As we approach the middle part of October, peak foliage is just beginning around the White Mountains of NH!

The photos above were taken along the Kancamagus Highway/Route 112 and Bear Notch Road.

The first week of October has passed and we’ve seen decent color but there is so much more to come! Many areas have peaked but have not shown vibrant colors but more along the lines of rusty, faded, and somewhat pastel-like colors. This isn’t a bad thing it just means the colors are different than in years past.

Crawford and Pinkham Notches are peaking or have tipped slightly past peak, depending on elevation. There are actually still many areas of green and yet further down the road there are trees that have dropped foliage amongst wide areas of color. 

As we approach the holiday weekend, colors along Route 112 and Bear Notch Road are exploding with fantastic colors … not bright and vivid but certainly breathtaking areas of widespread color.

If you plan on driving the Kancamagus Highway during the holiday weekend, you must be ready for slow-moving traffic. Last weekend, long, massive lines of cars formed from Lincoln to Conway. We recommend driving this road before 10 AM.

The photos above were taken Thursday AM, Oct 10, 2024.

Early October shows the foliage season around the White Mountains to be slow moving. This means a longer season but likely less vibrant colors overall.

The photos above were taken in Bretton Woods, Jefferson, Berlin, Pinkham Notch and Jackson, NH

The first week of October has been all over the foliage board so far. Both Crawford Notch and Pinkham Notches are nearing peak and should be in full-blast mode around October 7-12. Due to the warm weather in the past few weeks, foliage has been coming slowly. While this typically means a longer foliage season, it also means that the foliage is not likely to have as much of a wow factor. That certainly doesn’t mean that the foliage is not as good but just is not quite as bright as we’ve seen before.

The Bretton Woods and Twin Mountain have very faint colors more in the rusty range. A trip through on October 4 showed very few areas of vivid colors and more areas of dullish and muted throughout. Traveling up through Lancaster into Gorham, the colors began to pop more with touches of brighter colors but many areas still green.

From Gorham and Berlin into Pinkham Notch, colors were much more vibrant and with cooler weather in the forecast, these areas should be in peak form around October 7-10.

Traveling from Jackson into the Conways, colors were spotty but more vivid than what we saw north of the notches. This area gets our vote for best color so far. We will tour the ever-so-popular Kancamagus Highway and south early next week.

As we approach the middle part of October, peak foliage is just beginning around the White Mountains of NH!

The photos above were taken along the Kancamagus Highway/Route 112 and Bear Notch Road.

The first week of October has passed and we’ve seen decent color but there is so much more to come! Many areas have peaked but have not shown vibrant colors but more along the lines of rusty, faded, and somewhat pastel-like colors. This isn’t a bad thing it just means the colors are different than in years past.

Crawford and Pinkham Notches are peaking or have tipped slightly past peak, depending on elevation. There are actually still many areas of green and yet further down the road there are trees that have dropped foliage amongst wide areas of color. 

As we approach the holiday weekend, colors along Route 112 and Bear Notch Road are exploding with fantastic colors … not bright and vivid but certainly breathtaking areas of widespread color.

If you plan on driving the Kancamagus Highway during the holiday weekend, you must be ready for slow-moving traffic. Last weekend, long, massive lines of cars formed from Lincoln to Conway. We recommend driving this road before 10 AM.

The photos above were taken Thursday AM, Oct 10, 2024.

Early October shows the foliage season around the White Mountains to be slow moving. This means a longer season but likely less vibrant colors overall.

The photos above were taken in Bretton Woods, Jefferson, Berlin, Pinkham Notch and Jackson, NH

The first week of October has been all over the foliage board so far. Both Crawford Notch and Pinkham Notches are nearing peak and should be in full-blast mode around October 7-12. Due to the warm weather in the past few weeks, foliage has been coming slowly. While this typically means a longer foliage season, it also means that the foliage is not likely to have as much of a wow factor. That certainly doesn’t mean that the foliage is not as good but just is not quite as bright as we’ve seen before.

The Bretton Woods and Twin Mountain have very faint colors more in the rusty range. A trip through on October 4 showed very few areas of vivid colors and more areas of dullish and muted throughout. Traveling up through Lancaster into Gorham, the colors began to pop more with touches of brighter colors but many areas still green.

From Gorham and Berlin into Pinkham Notch, colors were much more vibrant and with cooler weather in the forecast, these areas should be in peak form around October 7-10.

Traveling from Jackson into the Conways, colors were spotty but more vivid than what we saw north of the notches. This area gets our vote for best color so far. We will tour the ever-so-popular Kancamagus Highway and south early next week.