White Mountain National Forest OHV

The White Mountain National Forest encompasses 800,000 acres of the northern New Hampshire mountains and a small portion of western Maine — the Presidential Range, Sandwich Range, Mahoosuc Range, and the Connected Wilderness areas that define the most dramatic mountain terrain in New England, with Mount Washington at 6,288 feet the highest peak in the northeastern United States. The OHV trail system operates on designated forest roads and ATV-legal routes through the forest's Saco River, Androscoggin, and Pemigewasset Ranger Districts, providing the primary public-land OHV access for the Boston metropolitan area market (5 million people, approximately 2.5 hours south via I-93) and the Manchester, Concord, and Portsmouth New Hampshire corridors. The Kancamagus Highway (NH-112) bisects the forest east-west through the heart of the White Mountains, and forest roads and designated OHV routes radiate from the Kancamagus corridor into the surrounding mountain terrain — the Pemigewasset Wilderness, Sandwich Range Wilderness, and Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness define the off-limits cores, and OHV designated routes operate in the accessible forest on the wilderness margins. The Conway and North Conway gateway at the forest's eastern margin provides full resort infrastructure — hotels, restaurants, gear shops — positioning the White Mountain OHV system within one of New England's most developed mountain recreation corridors. The forest terrain is northern hardwood and boreal: yellow birch, sugar maple, and American beech below 3,000 feet transitioning to balsam fir and red spruce on the upper slopes and ridge crests. Saco River Ranger District at Conway (603-447-5448) manages eastern district OHV route conditions.

Website

www.fs.usda.gov/whitemountain

Phone

603-536-6100

Hours

Accessible approximately May through October; higher Presidential Range and Kancamagus routes close under snow. No day-use fee. New Hampshire does not require OHV registration on National Forest roads.