Kancamagus Highway · NH-112

The great ride of the White Mountains: NH-112 leaves Lincoln, climbs along the Pemigewasset valley to the hairpin at the Hancock Overlook and the Kancamagus Pass, then follows the Swift River down past Sabbaday Falls, Rocky Gorge and the Albany Covered Bridge into Conway. It's 34 miles of mountain bends with real overlooks to stop at. There's no fuel, food or toilets in between, so fill up in Lincoln or Conway, and park only with a White Mountain National Forest pass.

The Kancamagus Highway is named for Kancamagus, the last sagamore of the Penacook Confederacy. It opened in August 1959, when two dead-end roads from Lincoln and Conway were finally linked, and it was fully paved in 1964. The high point is the Kancamagus Pass at 2,855 feet, and just west of it the road makes its famous hairpin at the Hancock Overlook. On the east side, the Russell-Colbath House, built around 1832, is the only original building left from the old town of Passaconaway and is now a Forest Service historic site right on the road.

The road has no gas, no restaurants and no toilets for its whole length, and cell signal is spotty, so treat Lincoln and Conway as your only service stops. Riding through needs no permit, but parking at the overlooks, falls and trailheads requires a White Mountain National Forest recreation pass, sold at the parking areas and at the ranger station in Conway. The Albany Covered Bridge, from 1858, crosses the Swift River just off the road near the Conway end. In foliage season the Kanc gets very busy, so start early.