Mount Washington Auto Road

This is perfect and fun filled toll road.
People tend to overwhelm with the road but if you drive in first gear under 20 miles an hour. You will not have any problem climb up and descend road again.
If you have fear for height, do everyone’s favor, use tour.
However, if you do have normal driving skill and common sense, you will not have any problem.
One piece of advice is lower the angle of side mirrors so that mirrors show you the edge of the road. That way you know you will not drive too dangerously.
Other than that, have great time. We all did have fun!

This was one of the most horrifying experiences of my life… my boyfriend took me on the auto road for the first time. We drove a 99′ Ford Taurus, 2WD. I didn’t know what this place was, had never heard of it. Seemed okay, I was a little weary but I went through with it. The sign in the beginning terrified me as it warns you that people who are afraid of heights may not enjoy this, I have vertigo so that’s a big no-​no for me but my boyfriend already paid the entrance fee.($ 36) so we could not just leave. The entrance onto the road was not too bad, trees were indeed lining the path which made me feel more secure but I could tell that it was going to get much worse and boy was I right… the father you go up the more dangerous it gets. no guard rails, steep inclines, narrow roads that barely fit two vehicles… just terrifying. I made my boyfriend pull over many times as I was very dizzy from my vertigo, I was almost in tears. I will never do this again, but I am glad I didn’t turn around while at the 600 foot left mark, I can tell people I made it to the top and we got a pretty cool bumper sticker.

I completely agree with the other reviewer, Lisa M… I too was petrified driving up the 7.6 mile road with my family. My husband drove a 2012, well maintained jeep Cherokee. I wouldn’t trust my older car for that drive! I couldn’t look down, my knuckles were white from gripping onto the top handle of the car. The 7^th mile is not paved but I’m not sure that’s why it’s scary. The 7^th mile is terrifying because there’s no more trees lining the path; you’re above the tree line. It’s a 1,000 drop off that narrow road.
Drivers going down yield to cars going up. It takes only about 20 min to drive up. Do your nerves a favor and listen to the cd they give you… the man’s voice is soothing and gives you something to focus on and it is pretty interesting info about the mountain. My favorite interesting fact is that when your close to the top most of the trees are only about 3′ tall conifers that look like Charlie brown’s Christmas tree but they are 100 years old.
The ride down is a breeze! You can have fun watching the terrified passengers in the cars driving up, since you just went through the same thing and survived. I know it’s not the unpaved section of 7^th mile that makes it scary because it’s fine going down and I was even brave enough to enjoy the views.
Don’t ride your breaks (pumping is advised to not over heat them) or use air conditioner on drive up — good advice from the guy on the cd. There are plenty of spots to stop at to cool your car and breaks and take in the sights. We didn’t stop on the way up, I just wanted to get it over with! On the way down we stop right after the unpaved road my mile 6. We found a little trail and walked out a bit to enjoy both looking up and down the mountain and to stand near those 3′ trees that are so cute.
At the top there are bathrooms and a café with chips, candy, drinks — all $ 2 each. For the kids there is a penny souvenir machine that elongates the penny… that’s always fun (needs 2 quarters a penny).
My husband has climbed, on his feet, to the top and has skied down the mountain tuckerman’s ravine and he said the drive up was the scariest of all. When we were at the top ready to drive back down I envied the hikers starting their descent on foot because it seems less scary to be on your feet. It was embarrassing standing in line to take our pic at the summit sign along side the strong hikers who got there on foot!
If your car is in good shape, drive up yourself and save money by not taking the train or a service van… in the hierarchy of mt washington climbers, the train folk are at the bottom and the foot climbers are on top. Driving up yourself is part of the fun.. . It’s like a Halloween kind of fun and scary combo :) Try it!

I was petrified going up this mountain with the family. I could not look out the windows. My kids thought it was fantastic. Once at the top, I was fine. The views are breathtaking and amazing. It was crowded the day we went up, but worth it. The road up and down the mountain is pretty scary, not for the fainthearted to say at the very least. At least I can say, like the bumper sticker, «I SURVIVED THE RIDE»

I was absolutely TERRIFIED driving up the Mount Washington Auto Road. It is definitely not for people with even a mild fear of heights. There are no guard rails, hair-​pin turns galore, and steep, steep drop-​offs. Part of the road is dirt, too, which adds to one’s anxiety as your car climbs up the steep side of this the tallest mountain in NE. I was white-​knuckle driving the entire way up, and could not imagine how I would get back down. Obviously I managed it safely, since I am here writing this review! I give it 2 stars because obviously the views are stunning and this part of the country is truly breathtaking. But this auto road is a nightmare (and it is $$$$$$$)!!!

