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Short New England Trip?

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urbaindk

urbaindk

The Real Dr. Science
Jul 12, 2004
4,819
0
Sleepy Hollar
I'm going to Waterville, Maine for a conference in a few weeks. Rockland has already graciously agreed to show me around for a trail ride during the week while I'm there. Thanks!

Anyway my wife is flying into Manchester, NH at the end of the week and we are going to spend the weekend and then go back home together on Monday afternoon. I'm pretty sure I want to spend at least one day hiking in the Presidentials / Franconia Notch area. Any other ideas with in a few hours drive of Manchester in either VT, NH or ME? Doesn't necessarily have to be bike related.

Thanks!
 
splat

splat

Nam I am
Apr 27, 2002
14,763
345
Well Maybe Windows is Bearable ! Unix Rules !
Echo said:
I dunno how far that is from the Kingdom Trails, but they are definitely worth checking out!
Click to expand...
From Man chester that is about 2 hr dirve , About an Hour from Franconia Notch.

Mt Washington

The Kankamangus Hiway is always Nice. Lots of Overlooks and Hiking spots.

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149392


if you want to Mt bike , there is Lynn Woods and Vietnam down in Mass.
 
antimony

antimony

M.N.F. Beer Wench
Nov 21, 2005
1,019
2
North Carolina
I don't know what you are really looking for, but York, Maine is a cute little area. Quaint little beach town. The Nubble Lighthouse is here, and it's a nice New England scene, with the rocky coast. Kittery, Maine is not far from York, where there are tons of outlets, if your honey likes to shop. (~1 - 1.5 hours from Manchester)

Keene, NH is my hometown and about 10 miles away you can hike Mt. Monadnock. Nice, easy, scenic hike. I think the mt. is about 3,000 feet tall, and on a clear day (no haze either) you can see all the way to Boston. Supposedly it's the 'most climbed mountain in the world,' but I'm not sure if that's true. Anyway, the trails are about 1 hr (maybe a little less) from Manchester.

Route 101 will take you both places from Manchester (East to Maine, West to Keene area). Don't know if this is anything you are interested in, but I figured I'd throw something out there for you. BV is from NH too, so he may be of some help! :)
 
urbaindk

urbaindk

The Real Dr. Science
Jul 12, 2004
4,819
0
Sleepy Hollar
Ack, Shopping on vacation? NO!

We're both outdoorsy types. So hiking and quaint beach towns are perfect. Malls are bad and we tend to avoid areas with high concentrations of people. (that might eliminate Mt. Washington)

Last time I was in NH I did the Franconia Ridge Loop which was a really cool hike / very extreme for a southern lad such as myself. We might try to do that again. Once you are away from the highway it seemed pretty secluded.

Biking seems like it would be tough. I don't want to deal with shipping them. Rentals are a possiblity I suppose.
 
Rockland

Rockland

Turbo Monkey
Apr 24, 2003
1,880
286
Left hand path
You could come the rest of the way down to the mid-coast. Camden/Rockport/Rockland area has the quaint coastal village thing. Or further up the coast you'd have Bar Harbor/Acadia.
 
McGRP01

McGRP01

beer and bikes
Feb 6, 2003
7,793
0
Portland, OR
Rockland said:
You could come the rest of the way down to the mid-coast. Camden/Rockport/Rockland area has the quaint coastal village thing. Or further up the coast you'd have Bar Harbor/Acadia.
Click to expand...
I used to date a couple girls from Camden. They were fine.
 
splat

splat

Nam I am
Apr 27, 2002
14,763
345
Well Maybe Windows is Bearable ! Unix Rules !
mogulskr said:
I'm going to guess that's the FOMBA trails are closed because of the 2 feet of rain we have been having. They may be open in a few weeks though. There is a lot of riding options out of Manchester, not very far away.
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actually Most of Fomba is Open ( Fireline and Deer run are Closed ) , just the one parking lot has access issues

 
mogulskr

mogulskr

Monkey
Aug 28, 2002
642
1
NH
That was before the last couple of days. We are getting dumped on. Well you know you were riding in it this morning. The web is usually pretty up to date, but it looks like the last update was may 25th.
 
splat

splat

Nam I am
Apr 27, 2002
14,763
345
Well Maybe Windows is Bearable ! Unix Rules !
mogulskr said:
That was before the last couple of days. We are getting dumped on. Well you know you were riding in it this morning. The web is usually pretty up to date, but it looks like the last update was may 25th.
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true true, but he also said in a couple of weeks , not this weekend.

and who knows what the weather will bring us . the ways things are going I wouldn't be surprised by a foot of snow :)
 
Frorider1

Frorider1

Monkey
Apr 28, 2006
241
0
Hey man, I live right on Franconia notch and would be more then hapy to show you around. If you want to go riding and like the freerided downhill kind of stuff there are a lot of sick places around here.
 
