favorite/most convenient town in the Whites ?

If you live in the Whites, visit often and/or are hoping to live there one day: What town is your favorite, or which do you think is most convenient for your purposes ? For my selfish purposes (we come in from the southwest) I'd like to stick to the towns west and north of Crawford Notch, but feel free to try to convince me otherwise. Thanks.

Maple porter at the Woodstock Inn, Steve Smith's Mountain Wanderer, gateway to Franconia Ridge, gets my vote. 2nd choice, Intervale north of No Conway, connection to Crawford Notch.

MikePS said:

Maple porter at the Woodstock Inn, Steve Smith's Mountain Wanderer, gateway to Franconia Ridge, gets my vote. 2nd choice, Intervale north of No Conway, connection to Crawford Notch.

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You beat me to it! Best beer for sure! Where to stay depends on where you are hiking, but lately we've been going to Twin Mountain and the 4 Seasons a lot. Very friendly to hikers, reasonable rates, great views right out the window (Scroll to the bottom), nice scenery on the walls, swimming pool, etc.

While Twin Mountain lacks greatly in nightlife..or even food choices..there is not a better take off point for many peaks in the Whites..quite convenient

If it came down to food and coffee choices I guess my vote would be Gorham

Depends on what kind of atmosphere you desire.

I'm not a fan of anything that feels pretentious or touristy. For example, I avoid driving through the entire North Conway area whenever possible because everything in and around it feels...well, pretentious and touristy. However, we have good friends who live in that area and they love the local scene, so I suppose it's all a matter of perception.

I enjoy Lincoln. Enough shops to take care of your hiking and eating needs, Steve Smith's store, and it feels more small-town than touristy.

For living, however, I choose the Campton/Thornton area. It's rural living, which I love, and it's also only two hours from Boston if you need a city fix. Plymouth (cute college town) is close if you need a hospital/grocery store/etc.. Many 4Ks are nearby. The people are nice, honest, hard-working, and easy to talk with.

Took me many years of living in Chicago, NYC and Cambridge to realize that I am a small-town girl.

I vote for Lincoln cause there are at least 2 ice cream places that I know of in Lincoln or Woodstock and a grocery store to buy more..

Jay

TrishandAlex said:

Plymouth (cute college town) is close if you need a hospital/grocery store/...

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...Dentist...

Tom & Atticus said:

Then I lived in Lincoln for a year...it wasn't quite what I had hoped for.

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I'd be interested in hearing what it was about Lincoln you didn't like. Jackson is probably great, but basically off the map for us, which is good for you !

For me it would be either Lancaster or Berlin. For me both are in a good general position for hiking in the Whites and for hiking and hunting in the more northern parts of the Coos county. Lancaster has a more "small New England town" feel while Berlin has a "where everyone knows your name" (i.e. the Cheers feel ) to it. For me neither feel is better than the other which is why I think I could be happy in either. Oh yeah, that and I like a quiet town life, and Lincoln and Conway don't offer me that.

Brian

Silverfox said:

While Twin Mountain lacks greatly in nightlife..or even food choices..there is not a better take off point for many peaks in the Whites..quite convenient

If it came down to food and coffee choices I guess my vote would be Gorham

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Twin Mountain is one of my favorites too . I do enjoy an occasional coffee and bagel on the porch of that gas station some mornings. I probably would have picked it if it weren't for Randolph.

I don't know that much is convenient about Randolph (but it is near Gorham/Berlin) but among the many reasons it's my favorite is this: not only does the tennis court have a stunning view of King Ravine and the Northern Pressies, it's clay.

Tough choices Chip - good poll though.

I could handle living in any of the towns on the list if I was forced.

Cyclists... please chime in. Waterville Valley is a personal favorite because of the XC skiing and MTBing but it's a box canyon and there's only so many road rides you can do. Actually, that's true in a lot of places in the Whites.

Lake access would be another priority for me.

Tim

Though I am a native of Milan and live and work in Berlin, I picked Gorham..Rt. 2 and Rt. 16 lead to destinations in NH, ME, and VT that are not really too far traveling wise...I've done numerous day hikes in all threee states and been home to grill a steak in plenty of time to enjoy the sunset over Mt. Forist...for heckraising, Bethel ME, North Conway and yes even Canada is not that far away..Gorham has a couple of shops for hiking and other outdoor activities and Pinkham is minutes away...moose tours and in Milan North Country Rafting is available..but if you want to hike Whiteface/Passaconaway, get up at 4 AM...Lefty E

I didn't see the Northeast KIngdom on the list

I like to hike up Mt Hor or Pisgah and look at the White Mountains and wonder how many hikers on those 4k summits are looking northwest and wondering 'wow what are those mountains called?"

Silverfox said:

While Twin Mountain lacks greatly in nightlife..or even food choices..there is not a better take off point for many peaks in the Whites..quite convenient

If it came down to food and coffee choices I guess my vote would be Gorham

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Just curious, I've been to Gorham a few times, what do you consider good places to eat there? I'm really sick of Mr. Pizza.

My vote would have to be for the Waterville Valley area, but that is mostly because it is close and there aren't a million other people on the trails in this extremely nice hiking area.

Conway takes FOREVER to drive thru on a Saturday for one thing (there are short cuts! ). It does have a good brew pub (thankfully at the Northern edge), and an EMS if you like 'em.

I would say that Gorham is #1 for lodging, shopping, dining, gas if we exclude North Conway which is way overdone, Gorham is also a transportation hub

For upscale living without the commercial stuff you might consider Wonalancet, Jackson, Randolph, Waterville Valley

There are several small towns with the true New England flavor, but unless you have kids in school which automatically makes you part of the community it can be lonely for a single or couple

Bethlehem. For old time sake. My parents built a vacation home in the Pierce Bridge section of town. Our neighbors were "Aunt Frances" and "Uncle Frank" and my mom and Uncle Frank had fun playing "off the top" four-hand piano when we visited. There was a great hill for sledding, except for the burrs we picked up if we got too close to the old barn. I loved the grand hotels, that (sadly) seemed to burn down one by one over the years and beautiful, spacious homes. The fresh air - and hayfever relief (not that I suffered from it). The magic of the tiny road up Mt. Agassiz and the talk that there might be a ski area and monorail there in the future. The view of the Franconias from our living room window (still want to sit upon the Nubble someday, and traveling to Littleton for a treat.

Favorite and most convenient are pretty different criteria for me. The most convenient for me is certainly Lincoln, because it is en route to most hikes in the Whites (coming from Vermont), and has all the services I need coming to/from: gas, cheap food, better food, pizza (GH), ice cream, the Mountain Wanderer, grocery store. Gorham seems to be in the same league, but I just don't go through there nearly as often.

But as for Lincoln, the downtown touristy section is kitsch and unattractive, so I wouldn't want to live there if I was relocating to the Whites. None of the towns in the Whites distinguishes itself in terms of nightlife, etc., anyway, so if I was moving to the Whites, it would make sense to be centrally located, which would probably mean Twin Mountain/Carroll.

(Of course, school districts would be a consideration if kids were in the picture.)

Chip....I like this idea, but I've never been to the Whites.
I'm gonna steal this poll idea for ADKHP...hope you don't mind!

I agree with TrishandAlex. Except for the small-town girl part.

I clicked other. Living in Bethel North Conway is the most convenient to us for general household shopping. Gorham used to have a nice grocery store but Wally World took care of that.

If I were choosing a place to live in the Whites (besides Bethel, which may not count as *in* the Whites) I'd probably choose Franconia or Randolph/Jefferson. They seem a lot quieter than the other choices.
-vegematic