I’m actually laughing and relieved that I wasn’t the only person that was terrified of the ride up and down! I’m not even scared to fly in an airplane! I had been there about 10 years ago and drove up with my family but I wasn’t nervous at all… this time was a totally different story! The scariest part is the fact that there are NO guardrails. I never understood why it has to be that way, maybe it would obstruct the view? Who knows. Any railing is better than NO railing, however after asking my fiancé about this, he stated there’s really no place for anyone to actually anchor siderails. if you’ve been up the mountain before, you’d probably understand. Once you’re at the top, the view is awesome, especially on a clear day. Just make sure your vehicle has decent brakes and isn’t prone to overheat. There’s vehicle restrictions depending on size and transmissions. I gave it 4 stars because of the narrow roads and lack of guardrails. That might not be fair for me to do, but I know plenty of other people have issues with that. NH is a beautiful state and I came back down the mountain alive!

This was an amazing ride. We chose to do their van service up to the top — I highly recommend it! ½ way up I would’ve turned around if I was driving. It is a very narrow road with nothing holding the vehicle back from the insane drops.
Our van driver had a great personality and told us some amazing stories about the mountain, the weather, the animals and trees in the area. I was really surprised to learn that the weather can change so dramatically so quickly and that you could even get stuck up top on a van tour for hours if the weather does change.
Once you get to the top it is crazy windy and cold even on an early September morning. The winds were around 75 mph on the day we went — they will give you warnings depending on the winds if you have small children.
We were told we came on one of only handful of days with such a clear view. We could see something like 230 miles. You could literally see the sun reflecting off the ocean in Maine too! These views are priceless and absolutely stunning.
I would recommend that everyone checks this out once in their lifetime.

This was the most amazing ride to the top. For those afraid of heights maybe not recommended as the shoulders of the road drop hundreds of feet. The 25 min ride to the to the top was so worth it. A bit pricey for entry to the road but during autum the views were something you would see in paintings.
Highly recommended !!!

My boyfriend and I decided to drive up mount Washington to do something «adventurous.» The views were amazing, especially driving up the mountain for the first mile or two, the trees looked so pretty and the air smelled so fresh, like pine trees! When we got to the parts with no guardrails I almost had a heart attack, a really bad panic attack. Once we got to the top we were so relieved the drive up was over. The views from the top were breathtaking! The way down was much scarier than the ride up. Just take it slow and be cautious. If you want to be adventurous and get your adrenaline pumping, this is definitely something for you!

I suppose people are used to everything being safe due to threat of lawsuit. I mean obviously nobody would let someone drive up a road that has your vehicle inches from a 1000+ ft drop with no guard rail right? No they really do allow this! And yes you have to be smart and careful. I suppose that is why people are so shocked by how insane this road is when they are on it! This is one of the few things that has not turned into Fisher Price.
That said if you have a fear of heights do NOT go on this road. Once you are above the tree line there is nothing around to hide the fact that you are on a twisty, narrow road with no protection. My wife was in tears and although we made it to the top we turned around immediately. Keep car in low gear and no brakes are needed really.
Why 3 stars? Well I am disappointed that such a great outdoors location has been spoiled by a road going to the top. The next day I hiked all the way up to the top from the bottom and once you crest the 1000′ pile of rocks at the top you see cars, tons of people and gift shops etc. I do not want to see someone up top stuffing their face with fries after I just hiked 4 miles with 4,000 ft elevation change. The road is cool but I wish it were not there.

