The Kancamangas Highway (pronounced Kanc-ah-mah-gus and also known as ‘the Kanc’) is a 34 mile / 55 km scenic road in the White Mountains, New Hampshire. The route starts / ends in Lincoln and Conway. You can drive the route in either direction.

It’s a ‘must do’ if you’re visiting New England in the fall!

Image credit: White Mountains Attractions Association (WMAA)

The 5 best photo stops on the Kancamagus Highway

The Kancamangas Highway is famous for it’s fall foliage during October. In my opinion these are the top 5 photo spots:

Albany Covered Bridge
Rocky Gorge
Train line near the White Mountains Visitor Information Centre
Pemigewasset Overlook
With a drone

There are walking trails at some of the stops along the highway, but they look like they’re mostly just walks through forests and looking at streams, not really scenic viewpoints overlooking the hills and valleys of autumn leaves.

In the map below, blue signifies my top photo spots. Purple are some other photo spot options if you have time.

Albany Covered Bridge

Albany Covered Bridge is a classic wooden covered bridge you can drive or walk across. The surrounding area is quite scenic with short walking trails to spots where you can take a photo of the bridge. There is a longer hiking trail that starts nearby (Boulder Loop Hike). But if you want photos looking down on the autumn leaves, then based on research I did before the trip, stopping at one of the many viewpoints off the Kanc will probably provide a similar result with much less effort.

Estimated time to visit: 30 – 45 minutes if you want to walk across the bridge. Otherwise 10 minutes to take photos of the bridge from the carpark side.

Rocky Gorge

Rocky Gorge is a quick stroll from the nearby carpark on a flat path. You can wander down onto the rocks, or continue on, across the bridge and see Falls Pond on the other side. If you happen to time the sun, there should be a good reflection on the water.

Estimated time to visit: 45 minutes – 1 hour

White Mountains Visitor Information Centre

If you need a free toilet stop, or want to pick up some maps of the area, stop by the White Mountains Visitor Information Centre. There is a train line out front of the visitor information centre which is where I took this photo.

Estimated time to visit: 20 – 30 minutes

Pemigewasset Overlook

Pemigewasset Overlook is one of the many scenic viewpoint stops along the Kancamagus Highway – if you have time I would stop at all of them! This viewpoint has views looking out to the mountains, as well as trees in the foreground so provides a nice contrast in photos. There is a pavilion you can shelter under as I had to, because the stop here coincided with rain so unfortunately I didn’t get very good photos. It would be better if the viewpoint was raised up a bit higher so you could have a better view down into the valleys.

Estimated time to visit: 10 minutes

Other viewpoints you could stop at (I was on a bus tour and the tour director advised bus parking and access for buses was limited, and we didn’t have time to stop at all of them):

Hancock Overlook
Sugar Hill Overlook

We stopped at CL Graham Wangan Overlook but the view wasn’t that great.

I would’ve quite liked to go up the Loon Mountain Gondola as it looks like there’s some great views from the top. I don’t think the viewpoints alongside the Kanc are high enough up to get a good view.

With a drone

This is one of the few times where I wished I owned a drone! I’ve seen so many spectacular drone photos of the Kanc on the internet. If you want to capture a good part, try the bend around the Hancock Overlook. Just make sure you check any restrictions about where you can / cannot fly a drone (and at what heights). I’ve read that these days you cannot fly it within 1/4 mile of the Kanc so all those photos we see online may have been taken a few years ago.

Lower Falls, Champney Falls and / or Sabbaday Falls

If you have time, you could stop at Lower Falls or Sabbaday Brook trail but we went to Diana’s Baths instead which is near Conway (Diana’s Baths looks better based on pictures online anyway).

If you have more time Champney Falls is a longer trail.

How long does it take to drive the Kancamagus Highway?

Depends how many times you stop along the way. I would allow half a day to stop and see the highlights mentioned in this post.

You can take the drive in either direction. I took it from Lincoln towards Conway.

Don’t forget to take some photos of the highway itself, and out the side windows of your car too.

The roads coming into Lincoln had good autumn colors too.

I’ve read online that you need a paid parking pass ($5 USD for the day) which can be purchased at whichever carpark you visit first, then display a ticket stub on your car dashboard (I visited on a bus tour so didn’t have to worry about the logistics of parking).

The scenic overlook carpark entries pop up with little warning, so make sure you’re paying attention / looking out for them. The viewpoint stops are close together but offer views in different directions so if you have time, it would be worthwhile stopping at each one.

Another option is Lily Pond but there doesn’t appear to be convenient parking for this photo stop.

There are no petrol stations along the highway, so make sure you top up with fuel beforehand.

Dogs are allowed and I’m sure your furry friend would enjoy some of the walking trails!

What time of day is best to drive the Kancamagus Highway?

Depends on the weather forecast, time of year etc. When I visited in October, there were parts of the Kanc that were raining, then a few minutes later there was blue sky so the weather can be quite unpredictable! My visit was between around 12pm – 4pm and the lighting was fine for photos. There were a few carparks left at the viewpoints but I can see how these carparks would quickly fill up during peak time, in good weather and on a weekend (I visited on a Thursday). The leaves were nearing / at peak in some areas during my visit.

The viewpoints were near the Lincoln end of the highway. Rocky Gorge and the Albany covered bridge are at the Conway end of the highway.

What time of year to time the autumn colors?

I visited the Kanc on the 10th October 2024. Based on my research, the recommended time to visit to see the fall foliage is early to mid October. I think peak was a dull year when I went, otherwise my expectations were too high based on all the heavily edited / photoshopped images I saw on Instagram beforehand (none of the photos on my blog are edited).

More ideas for your New England itinerary in this post: Trafalgar Autumn Colors Tour Review (New England – Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine)