cancellation location is behind the first building on the site in the bookstore. The hotel for the night was the Winchester Travel Lodge in Winchester, Virginia.
The morning brought us back to Maryland for a visit to Antietam National Battlefield the location of the bloodiest one day battle in the history of America. We were lucky enough to see some re-enactors in full costume. Alex was thrilled to mix with the “soldiers” while wearing his union army hat.
You get your passport stamped at the visitor center, watch the introductory film and tour the exhibits. There is a wonderful driving tour through the park where you can stop at any point of interest and explore at your leisure. A wonderful park to picnic and spend the whole day.
The Weir Farm National Historic Site was our destination in the morning. This is an art centered site that is great for kids. There is an artist in residence and the kids get sketching materials to draw their own “masterpieces.” The junior ranger program is also a great deal of fun as it involves a scavenger hunt as you wonder around the grounds. Ranger Adrian was wonderful working with Alex and it is people like him that make the National Park experience so special.
My mother was born in Eastport, Maine about ninety minutes north of Arcadia. We would visit her home town at least once every year and when my parents retired they bought an old farm house and spent summers in the area. All the while I was growing up and into early adulthood I would visit Arcadia and I came to consider it my “home town National Park.” Because of my familiarity with the park and my unbridled love of the area I was very excited to take a trip with Rita and Alex and act as tour guide.
We booked a room at the Wonder View Inn on a bluff overlooking Frenchman’s Bay. The view of the bay was spectacular out the window with views of the bay and visiting cruise ships. A reasonable $150 per night provided a clean, comfortable moderate level accommodation.
You will most likely be flying into Bangor or driving up from Portland or southern New England. Either way you will be passing through the gateway city to the park Ellsworth, Maine. Ellsworth is a typical National Park border town with fast food restaurants, numerous mid-range brick and mortar restaurants, Walmart, etc. Stock up on needed supplies for picnics, hiking supplies and other sundry items before crossing over to Mount Desert Island the site of the park.
We drove up route one from our home in New Hampshire leaving early in the morning. Our first stop for lunch was in Camden, Maine. We drove up the auto road to the top of Mount Battie where we climbed the tower and had a pleasant lunch overlooking the harbor. Across the street from Mount Battie you will find the Camden Hills State Park with access to the bay.
One stop I highly recommend as an interesting diversion, especially if you are driving up on Route 1 from the south as we were, is the “Big Chicken Barn Books and Antiques.” It is exactly as the name implies an old chicken barn turned into an antique shop and used book store. The entire second floor of the barn is dedicated to magazines and books. It is a great way to spend an hour and pick up some treasures before embarking on your tour of the park.
After checking into the Inn we decided to get some dinner at the restaurant adjacent to the hotel. The Looking Glass Restaurant had the same spectacular view as the hotel room and being able to sit and enjoy dinner while watching the harbor made it all the more special. As we were waiting for our meal we saw the chef hop out to the garden and snip a few herbs, the resulting meal was exceptional.
The visitor center has several displays, a nice book store and a short film about Arcadia. There is a passport to the National Park stamp cancellation station here but Arcadia has a wealth of stamp locations at many sites around the park. I will make note of them in the body of the blog as we get to certain areas. From the visitor center take the Park Loop road; this is a one way road going along the coast with numerous pullouts and stops for sightseeing or hiking.
There is a small walk through botanical garden with local plants and a small visitor center with a unique passport cancellation station. Proceed out the back of the visitor center and a short walk will bring you to the Abbe Museum. There are some native American artifacts and some craft items for sale. Next up is the Precipice Trail. I have not done this trail for many years, not since I was much younger. It is less than a mile to the summit but it is literally straight up the side of a mountain. There are spaces where metal rungs are driven into the cliff face and narrow ledges and ladders in other places. My nephew and I did not have too much difficulty but when we got to the top and looked down we had second thoughts. We decided to take the gradual descent along a ridge line but the hike down was more than five miles. Be prepared and bring plenty of water but a great experience.
Next up is Sand Beach. As the name suggests it is a sandy beach area which is not easy to come by on the typically rocky coast of Maine. The water is Northern Maine cold! Thunder Hole is the next stop. There is a small gift shop with another unique cancellation station for your National Park passport. When the tide is right the surf comes crashing into a rock crevasse causing a loud thundering sound and a huge splash. If you catch this during a storm surge it can be really spectacular.
The Park Loop is a one way two lane road so if you see an interesting vantage point just stop, park and explore. My wife and I have a couple of private spaces where no one else goes where we can sit watch the surf and spend some time together.
Arcadia is well known for its carriage roads. This is a system of roads built by the philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. that is only for pedestrians, bicycles or horses. We booked a ride on a horse drawn carriage that took us up to the summit of one of the nearby hills. Great views and a romantic ride for couples and fun for the kids. Last on the itinerary is Cadillac Mountain. Take the auto road to the summit for the best views on the island. Another cancellation station is in the gift shop.
For dinner we went to the Jordan Pond House where you must order the popovers. These are airy puffy muffin like appetizers that are out of this world. The food is of good quality especially the seafood. Next up on the other side of the island, a short drive away, is the famous lighthouse.
The Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse is one of the most photographed in the country. To get the iconic photo, take the short trail from the parking lot and climb out onto the rocks looking back at the lighthouse.
After sleeping in for a few hours the next day we went to downtown Bar Harbor for a morning stroll.
I hear that there is another unique cancellation station in the downtown area but we did not find it. We booked a cruise on the Sea Princess going out to Little Cranberry Island in the afternoon so we stopped at the Downeast Deli and picked up some wonderful sandwiches, highly recommended. The cruise left from the opposite side of Mount Desert Island so we made our way to the dock in time for the 1:15 departure. The ranger led cruise sailed by seals sunning themselves and numerous Guillemots frolicking in the surf.
On Little Cranberry Island the ranger opened the doors to the small Islesford Historical Museum where there is another unique stamp location. A short walk brings you to the village and if you are lucky the one general store will be open and you can some freshly baked pastry.
The next day we stopped at the visitor center at the entrance to Mount Desert Island got another unique passport stamp and Alex received a special Junior Ranger badge from the nicer than nice ranger on duty.