At 6,288 feet, Mount Washington is hardly what you would call a mighty peak. It’s less than half the height of Pikes Peak or Mount Shasta or Mount Ranier or any of the big-​time hills out west. But for meteorological reasons that I’ve never fully understood, it has a treeline, and a peak consisting of huge barren granite boulders. And the most ghastly bad weather you’ve ever seen.
For many years, the summit held the world record for highest recorded wind speed on the surface of the earth. Not a tornado or a hurricane, mind you; just the breeze blowing at a brisk 231 miles per hour. Even the ordinarily sedate Appalachian Mountain Club, in their guide to New Hampshire’s White Mountains, says if you’re climbing Mt Washington and the weather starts to change, just turn around, without shame, and GTFO. Seriously, the place is a nightmare.
But a surprisingly civilized nightmare, with a nice cafeteria and a spectacular view. We drove the eight winding miles up the auto road with our two kids one afternoon in late June. The first part of the drive is through a lovely northern hardwoods forest, with butterflies and deer and probably unicorns. But after you get above the tree line, you realize that there is nothing between you and the view except more air than you ever knew existed. I thought my wife was leaning affectionately on my shoulder, when in fact she was shrinking in real terror away from the god knows how many foot drop on her side. We bumped along in this manner all the way to the parking lot below the summit, then climbed the stairs up to the summit house.
We have a movie of our 3-​year-​old daughter up there that abruptly stops when she started sprinting toward the edge of the aptly named Great Gulf. If you’re brave enough to peer over the edge of the Great Gulf, you are looking DOWN on eagles circling in the air. The 8 mile drive down, as remarked by Vanessa H., is murder on your brakes so be prepared.
We bought a «This Car Climbed Mount Washington» bumper sticker, but decided not to put it on our rented minivan. I think it’s in the cedar chest somewhere.

I first tried to drive Mt Washington back in 2002, during a mid-​October road trip through New England. But it was already closed for the season! The disappointment lasted for eleven years, so when I planned my return visit, I made sure to come earlier in the fall. Mt Washington may end up as the longest-​anticipated vacation destination that I have ever visited.
Some reviewers ruefully note the prices ($ 26 per driver plus $ 8 per adult passenger), but allow me to point out that you get four attractions for the price of one.
First, an absolutely spectacular view. Pictures don’t do it justice.
Second, a cool history lecture, in the form of the audio CD. There is also a museum at the summit which is not much more than the old hotel preserved in period furnishings with a few placards. The CD, however, is chock full of interesting information about the early history of the road; most fascinating was the cavalcade of lunatics who have raced up and down in various vehicles over the years. The narration is a nice distraction, too, from the stresses of the drive.
Thirdly, a series of casual science lessons: physics, geology, meteorology, forestry, astronomy (well, maybe only if you get stuck overnight). The weather in particular is wild (famously, the highest winds ever recorded by a human occurred here); on our day the temperature sank from 62 to 37 degrees from bottom to top, and the wind was fierce. Also, I thought that it got really foggy about halfway up, but it turns out that we were DRIVING THROUGH CLOUDS.
And finally, but most memorably, a thrill ride far more harrowing and about twenty times longer than you could find in any amusement park. My wife loves roller coasters but was terrified of this drive. Hypocrisy, methinks. I mean, it may SEEM dangerous, with the twisting, fog-​bound, gravel road meandering up the side of the mountain with no guard rails to protect against a lethal mis-​steer. But I’m sure that they wouldn’t let people drive up here if there were regular fatalities.
To be honest, I was a little scared, but all you have to do is limit your speed, pay close attention, and keep your cool. The payoff is absolutely worth it.

As a passenger in a car that only made it ¾ up the mountain due to the driver having a mild panic attack, I can’t say that this was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had. Some things in life you will look back on and think «I’m glad I did that,» but in the moment all you can think is «what was I thinking??» This was one of those moments.
Let me tell you a story: Mother and daughter (me) only have a couple hours to kill in NH until heading back to the airport and returning to pleasantly-​flat Florida. It’s finally a beautiful day with almost no clouds and we never got a chance to get to the top of Mt Washington due to weather being cloudy and rainy. The morning of the dreaded drive, we had run into an elderly couple who brazenly say they are going to drive to the top of Mt Washington. This gives us a false sense of courage, and we think «Hey, if they can do it, so can we.» We arrive at the auto road, pay the fee and hope for the best. Things are going well at the bottom of the mountain. The road is lined by trees and you don’t feel the altitude too much. The road is still paved at this point and it is curvy but tolerable. Now we are above tree-​line and that initial courage has gone out the window, over the edge of the mountain to its death. Then the road becomes gravel and seemingly even more narrow than in the beginning. Panic begins to set in. My mom starts to question that initial bravery, «what were those old people thinking??» Then she becomes too afraid to stop at any of the designated turn around spots because they are on the outside of the mountain. Oh god, we are going to have to be towed down the mountain and we’ll miss our flight. Thankfully there was a «hole» in the mountain and she stops, backs into the hole and we made a three point turn. I have voted this to be my Most Terrifying Moment Ever Riding the brakes on the way down leads to the pleasant smell of burning rubber. I don’t know that I’ve ever been so happy to leave an outdoors activity. We didn’t talk about it for a week or so. The memory was too fresh.
In the end I’m happy that we did it because of course we can laugh about it now, but just fair warning that this drive is not for the faint of heart!

