Kancamagus Highway

[Rick]

Help!!!
I am driving to the 7.0 tonight and am thinking of taking the Kancamagus highway from Route 93....
I have never been this route and am not familiar with this area.

Is this a good road to take or should I avoid it at night and with possible rainy icy weather? Is the road a state road that is regularly plowed salted and sanded? Will the chances of it being foggy be higher on this road?
Thanks
Rick

 

[sli74]

It winds quite a bit and is steep in spots. It isn't always REALLY well sanded or maintained though they are always out there trying it seems. I have never had problems as long as I go very slow and now with my winter tires there really is no problem. Just be aware that it could take a while to go the 30+ miles from one end to another . . . it took me over an hour once during bad road conditions. It is the most direct route it seems and so I go that way in any case and there is only 1 or 2 spots that really scare me and you can just slow to a crawl in those spots.

sli74

 

[maineguy]

Wow, I'm sure glad those directions didn't include Tuckerman Ravine

Late edit: The previous post which contained all sorts of permutations of the words notch (think of an area of the human body), Kancamagus, etc has been deleted, hence this meaningless reply. I'm leaving it because it just bugs me when posts disappear.

 

[Rick]

Thanks Seema - I might give it a twirl tonight, though as I look out of my office window, it it foggier than ever,

 

[Jim lombard]

With the temp in Lincoln at 39 degrees and Mt Washington at the same temp the Kank should be OK to traverse....just wet. As others said be careful on the hairpin turns etc.
As somebody else said, I usually go 93 to Rt 3 (just north of the notch) across to the town of Twin Mt, straight across at the lights to 115 (right turn) to Rt 2 (another right turn) follow this to Gorham and take a right onto Rt16. It's the fastest way I've found.

 

[Stan]

I go out of my way to cross the Kanc ... any time of day ... any weather ... so don't ask me for directions.

 

[bcskier]

What is the 7.0?

Clue me in, what or where is the 7.0?

 

[David Metsky]

Clue me in, what or where is the 7.0?

It's the winter Gathering. Actually, it's 7.5 but don't let Rick know.

For the past 7 years folks from this site have been getting together to hike and ski and climb. The .5's are usually the winter Gatherings, the .0's are the summer ones. This year we're getting together this weekend at Barnes Field at Dolly Copp, with people camping there and staying nearby. Check the Trips forum for a variety of threads about it.

-dave-

 

[BrentD22]

With the temp in Lincoln at 39 degrees and Mt Washington at the same temp the Kank should be OK to traverse....just wet. As others said be careful on the hairpin turns etc.
As somebody else said, I usually go 93 to Rt 3 (just north of the notch) across to the town of Twin Mt, straight across at the lights to 115 (right turn) to Rt 2 (another right turn) follow this to Gorham and take a right onto Rt16. It's the fastest way I've found.

Used to live in Gorham and made many trips south to visit family and I tried all sorts of ways back north and found this way the best by far. The other part of this way this is good has been little affect by traffic versus the Kanc or Rte 16. If either of those roads have traffic you have no choice, but to just sit behind it. This weekend being a holiday weekend will also have huge increases of traffic around Conway & N. Conway.

 

[Stan]

The .5's are usually the winter Gatherings, the .0's are the summer ones.

There are also mini Gatherings, sometimes far removed from any mountain, that get named such things as 1/4, 5/8, 15/64 or whatever. Maybe when we get more organized we'll adopt the Dewey Decimal System.