The White Mountains of New Hampshire

If you have kids and live in the New England area, you just have to visit the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  There are loads of summer activities for people of all ages – from toddlers to adults, that you will probably have to visit multiple times just to do everything you want to do.

This past weekend, we headed out for a long weekend to the White Mountains before the crowds hit, and tried to do as many activities as possible.  Of course, we only managed to do a few things – so we’ll be back later this season.

We started our vacation at Story Land, a theme park that my kids absolutely adore.  Even though my daughter is reaching the end of the target age for Story Land, she still had a blast.  My son, who is 4, couldn’t get enough.  We spent the whole day there, and could probably have even spent another half day there if we had extra time.

The next morning, we visited the Settlers Green Outlet Village for some tax-free shopping.  It was raining, so we waited it out while shopping.  Luckily, the rain cleared in time for our next stop, Attitash, to open.  Attitash is a ski resort in the winter, but in the summer it transforms into a full adventure park, with water slides, an Alpine Slide, bungee trampolines, a climbing wall, a kiddie pool, and a mountain roller coaster.  My daughter, the daredevil, absolutely loved Attitash, and did everything.  We didn’t bring out swimsuits, but to get full value out of the day pass, I’d recommend that you do bring them.

On that last afternoon, we went to Kahuna Laguna at the Red Jacket Mountain View Resort (where we spent our last two nights).  Kahuna Laguna, an indoor water park, was loads of fun – it’s not too crowded, and has things that appeal to all kids.  My daughter loved going on the slides, while my son preferred the adventure tower with the smaller slides.  Because it’s only open to resort guests, it’s not overcrowded, but you will have to stay at the Red Jacket to enjoy it.

We left knowing that we just have to return – there’s so much we missed this time around!

Photo credit: Jodi Grundig

Disclosure: We had complimentary passes to these activities, and received a two-night stay at the Red Jacket Mountain View Resort at no cost.