Mount Washington at the White Mountains, New Hampshire is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States and is notorious for its erratic weather. The highest recorded wind speed at the observatory on the summit is 231 mph. I have hiked this mountain a couple of years ago and it was a memorable experience (I had muscle cramps for a whole week, haha). I am an occasional hiker, so found this hike very challenging.
Tried to do the sunrise drive back in 2017, but our old car wasn’t fitting the guidelines and we were asked to leave. Please check the vehicle restrictions before you plan to do the summit drive.
Every summer, there are 2-3 dates allocated for sunrise drives. Generally, the toll road is open from 8:00 AM. But on these specific dates, it is open 1.5 hours before sunrise time. Because of the pandemic, there are only 2 sunrise drive dates in 2020. There is no advanced booking needed for the sunrise drive, unless you want to do a guided tour. You will have to pay at the entrance of the auto road.
From Massachusetts, it is a 3.5-hour drive to the summit. It is more convenient to stay overnight at the White Mountains and then do the sunrise drive, but the pandemic didn’t let us do that. So we started from home at around midnight and drove straight to the toll road entrance. We were surprised to find around 100 cars waiting already. After just 10 minutes of waiting, the toll road gates were opened. The 7.6-mile drive up to the summit took us around 30 minutes.
Tip : When you reach the summit there are two parking lots, upper and lower. If you go to the right on the lower parking lot, you will have unobstructed views of the sunrise.
Living up to its fame, the winds were crazy that morning. The speeds were at around 50-75 mph. The video above is a time lapse taken in just a minute, you can clearly see how fierce the winds were. We could hardly spend 2 minutes outside the car. Thankfully we found a parking spot that had unobstructed sunrise views, so we chose to sit inside the car and enjoy the views.
Tip: Because of the winds, the feel-like temperatures are pretty low at the summit. It would be a good idea to carry your winter gear, especially something to protect your ears from the wind.
After 30 minutes at the summit, the sun started to rise. The orange hues were beautiful, but what caught my eyes were the silhouettes of the mountains in the Presidential Range. There is just something so soothing about sunrise and sunset, don’t you think?
Check out the time-lapse video of our descent on the auto road.
If you are wondering what to do after the sunrise drive, the White Mountains has a lot to offer. Just 15 mins away, there is a beautiful waterfall named Glen Ellis Falls. It is gorgeous during the early hours. As of July 2020, this waterfall was closed for restoration. So we headed to Sabbaday Falls, 50 mins away from the auto road entrance. There was a nice picnic area where we had our breakfast by the water stream. As it was early in the morning, there was hardly any crowd. Totally enjoyed the solitude.
The sunrise drive is also open during the last weekend of August 2020! There are also sunrise guided tours, but the number of seats is limited.
Check this website for more information on Mt.Washington Auto Road.