12 Free & Affordable Winter Activities in the White Mountains of New Hampshire
Cross-posting this article here on my personal Substack, for easy reference for my fellow moms.
Although there are many free hiking trails in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, sometimes you need some free indoor activities for a wintertime trip. Here’s a full list!
EASTERN LOCATIONS (North Conway area):
Free Activities:
The walk-around Christmas Village at The Christmas Loft (a year-round Christmas store)’s North Conway location is free!
At your motel or hotel will be a Christmas Loft pamphlet - on it will be a coupon that says “free ornament” with the purchase of another item!
The New England Ski Museum, which offers free admission, has two locations, and the eastern one is located in North Conway!
Tin Mountain Conservation Center is a free nature center in Conway, NH.
The Mount Washington Cog Railway Museum is free! (Although the railway itself, of course, is not.)
Affordable Activities:
Mount Washington Observatory - effectively a nature center that also includes a children’s museum, with interactive exhibits - is $2 per person age 7 and older. Children under age 7 go free!
The least expensive way to get up Mount Washington is to drive. The price is $36/adult, $15/child ages 4-12, and free for children 3 and under!
WESTERN LOCATIONS (Squam Lake/Woodstock area):
Free Activities:
The Museum of the White Mountains in Plymouth, NH (about 25 minutes south of the ice castles) offers free admission!
The one public beach on Squam Lake is the Ashland Town Beach. The gate door is open in the winter, and you can walk down to the shoreline! The famous wooden-covered Squam River Covered Bridge is located right here as well - make sure to take a picture of/under it!
About 25 minutes east of Squam Lake is the Loon Center & Markus Wildlife Sanctuary, a free nature center in Moultonborough, NH.
The New England Ski Museum, which offers free admission, has two locations, and the western one is located in Franconia NH!
The Franconia Heritage Museum (also of course in Franconia) also offers free admission!
Although not an indoor location, the Franconia Iron Furnace is a historical landmark that is free to view and visit!
Affordable Activities:
The New Hampshire Ice Castles in Woodstock, NH aren’t free, but they can be an affordable outing!
Sign up for their email list, and they’ll tell you in advance what time and day ice castles will go on sale online. In 2024, tickets went on sale online on a November morning. The off-peak weekdays were the cheapest - make sure to compare all the dates on the rate calendar. Kids age 3 and under are free!
In early February, the ice castles often send out a “20%-off of non-peak days” sale in an email. Keep an eye out for this!
For more ice castles tips & tricks, click here!