North Conway is 150 miles N of Boston and 62 miles NW of Portland.
North Conway is the commercial heart of the White Mountains. Shoppers are drawn by the outlets along Routes 302 and 16. (The two state highways overlap through town.) Outdoor purists abhor it, considering it a garish interloper to be avoided at all costs, except when seeking pizza and beer.
North Conway itself won't strike anyone as nature's wonderland. The shopping strip south of the village is basically one long turn lane flanked with outlet malls, motels, and chain restaurants of every architectural stripe. On rainy weekends and during foliage season, the road can resemble a linear parking lot.
Sprawl notwithstanding, North Conway is beautifully situated along the eastern edge of the broad and fertile Saco River valley (also called the Mount Washington Valley). Gentle, forest-covered mountains, some with sheer cliffs that suggest the distant, stunted cousins of Yosemite's rocky faces, border the bottomlands. Northward up the valley, the hills rise in a triumphant crescendo to the blustery, tempestuous heights of Mount Washington.
The village is trim and attractive (if often congested), with an open green, some colorful shops, Victorian frontier-town commercial architecture, and a distinctive train station. It's a good place to park, stretch your legs, and find a cup of coffee or a snack. (A Ben & Jerry's ice-cream shop is just off the green near the train station.)
Avoiding North Conway--For a more scenic, less commercial route bypassing North Conway's strip malls, detour onto West Side Road. Arriving from the south on Route 16, turn north at the light in Conway Village on to Washington Street. One-half mile further, bear left on West Side Road. The road passes near two covered bridges in the first half-mile, then dips and winds through the broad farmlands of the Saco River Valley. You'll pass working farms and farm stands, and some architecturally distinctive early homes.
You'll also come upon dramatic views of the granite cliffs that form the western wall of the valley. Stop for a swim at Echo Lake State Park (it's well marked, on your left). At the first stop sign, turn right for North Conway village, or turn left to connect to Route 302 in Bartlett, passing more handsome ledges and cliffs.
