Must see places in New Hampshire: Weeks State Park and Beaver Brook Falls
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| Weeks State Park, NH |
Month of June (2022) marked my wife and myself’s first trip to the state of New Hampshire, thanks to my wife’s ex-coworker who retired in the state. She and her family were gracious enough to host us for a two night stay in their lovely lakefront home.
We got to experience popular tourist destination of Wolfeboro, Castle in the Clouds, as well as Squam Lakes Natural Science Center. We also got to do a bit of kayaking enjoying the beautiful lake, then coming back for a hearty dinner featuring salmon and all the other goodies. We had such a great time in those two days that we were already looking forward to seeing more of New Hampshire.
That opportunity came in August, during our stay in the northeastern part of the state of Vermont, in a town called Canaan. Canaan borders New Hampshire, and it is literally a 3 block walk to New Hampshire from our rental. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to check out other destinations in the state.
On our third day of our arrival in Canaan, we set out to explore two places on the same day: Weeks State Park and Beaver Brook Falls. Weeks State Park would be about 50 miles away from our rental in Vermont, so we decided to visit there first, then swing by Beaver Brook Falls on our way back home.
We decided to pack our lunch (peanut butter and jelly sandwich, granola bars, bananas, water) to eat at the park, and off we went! We took VT Route 102 going south until we hit US Route 3. The drive would take us through the Green Mountains, hugging the Connecticut River to our left.
The drive itself was awesome, with plenty of winding roads and idyllic scenery. We counted more cows than humans on our way down. After about an hour of driving, we arrived at the main entrance to the park.
Online, I thought there would be an entrance fee, but I was wrong, in a good way. The friendly ranger at the park told us there is no entrance fee, and gave us a park map. We couldn’t really get lost, as there is but one road going all the way to the top of the mountain, where the fire tower and the visitor center/museum is.
We noticed how narrow and winding the road is. There was barely enough room for two cars. We initially thought that maybe the road going up was a one way road, but that turned out to be untrue, as we saw a Ford truck coming down the road. It was a bit hairy as I had to pull close to the right most edge of the road to create enough space for him to pass.
Luckily we only ran into that truck on our way up the road, but we still slowed down, to eliminate the chance of a head on collision. Honestly, I really had to concentrate on the road and not on the scenery to our right. It reminded me of our trip back in October to Spruce Knob in West Virginia, which has similar narrow roads, and no guard rails!
There was an overlook area bit further up the road, so we pulled in to check out the views. What a view it was!
After admiring the views for few minutes, we continued our ascent, and after about 5 minutes, we made it to the top of the mountain finally. There was a parking lot to the right, so we pulled in to one of many available spots.
Up ahead to our left was the famous fire tower, all decked out in stone, and to our right was the visitor center/museum, all cheerful in burgundy and white. The visitor center/museum reminded us of homes in Germany or Austria, using festive colors like reds or burgundies on the roofs.
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| Visitor center/museum, Weeks State Park, NH |
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| Fire tower, Weeks State Park, NH |
We started walking towards the fire tower which was really the focal point of the park. We waited for few people to come down the tower first, before heading up there ourselves. We started climbing, and just as our legs were about to complain about the climb, we arrived at the top of the tower. We must’ve climbed about 4 stories or so…
We greeted a couple who was up there enjoying the views, then we moved on, immersing ourselves to the scenery. And what a scenery at that!
We marveled at the vast openness of various mountain ranges within our view including the Green Mountains, the White Mountains, the Kilkenny Range, and the Percy Peaks. Views were literally for miles, and we loved it. Watching beautiful scenery never gets old…
We took in some life giving breaths, looking to fill our lungs with crisp, alpine mountain air for the last time, before heading back down the fire tower. After descending to the bottom, we headed for the visitor center/museum to use the restroom.
The restroom was really clean, with great views of the mountains in the distance. It was one of the nicest bathrooms with a tremendous views!
After our pit stop, we looked for a picnic table so we can eat our lunch. We found it to the left of the visitor center entrance. It was even covered with two lawn chairs and a picnic table. In short, it was perfect for lunch!
We ate our prepared sandwiches, granola bars, and water, enjoying the outdoors in a setting befitting a rich noble (if that noble ate peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, but highly doubt it!). We took our time eating our lunch, chatting about the park, all the while viewing the mountains surrounding us.
The shade provided by the building allowed us to sit much longer than we normally do. It was just a perfect day with little breezes that seem to playfully tug and push us ever so incrementally…It was so cool and comfortable that had we had a bed on the porch, we would’ve taken a nap!
We didn’t want to, but we pushed ourselves to get up from that trance-like state of being one with nature, so we can go to our second destination, Beaver Brook Falls. We got back to our car, then made our way back down using the same narrow road we had used.
The drive would take us north for about 30 minutes, about half way point from our temporary home in Canaan (VT) and Weeks State Park. Beaver Brook Falls is located in the town of Colebrook (NH), and is a perfect place to pull over for few minutes to rest and to view the beautiful falls.
The falls is accessible from off the parking lot, and it is a very short walk (maybe 200 steps?) from the parking lot. We saw the falls as we were pulling into the parking lot. It was absolutely majestic!
There are picnic tables, restroom, and hiking trails at the falls. As we walked to the falls, we saw a lady in a wedding gown taking photos with her parents. We chatted briefly and found out her parents couldn’t make it to her wedding last year thanks to Covid-19, therefore, she was out there taking photos in a wedding gown. It was awesome to see.
We crossed a short boardwalk to get closer to the falls, and made it in no time. Falls was more impressive the closer we got.
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| Hiking trails near the falls |
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| Beaver Brook Falls, NH |
We debated whether we should climb to the top of the falls, but decided against it, as we saw that the rocks were super slippery. We didn’t want to break anything or worse, on our climb up or on our climb down.
For us, safety is the most important thing when we’re enjoying nature. We always have the utmost respect for nature, and we never underestimate nature. We’ve heard of too many people dying while hiking waterfalls, or while taking dangerous selfies and photos.
Putting those thoughts aside, we headed back to our car after several minutes of feeling the falls’ mist spraying all around us, and of experiencing the power of the water as it crashes down. It was a quick jaunt but a nice one at that.
In conclusion:
New Hampshire was one of the two New England states we haven’t had the opportunity to visit, prior to our first visit in June of this year. We loved the rustic beauty of the state, with plenty of mountains, forests, and lakes.
We enjoyed our first trip in June so much, we couldn’t pass up the chance to see more of New Hampshire. We’re glad we got to experience both Weeks State Park and Beaver Brook Falls, all in one day. With price of gasoline going through the roof, we find ourselves combining trips this summer, to save money.
It’s a good, sound strategy to use during periods of high inflation, like these days. Even if inflation is high, we are still enjoying ourselves, albeit with more careful consideration. We can’t help but think about ways to save money these days, like many people.
One strategy that has always worked for us is enjoying nature, as that usually requires only the price of gasoline (and maybe lunch) and not much else. We get a natural high from discovering new places, or hiking mountains, and as a bonus, we also get to enjoy all that on very little money. That is a win in my book!
We thank you all for reading and happy trails!
Jake
Wandering Money Pig
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