Traveling the Mount Washington Auto Road (MWAR)
There are 3 ways to get to the top of Mount Washington, hiking, driving, or the Cog Railway. Lisa and I have done 2 of the 3 and NO you will not find us hiking Mount Washington. I will leave that up to the more athletic of you out there. Today we’ll talk about the scariest way we found to get to the top of Mount Washington.
Locating the Mount Washington Auto Road
The easy part is finding the entrance to the Mount Washington Auto Road. It’s right off Route 16, in fact, you can see the entrance clearly from Route 16 (there is usually a line of cars). Although viewing it today (after 2021) you will find a new Hotel next to Route 16 to block our view.
I’m betting that everyone knows Route 16 and many of its outstanding features. I think, next to traveling on the ever-so-popular Kancamagus (Kanc) highway (Route 112) the next most popular scenic road people take is Route 16. I started my own journey of discovering New England, 20-plus years ago and we all start on those popular roads.
As newbies, we read magazine articles (old school), blogs like this one, and social media. You may have taken a guided tour to get familiarized with the area. Then maybe on your next visit, you set out on your own. You chose popular places like North Conway or Stowe to hang out in and explore from. You started to trust yourself and you start taking new roads to see where they go.
Route 16 is an amazing road to take and there is so much to see. If you want to read about it, here is an article on Route 16. But today we’ll skip to the chase. Here is a Google view from Route 16 looking down at the entrance to the Mount Washington Auto Road.
The cost of driving up
From 2004 to 2011 it was $25 for driver and vehicle, plus $8 per passenger. As with all things in life, it costs more today to drive to the top.
The current cost is the price (in 2022) for the car and driver is $39 and then passengers are added to it as well. You can check the rates here and they advertise taking a guided tour and letting someone else do the driving. Check the website for the rules and dates of availability.
Back when Lisa and I drove it, you were on your own when you left the gate shack till you got to the top. Today they have an app to download that you can listen to on the way up or down to get the feel of a guided trip.
Is it as scary as they say?
I didn’t really think about it when we drove it in 2004 and I was younger and drove a big Chevy truck. But we also have not gone back… so maybe it is?
If you want to get an idea of what the drive is like you can take a virtual drive by using google street view all the way to the top parking lot. This will give you an idea of the drive up and down but the drive down is never as easy as people think. Good brakes are a must!
When you start the trip you are surrounded by trees. Once you get about halfway up, you will start to leave the trees behind and the incredible views appear. My big problem is that I want to stop and take pictures and there are only places to stop on the way down to cool your brakes/engine.
Has anyone died on the road?
Out of the 135 people who have died on Mount Washington, only three have died on the Mount Washington Auto Road itself. You can consider this, the road has been open since 1861 with only three fatalities. In 1880, a stagecoach driven by a drunken driver crashed, killing one of its passengers. In 1984, a vehicle experienced brake failure about a mile up the eight-mile road. And then in 2009, a motorcycle suffered a crash.
In the last 160 years close to a million vehicles have made the trip to the top. Making this one of the safest roads in America.
Arriving at the top of Mount Washington
The first time we arrived at the top of Mount Washington it was in the afternoon. It was October 4th, 2004 with partly cloudy skies, 30 degrees, and winds at 10mph out of the NW. I know this because I photographed the Wx board inside the welcome building.
I did the obligatory climb to the rock pile to the highest point in New England to have Lisa take my picture.
The views are breathtaking as many of you know and well worth the drive up. But for leaf peepers, are they really?
As you can see in the image below there were some vibrant reds at the lower elevations. This is the reason that leaf peepers don’t go for “extreme” elevations. There are no freakin fall colors!
But… The thrill of the drive up (and back down), along with the panoramic views of the New Hampshire/Maine Mountains are a bonus to make the journey worth the drive.
It still costs less than the Cog Rail (between $72 – $100 each) to get to the top and either method will yield outstanding results. If you want to see a video I shot of our trip in 2019 (15 years later) then check out this video.
What to expect at the top
As you can see from my images, October can be bright and sunny or it can be Rime ice covering everything and limited visibility the next. Even on the sunny day in 2004, it was 30 degrees at the top and in the mid to low 60s at the base when we started the drive up. So always plan for… challenging weather up on top.
The drive back down Mount Washington
As you may guess, the ride back down can be a white-knuckled experience. Keeping the engine in low gear and pumping the brakes is the best technique for making the journey. I would also stop at the various pullouts to let your brakes cool off as it also lets you get out and take a few pictures.
All I can say is it was an uneventful trip and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience (what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right)…
Here is a very popular guide on Amazon that has scenic fall foliage drives through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Clicking on it will take you to my Amazon affiliate to purchase.
Happy Foliage travels my friends
Jeff Foliage Folger
Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage
- Visit my Fine Art America Gallery
- Visit my Amazon store to pick up New England-related materials
- Visit my Pictorem Gallery (Free shipping in the US and Canada)
- My Facebook foliage page
- Threads.net/@Jeff_Foliage
- Follow our new Fall Foliage FB Group!
- You can visit Lisa’s Artist Facebook Page by clicking here
If you’re in line when they open the road which I think is 8:30am, you can get to the top and photograph the Cog Steam Train chugging it’s way to the top as their first train of the day is the steam locomotive and you’ll have the sun (hopefully) at your back while shooting.
Thanks for the tip Matt… last time up we were on the train and well you saw the video… ther was much sun to start that day… but it was dramatic.
If you’re in line when they open the road which I think is 8:30am, you can get to the top and photograph the Cog Steam Train chugging it’s way to the top as their first train of the day is the steam locomotive and you’ll have the sun (hopefully) at your back while shooting.
Thanks for the tip Matt… last time up we were on the train and well you saw the video… ther was much sun to start that day… but it was dramatic.