It was the Columbus Day weekend and my friends and I had decided to go check out Mount Washington Observatory in NH. We didn’t realize how terrifying the drive was until we got to the entrance: $ 26 dollar per car/​driver + $ 8 per adult passenger /​$ 6 per child under 12. That’s $ 50 we have to pay to drive ourselves up a very steep and narrow road with no guard rails at the edge of the mountain.
The whole drive is 8 miles long. It takes about 25 – 35 mins to get to the top moving at 15−20mph. You cannot go fast than that, and believe me, you do not want to go faster than that even if you can! The road was so narrow that it could barely fit two cars side by side, let alone an SUV and a pickup truck! We passed by many, many pickup trucks on our way up. We were so afraid that we would get accidentally bumped off the cliff that we thought we were going to have heart attacks.
You don’t have to go all the way to the top, as there are several pull-​off points along the road both going up and down. However, if the weather is nice (not when we went though, it was misty and windy), do try to go to the top of mountain. After all, it’s the tallest mountain in the Northeast region and you paid a lot for admission!
Once you’re at the top, there’s really not much to do. There is a snack bar, a restroom, the Tip-​top house and a small souvenir shop (REALLY REALLY SMALL). Other than that, most visitors go there to take a couple of photos and they leave. Now it’s time to head back down!
The constant braking will overheat and damage your vehicle so I recommend stopping at all pull-​off locations, unless you have a newer model car or SUV that can lock in 1^st gear. Alternately, you can take a shuttle up but I hear the ride is even scarier.
Worst case scenario, you can always hike. :)
P. S. — Remember to bring a winter jacket. It’s cold up there!

Pros: America’s oldest manmade attraction. Challenging 8 mile each way drive with many pull-​offs for exploration plus audio CD guide to listen to during the drive. Shuttle vans are available for the faint hearted, but at a steep 50% higher admission cost, time constraints and less exploration opportunities. Summit offers spectacular 360 degree views, a café, a gift shop. a museum, a post office. the Mount Washington Observatory, etc.
Cons: Pricey, but understandably so due to maintenance cost. Route is harsh on vehicles.

One of the most beautiful places!

Unfortunately this place was only halfway open on the late-​spring, cloudy/​foggy day we were in the area, but the view from 4000 feet was not bad. And the bumper sticker and CD almost seem insulting if the cost is going toward maintaining the road which was in quite good shape. Woman at the front could’ve been a bit less… irked…by taking $ 27 from us, but she’s the gatekeeper for many out-​of-​state plates and I reckon it gets old quick.

The drive up the auto road is probably the most fun I’ve ever had in a while. Unfortunately you could only do it in a low gear and can’t go past 20mph.
It would be more challenging with a 5 or 6 speed manual transmission as the auto transmission car I was driving was heating up like crazy due to the climb.
The views were amazing! Take pictures! Look over the side of the car and see the tall drop off.
At the summit, you can see pretty far into the distance. Canada anyone? It was quite windy there but that’s to be expected at such high altitude.
The drive down wasn’t as dramatic as the climb, so it was really just a brake fest and really just kind of snaking the car back down.
I would recommend this drive for anyone who’s a fan of rally racing or want’s a nice challenging drive up the side of a mountain.

While this drive was scary as hell, it was also BREATH taking. I think the negative reviews here are a little unfair, as it says RIGHT at the beginning, that this road is steep, with no guardrails, yada yada yada. I don’t think you should expect to have a leisurely drive up the side of one of the tallest mountains in New England. It was an adrenaline rush for sure. The summit was incredibly windy, but displayed some of the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen.
I saw a lot of kids there, but I gotta say, with the amount of places a kid could potentially get hurt or fall, not to mention the fact that there were 50 MPH winds, I’m glad I left my 4 and 6 year olds at home…

Hell No! I would never ever ever do this again. I went up with a driver who, to put it mildly, was not practicing safe driving (even before we got there). There are NO guard rails. There are no places to pull over. nothing. I was scared for my life.
Then the top is so cold you can only be up there for like 2 minutes and then you say forget this, lets go“
Its terribly scary.
Now on the way down you have to have to have to stop and pull over for 15 minutes at a time.
This kid went down the whole way with stinking squealing breaks and I could just imagine the headlines: «brakes fail on mount washington… Miss Unilocal is killed. Driver thought to be a non-​licensed driver»
Godhelpme. never again.