Fall Scenery in Lincoln NH, Fall Leaves in Late September

As Floridians, we don't get to see fall colors much, so we went looking for the best place we could find for it — Lincoln, New Hampshire. This was our second trip to Lincoln, and we love the leaf peeping here. We booked an A-frame cabin with a wood burning stove in the mountains of central New Hampshire, timed for the last week of September, just before the crowds arrived. Watch here!

Flume Gorge

Flume Gorge, part of Franconia Notch State Park, is a unique natural formation — a river raging through a slot of granite over 70 feet high and under 20 feet wide. The hike is a nice two-mile loop that features the gorge itself plus several other beautiful waterfalls, pools, and two covered bridges, and the trails are wide and very well-maintained. The Flume Covered Bridge, spanning the Pemigewasset River, was built in 1886 and has been restored several times, and we walked nice boardwalks with great views the whole way through. At the top of the gorge is Avalanche Falls, a dramatic 45-foot waterfall, and just beyond it, Liberty Gorge offers an amazing overlook of a cascading mountain stream. The Sentinel Pine Bridge and Pool is named after one of the largest trees in the state — the Sentinel Pine stood 175 feet tall until a hurricane uprooted it in 1938. Covered bridges are amazing any time of year, but especially in the fall. Another fun stop along the way is the Wolf Den, a narrow passageway through the rocks that you actually have to get on your hands and knees and crawl through — Christy made it through, I decided to turn on around. Love it.

The Kancamagus Highway and Sabbaday Falls

The Kancamagus Highway is a 35-mile scenic drive connecting Lincoln to Conway, and it's perfect for seeing fall colors. We stopped along the way at Sabbaday Falls, a stunningly beautiful waterfall with an emerald green pool. It's a 0.7 mile roundtrip hike and another popular spot, but the trail is nice and wide. One thing to note: parking along the Kancamagus Highway requires a $5 per day pass fee for the White Mountains.

The Basin and Kinsman Falls

The Basin sits just north of Flume Gorge, right off I-93, and if you like waterfalls, you will love this hike. You start on a nice paved trail and reach the basin itself in just a quarter mile — a large basin cut into the granite with water swirling into it, just incredible. Past the basin, you'll see a curvy waterfall cutting a curved path through solid granite; we're not totally sure how it formed, but it's very cool. Continuing up the trail, we saw beautiful cascades sweeping over large slabs of granite the whole way, and the exposed granite made for perfect places to hang out and enjoy the waterfalls. There were so many spots to stop that you never get bored on this hike. In 0.8 miles, we reached Kinsman Falls, a 20-foot waterfall plunging into a nice pool, and think this is a great place to turn around — very much worth the 1.6 mile roundtrip. There's even a "baby flume" waterfall back near the beginning of the trail, which was a fun surprise.

Artist Bluff and Bald Mountain

Nothing beats an overlook in the fall, where you get to enjoy a sea of color from above. The Artist Bluff Trail is a 1.4 mile loop hike with two incredible vantage points. Taking the trail counterclockwise, you'll emerge at Artist Bluff with views over Echo Lake and Cannon Mountain to the right and the White Mountains to the left. The trail climbs over 400 feet in less than a mile and is rather steep in places, especially the stretch that climbs up to Bald Mountain, but the higher elevation views are well worth it.

Old Man of the Mountain

We weren't expecting much here, but we're so glad we visited. The Old Man of the Mountain was a profile of a face on the side of Cannon Mountain — but here's the thing, it actually fell in 2003. That's okay, though, because the Old Man of the Mountain Historic Site is still a very picturesque location, with Profile Lake and a really clever way to view the old man's profile using perspective viewers set up at just the right spot, so you can still see what the old man used to look like.

Back on the Kancamagus and Rocky Gorge

Back on the Kancamagus Highway, it's just nice to visit the overlooks — an easy way to see the sweeping fall colors without leaving the car. Our last stop was the Rocky Gorge Scenic Area, and we finished out the video with scenes from here. If you're chasing fall color and want waterfalls, covered bridges, and mountain overlooks all in one trip, Lincoln, New Hampshire is hard to beat.