Moose Alley & NH-145

The northern tip of New Hampshire: from Colebrook, NH-145 climbs over hills and farms, past Beaver Brook Falls, to Clarksville and Pittsburg, and US-3 continues north past Lake Francis and the Connecticut Lakes, the stretch known as Moose Alley. The route turns around at Second Connecticut Lake, before reaching Canada, and returns on US-3 to Colebrook. It's 62 miles. Moose cross the road: ease off, don't ride at dusk, watch for logging trucks, and fuel in Colebrook or Pittsburg.

Pittsburg is the largest town in New England by area, and in the 1830s its territory declared itself the Republic of Indian Stream, an independent state that lasted from 1832 to 1835 while the border between the United States and Canada was still in dispute; markers in town tell the story. North of the village, US-3 follows the Connecticut Lakes, where the Connecticut River begins, and the last stretch toward the border is nicknamed Moose Alley because sightings are so common at dawn and dusk in late spring and summer.

US-3 ends at the Pittsburg–Chartierville crossing, New Hampshire's only border crossing with Canada, so the route turns around at Second Connecticut Lake, well before customs, and comes back south. Beaver Brook Falls, a state wayside on NH-145 just north of Colebrook, is the first stop of the day. Logging trucks use these roads, moose don't move for anyone, and services are only in Colebrook and Pittsburg, so plan fuel around them and finish before the light goes.