North Conway, NH – Humarock Mom

If you follow along with my blog or Instagram account (@humarockmom) you know we just returned from North Conway, NH about a week ago! Both my husband and myself grew up going to North Conway, or the surrounding areas when we were little on vacation and I remember our trips up to Bretton Woods like they were yesterday. We’re so excited to get to share the experiences our parents shared with us with our kids.

Over the last year we’ve been fortunate to visit North Conway in the Summer, Fall and Winter and each season has something unique to offer. My amazingly generous bestie has let us use her condo during quarantine time to get away from the ordinary hustle and bustle of life with our family and I am forever grateful!! (Shout out to Kim, Jesse and MooseyBoosey!)

Winter Visit: Our most recent trip was really great, given we don’t really do too many inside activities when we’re there but the great outdoors is where it is AT! We booked a visit to the Ice Castles which was beautiful, although truth be told I didn’t realize they were man made LOL, I thought I was going to see some amazing structure made by nature. We also ate in an igloo at the Woodstock INN which is right (literally 2 minutes) down the street from the Ice Castles and it was awesome. I really hope those things stick around once quarantine life is over.

We also went tubing at Cranmore Mountain which was SO fun, my son is completely obsessed, a week and a half later and he’s still talking about how he was going super fast down the hill like Buster the Bus (Little Baby Bum school bus incase you have no idea what I’m talking about). He also did a quick ski lesson with dad and it was so friggin adorable to see him on skis!

Some kid friendly winter hikes we did while we were in the area were around Echo Lake, a great place for kids and if it’s not too freezing cold or snowy they have picnic tables for lunches. We also stopped at Cathedral Ledge, which was cool, although the road to the top is closed in the winter to vehicle traffic you can walk it all the way to the top. Our favorite though has to be Whitaker Woods and The Theater in the Woods trail. It’s really great for kids and they have a story throughout the trail, you just have to search for it as you’re walking but it’s perfect and our son sprinted from page to page.

Fall Visit: In early October 2020 we decided to take our second quarantine trip up to North Conway, this time for some amazing leaf peeping. We were about a week or two past the peek of the season but it was still beautiful.

We did a few hikes in the fall some that were kid friendly and some not so much, went to Santa’s Village and took the new gondola at Bretton Woods to their new lodge at the top.

Our first two days up there were pretty rainy, which actually was kind of a blessing because the trails we traveled on were vacant. I’m guessing on a normal fall day they are usually craaaazy busy. The first hike we did was called Black Cap and it was absolutely beautiful. It’s about a 2 and 1/2 uphill hike that takes you to the peak of the mountain, but the views at the top are breathtaking. I wouldn’t really recommend traveling this if you aren’t steady on your feet, or if your kids don’t like to climb. My husband did end up having to carry our son a few times over some of the wobbly areas.

Our other hike was around Echo Lake State Park, the trail there is really easy and it’s less than a mile. I would say it’s more about the scenery than the adventure if you’re there just for that walk. There are also a bunch of picnic tables there and in the summer you can swim in the lake

Santa’s Village was such a fun experience with our kids! It was so different than anything they’ve been able to do, especially with all the amusement parks, fairs and carnivals canceled due to Covid last year. We really had a great time! We went on a bunch of rides, saw Santa (from a far) and ate some yummy snacks! On our way back from Santa’s Village to North Conway we stopped at Bretton Woods to ride their new gondola ride. It’s a 12ish minute ride to the top where they have the Switchback Grille, Crystal Hills and Peaks Cafe, although when we were there in the Fall most of it was still under construction.

Summer Visit: Everyone knows North Conway for the skiing in the winter and the leaf peeing in the fall, but a visit in the summer is also worth the trip! We visited in June, which is usually when we go to Maine with a big group of people (really crossing my fingers that’s in the cards this year) but NH was awesome too!

A great hike for kids in the summer is Diana’s Bath, it’s about a mile and half and takes you to some really pretty water falls, which you can swim in, but buyer beware, it’s freezing cold water.

Another beautiful place we stumbled upon that was great for the kids was Willey Pond in Crawford Notch State Park. It was definitely busy there, but there’s a mile long trail that walks around the Pond through the forest near the base of the mountains and it’s great. On our way back to North Conway we stopped at the Mt. Washington Cog Railroad which my son (and husband) both really liked watching climb all the way to the top of the Mountain!!

Moral of my really long blog post is that North Conway is a great family get away in the Spring , Summer, Fall or Winter! There are always amazing things to do, really wonderful family hikes and so much beautiful nature to take in. If you ever have any questions about family friendly activities drop a comment for me and let me know!! There are plenty of other things I didn’t mention that are up there too! (Story Land, Aquarium, Downtown North Conway and the restaurant scene!)

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