The Most Picturesque Small Towns in New Hampshire
New Hampshire is home to several picturesque small towns, inviting visitors with their quirky charm, unique attractions, and outdoor adventures. These include Franconia and the stunning Franconia Notch State Park, Hampton Beach and its lively boardwalk and seaside activities, Sugar Hill’s famous pancakes, and Meredith’s lakeside recreation. Nature enthusiasts will fall in love with Lincoln’s natural beauty and Jackson’s scenic waterfalls and historic covered bridges. Each town showcases the natural beauty, vibrant culture, and welcoming atmosphere that make New Hampshire a picturesque destination.
Franconia
The small town of Franconia, with a population just shy of 1,200, is home to the stunning 7,000-acre Franconia Notch State Park, where visitors can hike, bike, swim, camp, fish, and participate in cold-weather activities during the winter. The park offers dramatic mountain views, waterfalls, and scenic natural beauty, such as the Flume Gorge, discovered in 1808 by “Aunt” Jess Guernsey. Guernsey’s home became known as “The Frost Place” after the celebrated poet Robert Frost lived there from 1915 to 1920—a place that inspired his poem “The Road Not Taken.” Today, The Frost Place is a “house museum” and a sanctuary for poetry lovers.
In nearby Cannon Mountain, outdoor enthusiasts can go rock climbing or hop on the Aerial Tramway. A cable car brings them to the 4,080-foot summit, where they can enjoy spectacular 360-degree views of New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, New York, and Canada on a clear day. For a moderate 60 to 90-minute hike, take the Artists Bluff Trail from the trailhead near the Cannon Mountain Main Base Area, where hikers will be rewarded with views of Echo Lake. On the way back, stop at Rek’ · lis Brew Pub for a well-deserved pint of whatever’s on tap.
Hampton Beach
The seacoast of New Hampshire is relatively small, stretching only 18 miles along the Atlantic Ocean. Still, what it lacks in size, it makes up for in seaside attractions, scenic beauty, and recreational activities in towns like Hampton Beach, with its old-time boardwalk. The mile-long lively Hampton Beach Boardwalk is like a trip down memory lane with its old-school pinball machines, Skee-Ball lanes, saltwater taffy stands, souvenir t-shirt shops, nightly concerts at the Sea Shell stage, and free Movie Night Mondays on the sand.
From weekly concerts to fireworks to the 24th Annual Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpting Classic held June 20 - 22, 2024, when 200 tons of imported sand is dropped on the beach, there’s always something going on in this little beach town. See a show at the historic Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, a staple of the local entertainment scene since 1899. hosting concerts and performances by well-known artists, tribute bands, and comics, or take the kids to the Blue Ocean Discovery Center, where they can learn about marine life and local ocean ecology through interactive exhibits and touch tanks. On the way out of town, stop at the popular Smuttynose Brewing Co. and sit with the pooch at the tasting bar or beer garden.
Sugar Hill
Visitors looking for a picturesque small town for a day trip to the heart of the American version of the “Alps” (the White Mountains) should look no further than Sugar Hill. With a population of just under 700 residents, the town has some of the most spectacular views of the White Mountains and is renowned for its lupines. Every June, visitors from all over the United States travel to Sugar Hill to see the annual Sugar Hill Lupine Festival and marvel at the thousands of purple and pink blooms dotting the mountainside. Along with lupines, Sugar Hill is also known for its pancakes, or one particular pancake restaurant—Polly’s Pancake Parlor. An institution in Sugar Hill, Polly’s Pancake Parlor has been serving stacks of oatmeal buttermilk, buckwheat, and whole wheat pancakes for over 75 years in the restaurant on Route 117. Today, they’ve modernized everything slightly, and visitors can now take home seven flavors of pancake mix to make at home.
Another Sugar Hill institution is Harman’s Cheese & Country Store. This picturesque red country shop has been selling natural premium-grade white cheddar cheese among local jams, mustards, and jellies to residents since 1955. The Sugar Hill Historical Museum showcases the town’s history from 1780 to the present with exhibits on antique tools, public signs, memorabilia, and a sleigh. It is also home to a 1939 Ford fire truck.
Meredith
Meredith sits on the scenic northern shores of New Hampshire’s largest lake at 70 square miles, Lake Winnipesaukee, and is the ideal summer destination for a long weekend. While it’s tempting to sit back and relax in the sun on Meredith’s Leavitt or Waukewan beaches or rent a kayak and spend the day on the water, the town has a small but vibrant arts scene, starting with the Meredith Sculpture Walk, which features over 30 works of art located around the village. The Winnipesaukee Playhouse in downtown Meredith draws in crowds from the Lakes Region, with its 2024 season kicking off in late June with Jersey Boys.
For shopping, The Marketplace at the Mills Falls Resort has some unique shops, cafés, and eateries, like the Identity Coffee Co., which features coffees from around the world, 603Paws, with gifts for four-legged friends, and Lee’s Candy Kitchen, which sells candy like Pop Rocks, Charleston Chews, and Nerds Rope. On Main Street, be sure to stop by the funky Hermit Woods Winery for local wine, food pairings, desserts, and live music.
Lincoln
One of the most unusual attractions in Lincoln is an area known as “The Basin,” a 30-foot-wide, 15-foot-deep bowl at the bottom of one of Lincoln’s numerous waterfalls dating back to the Ice Age, where water churns and swirls endlessly. Visitors to the “The Basin” are often mesmerized by it, as was the naturalist and poet Henry David Thoreau, who called it “perhaps the most remarkable curiosity of its kind in New England.”
From the Octagon Lodge base area, visitors can ride the Gondola Skyride to the summit of Loon Mountain at 2,733 feet in elevation, where they’ll find glacial caves, a scenic network of hiking trails, Herbert’s Observation Tower and Boardwalk with its stunning views stretching from Mount Moosilauke to Mount Washington, and Loon Peak Disc Golf, the highest disc golf course in New Hampshire at 2,700 feet. When it’s time to cool off, head to Whale’s Tale Waterpark, a family-fun destination with slides, wave pools, and a lazy river. Akua Beach can help surfers of all levels practice hanging ten inside the park. After a day of activity, head to the Woodstock Inn Brewery for food and craft beer or One Love Brewery or Seven Birches Winery at the Riverwalk Resort for wine tasting.
Jackson
Jackson is a quiet resort town in the middle of the White Mountains. While its reputation as a winter destination is well-known, there are plenty of activities for outdoor adventurers to enjoy, like Jackson Falls—a gentle waterfall with a 100-foot drop into smaller pools. It is a perfect spot for a picnic, or visitors can take advantage of the waterside rocks for sunning and sliding. There are various hikes that visitors can take from the village of Jackson, like the 1.5-acre Mystery House Loop Trail that begins just beside the Town Library on what was once the historic Gray’s Inn property. For longer day hikes, the nearby White Mountain National Forest is an 800,000-acre National Forest where visitors can hike, swim, boat, fish, or overnight in one of the 22 campgrounds or cabins.
The state of New Hampshire is legendary for its covered bridges, and Jackson is famous for its iconic 1876-built Honeymoon Bridge, set against the backdrop of the Wildcat River. Take the perfect photo on the bridge where couples are known to kiss underneath the structure for good luck.
From stunning mountain views right outside the hotel room to locally crafted wine and beer, cheeses, local eateries, friendly locals, and maple syrup on everything, visitors from all over the world are captivated by the charm of these six picturesque New Hampshire towns.
