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Great Destinations

White Mountains, New Hampshire

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DESTINATIONS
Newport, RI
Providence, RI
Boston, MA
Cape Cod, MA
Champlain Valley, VT
Mount Desert Island, ME
Mystic, CT

Today, the king of the Presidential Range, with the surrounding 768,000-acre White Mountain National Forest, is home to some of the finest outdoor recreational activity in the East. Hikers flock to the Whites each summer to test their mountaineering mettle, while the New England winters dump snow and skiers on the steeply pitched trails of Loon Mountain and Waterville Valley. Even staying in the car can prove to be an awe-inspiring -- albeit neck-craning -- activity. The Kancamagus Highway -- a 34-mile paved road connecting Lincoln to Conway -- slices through the heart of the forest, offering up-close views of some of the region's most impressive peaks and roadside pull-offs to take that postcard-perfect foliage shot.

Accommodations abound in this part of New England. For the hardy, there are mountain huts and off-trail tent sites, while the swath of motels in Conway offer a few amenities not found in the woods. For true elegance, there's the century-old Mount Washington Hotel and Resort in Bretton Woods, the last of the region's stately summer hotels.

The Mount Washington Valley, as North Conway and the surrounding towns are called, epitomizes the region's status as a four-season destination point. Besides skiing and hiking, it also boasts hundreds of shops and factory outlets, making it one of the premier shopping areas in New England. The visitor numbers peak during winter and summer, but don't worry -- like the mountain views, the stores are open year-round.