Best New Hampshire Fall Foliage Hotel

New England plays host to some of the most celebrated fall colors in the world, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire—the highest range in the Northeast—are easily one of the region’s “leaf-peeping” hotspots. With a luxury guestroom or suite at The Mountain Club on Loon, you’ve got an absolutely spectacular perch for soaking up the show, which is amazing right from our grounds.

Fall Colors in the White Mountains

Fall colors are produced in deciduous hardwood trees and shrubs when photosynthesis tails off at the end of the growing season. Chlorophyll, a pigment in leaf chloroplasts that absorbs sunlight and is responsible for the green of spring and summer foliage, declines in late summer. Come autumn, the colors of other pigments such as carotenoids and anthocyanins that were either masked by chlorophyll during the summer or are produced late in the season dominate leaves, resulting in the yellows, reds, purples, oranges, and browns that define a New England fall.

The White Mountains provide a leaf-peeper’s paradise thanks to the diversity of deciduous trees and shrubs here—from maples and aspens to sumacs and cherries—and the thousands of feet of elevation change across their landscape, which make for a prolonged display as fall colors work their way down the mountainsides.

When to Catch the Best Fall Colors in the Whites

Climatic influence ensures that the onset, duration, and intensity of fall colors in the White Mountains vary from season to season, but generally speaking our area peaks from late September to mid-October. But even on the shoulders of that peak window you’ll generally have plenty of early or late colors, respectively, to appreciate.

A great way to keep abreast of the status of fall colors in the White Mountains is by using this online foliage tracker for the region. You can consult this statewide foliage tracker as well.

A Luxury Leaf-Peeper’s Headquarters at The Mountain Club on Loon

With a fall-patterned highland vista as your backdrop and endless opportunities for leaf-peeping drives and hikes in the vicinity, The Mountain Club on Loon is an unexcelled home base for enjoying this celebrated season in the White Mountains.

One famous route for surveying the regional fall colors is the Kancamagus Highway—“the Kanc”—which runs right past The Mountain Club on Loon on its 35-mile span between Lincoln and Conway. We profiled the Kanc on the blog this summer, in case you want to read more about its scenic dazzle. Franconia Notch State Park, one of the best-known in New Hampshire, is also a fine spot for leaf-peeping within a short drive of our slopeside hotel.

Immerse yourself in the heart of multicolored White Mountains fall foliage with an October leaf-peeping safari at The Mountain Club on Loon!