When I was young, it was quite common for me to spend time in the White Mountains: cross-country skiing, hiking, camping, and exploring the many rocky rivers that became a love later in life. During our recent trip to New England, I insisted that the other half experience this region and in particular its chief attraction, the roof of the world in the Eastern USA – and so we booked tickets to reach the summit of Mt Washington in the only way feasible for us at the time: the Cog Railway.
While not the least expensive attraction in New Hampshire, the Cog Railway is fascinating and worth every penny. At more than 150 years old, it is the first mountain-climbing cog railway in the world, and the second-steepest: one spends a good deal of the trip travelling at a 25% grade and sometimes steeper.
One of the first things we noticed upon arriving at the Base Station was the impressive variation in license plates in the parking lot – from all over the Eastern seaboard as far south as Georgia, and north into Canada – Quebec and New Brunswick stand out. So clearly, this is a popular attraction. At the time we were visiting, second week of May, we managed to fall between busy points in the year – the auto road had only JUST opened, the snow for skiing was mostly gone, and the summer hikers had not yet arrived.
The Base Station is a great starting point – it has an extensive snack shop and a great souvenir store that was quite reasonable. It also boasts a small museum that is really informative about the engineering and building of the railway. It also has excellent views up the mountain, and as we were a bit early (mea culpa) we had plenty of time to enjoy the clear, sunny skies.
The rail car itself is quite comfortable, and the staff are incredibly knowledgeable, spouting intriguing facts about the flora, fauna, climate, and history of the mountain.
I found the journey up the mountain to be fascinating. Though the train moves relatively slowly – around 5mph – it passes swiftly through the different biomes, spending quite a bit of time winding through the high forest where trees are stunted by the wind, and are dotted between rocks and snow drifts. Along the way you pass the Wambeck Switch, where the rail splits for a short time and allows trains to pass one another, and several very steep stretches of track which were a touch nerve-wracking. But then the views started – we were on the right-hand side on the way up and so enjoyed looking towards the Lake of the Clouds and the ridge of the mountain where the Appalachian Trail rises towards the summit.
Reaching the top was perhaps the most exciting part – the trees and rocks vanished into snow, and we could see the observatory rising in the distance, looking almost like a space station. Then as we all prepared to get out and explore, the conductor announced that if we couldn’t handle 60 mph winds, we should stay on the train and go back down. This got the adrenaline pumping, and we both suited up with hats and coats before venturing outside.
The summit area was quite busy, though I imagine nothing like it is in the summer, and the visitor centre was not yet open for the season, so we made a slow, clockwise circuit. While it was certainly windy it was not overly cold – 45F or so – and the biggest issue for me was my sneakers, which did not boast enough tread for snow and slushy puddles. Even on a slightly hazy day the views were spectacular, 360 degrees of mountains and valleys and ski resorts. At various points, hiking trails were evident marked by stone cairns, disappearing over the edges in the distance.
What stood out most though was the wind – the strongest I had felt in many years, I am sure there were gusts well over 60 mph, and at times I struggled to move; the other half had a great time leaning over to test how far he could go before falling.
This is the Tip-Top House, adjacent to the summit, built in 1853. We did manage to make it up to the summit sign despite slippery icy snow and wind – picture is not the best though! Long story short, I would love to come back on a less hazy day and explore the observatory during the season!
The trip back down the mountain was equally spectacular, especially as we managed to sit on the other side of the car and enjoy views in the other direction. If at all possible I highly recommend this option – switch sides and enjoy the full range of views. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that my fear of heights did not overly impact the way down, even on the steepest parts of the track where the ground falls away quickly at the edge of the rails. I took far too many pictures to upload here, so I’ve put together this slide show to show off the full range:
The Wandering Medievalist 
One response to “Mount Washington Cog Railway – New Hampshire”
Amazing and love the sound as you pan the scenery! As always, Beth, you hit it out the ball park!
Love you.
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