Best Scenic Drives in the White Mountains

Loftiest range in the Northeast, the White Mountains of New Hampshire compose New England scenery at its grandest. And with a home base at The Mountain Club on Loon, you’re enfolded within that magnificent scenery, which also plays host, of course, to some of the richest year-round opportunities for outdoor recreation in the country.

Highways and backroads alike provide jawdroppingly beautiful drives through the White Mountains, some of the very finest and best-known of which are right at your doorstep as a guest of ours here at The Mountain Club on Loon.

The Nationally Renowned Kancamagus Highway

Our resort, set on the slopes of Loon Mountain, lies right along the Kancamagus Highway, a designated National Scenic Byway that’s open all year-round. Named for a great leader of the Penacook Confederacy—Kancamagus, the Fearless One—the route covers nearly 35 miles of New Hampshire Route 112 between Lincoln and Conway.

The “Kanc,” as many lovingly call it, shows off White Mountain scenery at its finest. It reaches its pretty-much-undisputed climax of grandeur from September to October, when the Kancamagus Highway could definitely be considered a contender for the greatest fall-colors drive in the world.

But summer’s also a fabulous time to take to the Kanc, with the rich green of the byway-side woods rising to the high slopes and domes of the surrounding mountains.

The highway tops out at 2,855-foot Kancamagus Pass, which separates the Pemigewasset and Swift (Saco) watersheds. Multiple viewpoints, including the Hancock, Sugar Hill, and Pemigewasset overlooks, give you ample opportunity to drink up the sublime mountainscape, most of which lies within the White Mountains National Forest.

And you’ll find trailheads aplenty, including those leading to a number of the waterfalls—Sabbady and Lower falls among them—which flume their way through the corridor.

The Mountain Club on Loon: Your Base Camp for Scenic Drives & Adventure in the New Hampshire White Mountains

We give you direct access to the Kancamagus National Scenic Byway here at The Mountain Club on Loon, but you’re also within ready reach of other sightseeing routes through the White Mountains. Those include the Franconia Notch Parkway through Franconia Notch State Park, which encompasses one of the best-known landscapes in the Granite State and awaits just a few miles away from our property.

After a full day of auto-touring mixed with dayhiking, waterfall-viewing, picnicking, and other classic out-and-about fun in the White Mountains, there’s nothing like returning to The Mountain Club on Loon, where you can refuel with farm-to-table cuisine and refreshing libations, take a dip in the pool or the hot tub, and kick back in the private comfort of your own charming room or suite.,

Book your summer getaway to The Mountain Club on Loon today, and get ready for some of the finest through-the-windshield scenery in the country along the Kancamagus and other White Mountain drives!