Morse Mountain - Seawall Beach

We had a great day exploring this conservation area owned by Bates College. We ended up walking about 7 miles by the end of the day. The "trail" to the beach (which is a private gravel road) is about 2 miles one way, and the beach is a few miles long. Morse Mountain itself isn't much of a mountain, but it's a short hike to the top, so I would say it's worth it. We aren't big beach people, but we fell in love with Seawall Beach. The sand is super fine so it feels amazing walking barefoot. Also there weren't many people there, so we really got to enjoy it.

Learn more about the trail and beach

View from the top of Morse

I love how the sand makes this look like a blurry picture.

Sand dune

Where the river meets the sea, so cool!

Franconia Notch State Park - The Basin

We explored around The Basin watching the river and ice, it was all so pretty and interesting. We hiked up the Cascade Brook Trail a little ways and saw some frozen falls. It was a fairly easy trail. Click for a map of the trails in the park. Franconia Hiking Map

Mount Blue State Park & Tumbledown Mountain

Tumbledown is Eric's favorite mountain so we went up to Mount Blue State Park and camped for the weekend. He wanted to go up the Loop Trail as he'd never been before. It was tough! I was fighting off bronchitis at the time so I think it was harder than normal. Be advised though, if you do choose to go up this way, you will basically be rock climbing, not hiking, part of the way. We recommend parking at the brook trail head and descending that trail. You will have to walk up the road to reach the trailhead for the Loop Trail but it was better walking to up the road at the beginning of the hike then having to do it at the end when you're tired and hungry.

Halfway up Tumbledown via the Loop Trail

Tumbledown Mountain Trails

If you run into this, you've lost the trail. We somehow climbed up and down this ridiculous thing. Oops

Made it to the top!

Pond on top of the mountain

View from the beach at Mt. Blue State Park