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Jackson/Mount
Washington Valley Drive through the old red covered bridge into Jackson and you enter another world. It's a world isolated from the hubbub and congestion of the lower Mount Washington Valley. It’s enveloped by mountains of the Presidential Range, tiptoeing toward the East's highest peak (6,288 feet). It's a highland valley of pristine air, scenic beauty, and peace and quiet. It's a European-style mountainside village of 600 residents and often a greater number of visitors. Jackson is one of the nation's earliest year-round destination resorts, dating to pre-Civil War days (and not much changed since its heyday around the turn of the century when up to 40 trains a day delivered travelers to grand hotels in one of New England’s most exclusive resort areas). It's a village of spirited tradition and pride, from the local book based on recipes used in Jackson's early lodges to the Jackson Resort Association's claim that "nowhere else in the world will you find a more concentrated area of diverse recreational opportunities." Today, skiing is the big draw in Jackson and its sister hamlets of Glen and Intervale. There are two downhill ski areas, Wildcat and Black Mountain; a world-class cross-country center in the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation, and fabled Tuckerman Ravine, where the diehards climb to the headwall of Mount Washington for one last run in June. The two worlds of skiing – alpine and nordic – co-exist in friendly tension. Explained the local leader who was staffing the village information center when we first stopped: "The foundation wanted to advertise `Ski Tour Jackson' and Black Mountain wanted to stress alpine, so we ended up simply ‘Ski Jackson.’" There are modern-day amenities, two golf courses among them. But this is a rugged area, better epitomized by the Appalachian Mountain Club hiking camp at Pinkham Notch than the Mount Washington Auto Road (its bumper stickers boasting "This Car Climbed Mount Washington"), better experienced from a secluded mountain inn than from one of the chock-a-block motels down the valley in North Conway. Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places in New England, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2004. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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