Mt. Washington Auto Road Review
We had an awesome family experience on our drive up the Mt. Washington Auto Road. When we checked in at the Lodge we got the kids Road Ranger sheets. This provided them something interactive to be doing as went up the Auto Road. For more information click here.
The weather at the base when we started was 70º and cloudy.
You can either go on a guided tour or drive yourself. We elected to drive ourselves. The information for pricing can be found here.
We drove across the street from the lodge to the entry gate. After we provided our voucher we were provided with a packet including a CD and our “This Car Climbed Mt. Washington” bumper sticker. We popped in the provided CD and listened to some educational material about Mt. Washington and safety tips. The kids weren’t very into listening so we didn’t hear a lot.
We hadn’t gone far on our journey when the cloud cover encompassed the road and the rain started. We stopped a few times for me to get out and get some pictures – since it was raining the kids didn’t get out on the way up.
For those questioning the road – here is my review. The road is two lanes at all points, some places are more narrow then others. I’m very confident in my husbands driving skills so I was pretty calm most of the ride. There were a few places that made me more nervous than others because of the sheer drop-off right next to my window. The road is paved except for one mile in the middle and the whole thing is in great shape.
Check out the slideshow below of some pictures from our journey up:
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When we arrived on the top luckily it was only drizzling – the temperature was a brisk 53º with winds gusting at 36mph. I packed the kids and myself sweatshirts but hubby didn’t bring one so he was a little chilly! (make sure you pack layers even if won’t need them for anything else they are nice for the top)
We explored the Tip Top House, had our picture taken at the Summit Sign, checked out the Cog (Buddy couldn’t resist – he says we need to ride it next time!), and went into Mt. Washington Park Sherman Adams Visitor Center. The Extreme Mount Washington exhibit was fun to visit and very informative. Hubby would have spent more time there but the kids were done pretty quickly.
After we stopped at the gift shop and bought some treasures we headed out to the car for our journey down. The rain let up and we stopped a few times and got out to explore at turnouts on the road. The cloud cover had let up considerably compared to our drive up and we had some pretty awesome views. Check out the slideshow below of views from our drive down:
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We will definitely visit again. Hubby was sad that we couldn’t see anything from the top. So fingers crossed in future years that we will get a clear day on the summit to visit.