Nathan Cloud

Nathan Cloud

Chimp
Jun 27, 2005
47
0
Burlington, CT
Echo said:
I dunno how far that is from the Kingdom Trails, but they are definitely worth checking out!
Click to expand...
And be sure to stop into the Miss Lyndonville Diner for eats. I miss that place.

Might be a little more of a trek, but Burlington (VT) is a nice town to check out - chill place, good shopping if the lady (or you) is into that sort of thing, and, well, there are bars and such :)

Also, again probably a little farther then you want to travel, but a buddy and I hit up that Millstone Trails place in East Barre VT:

http://www.millstonehill.com/touringcenter.html

Its a new-ish place along the same lines as the Kingdom Trails concept. It was a cool place - especially if you are into techincal XC - no real freeride opportunities. Scenic as well.

I summed it all up here (w/photos, map, etc..):

http://www.crankfire.com/trails/trail.php?trailid=95
 
F

Fshflys

Monkey
Jun 29, 2005
139
1
antimony said:
Oh, I just thought of something. If you are driving up to Mount Washington, make sure you ride the Cog Railway... very cool! :thumb:

http://www.thecog.com/
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Funny thing happened to my wife & I on that railway. We were on it one fall mid-week afternoon and we were going past a high school football field, coach had the players in a group with their backs to us when a couple guys in the back of the group mooned the train. Everybody on that side of the train looked at their seatmate, "did you see that?"
 
urbaindk

urbaindk

The Real Dr. Science
Jul 12, 2004
4,819
0
Sleepy Hollar
Thanks for all the input everybody! I'm still not 100% decided on what to do but I know it will be fun! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and give a good report when I get back. (around the 27th of June)
 
oldbroad

oldbroad

Chimp
Feb 21, 2005
14
0
New England
There is tons of stuff to keep you busy for a weekend in the White Mtns. But if you wanted to spread you self around a bit you could take a ride out to the seacoast, which is just about an hour east of Manchester.
You could stop at Ft. Rock in Exeter for some premier New England style root-and-rocks mtbing. Then continue on to Portsmouth for some quaint NE sight seeing type stuff. There are lots of shops, museums, restaurants, and breweries there.

Or you don't want quaint, you could head over to the Seabrook/Hampton area for a seedier type of seacoast experience. Boardwalk stuff, beach, tons of fried seafood places.

If you wanted more mtbing, FOMBA has been mentioned already, but don't miss Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, about 20 min north east of Manchester.
 
urbaindk

urbaindk

The Real Dr. Science
Jul 12, 2004
4,819
0
Sleepy Hollar
oldbroad said:
There is tons of stuff to keep you busy for a weekend in the White Mtns. But if you wanted to spread you self around a bit you could take a ride out to the seacoast, which is just about an hour east of Manchester.
Click to expand...
Would you or anyone else for that matter suggest setting up homebase in / around Manchester and doing driving around to different spots each day or spend a night here / spend a night there (which is what I was originally thinking when I start planning this thing). Now that I've done more research, it seems that there is an almost unlimited supply of places I might like to go within 1-2 hours of Manchester. I guess I'm asking how is Manchester itself? Is it worth staying there? Anything to see? Are there plenty of good places to eat? Etc?
 
oldbroad

oldbroad

Chimp
Feb 21, 2005
14
0
New England
jdschall said:
Would you or anyone else for that matter suggest setting up homebase in / around Manchester and doing driving around to different spots each day or spend a night here / spend a night there (which is what I was originally thinking when I start planning this thing). Now that I've done more research, it seems that there is an almost unlimited supply of places I might like to go within 1-2 hours of Manchester. I guess I'm asking how is Manchester itself? Is it worth staying there? Anything to see? Are there plenty of good places to eat? Etc?
Click to expand...

Manchester is nothing special.
Your idea of spending a day here & there is a good one. The state is small enough for you to go over to Maine & the Seacoast area, then the White Mtns, and even swing down to the Monadnock area in 3 days.
Just please bring some sun & dry weather with you when you come.
 
antimony

antimony

M.N.F. Beer Wench
Nov 21, 2005
1,019
2
North Carolina
oldbroad said:
Then continue on to Portsmouth for some quaint NE sight seeing type stuff. There are lots of shops, museums, restaurants, and breweries there.
Click to expand...
:stupid: Portsmouth is cool, and the breweries are really fun; right near where I went to college. Love the Smuttynose beer! :thumb: Redhook Brewery is also a great place right in Portsmouth (Newington, actually, but same thing). Decent food, cheap beer, and a brewery tour. Have a great trip! :)
 
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