The roads in Granite State, taken by the author

I lived in the town of Hooksett. It is a town located along route 3 and is not far from Manchester. One of the activities I loved there was driving or riding on a motorcycle. In weekends, I often got out to refresh myself in a fresh air and took my truck or motorcycle to get around Granite State not really knowing where I was heading. It was a good way to relax, just to get ready for work next week. A lot of thoughts could get in your mind, as you drive on quiet mountain routes, that all look endless.

Just to name a few, these are the roads that I took in Granite State. Please note that some of the routes are not written as one trip but as total distance driven on the route.

Route 93 from Exit 1 to Exit 42



Route 93 connects to Vermont in north and to Massachusetts in south. It is a major highway in Granite State, especially if you have to head up north or down south. You can take the route 93 from Boston, Massachusetts and after an hour or so, you will know that you are in Granite State. The road sign will welcome you to the state. The first exit you see after the sign on Route 93N is Exit 1 and is a town of Salem. You would drive through trees and may think that you are out of nowhere. Surely, the southern part of Route 93N in Granite State has nothing but a lot of hills. There are some populated areas in between, such as Manchester and Concord. Don't forget that you have to pay the toll at Hooksett. After Concord, you will drive through a long straight road between trees and sooner you will find yourself in larger hills. When you pass Franklin, you should be ready for the scenic views along the road. Trees have now turned into woods and you are driving in hills again. You can almost smell water in the air as there are lakes in this region and those areas are really popular for camping. There are signs for campgrounds along the road. After Plymouth, you should soon realize that you are seeing mountains rathen than hills. In fact, it is white mountain region. White mountain is the tallest mountain in Granite State. In the misty morning, this mountain region along the highway looks really beautiful. It is one of the beautiful scenes in the State. You will have to drive up these mountains and then through valleys. Yet, caution is requied when you are driving in the valleys. Watching scenaries and driving can be dangerous as the highway gets narrower in the valleys and there are rails that devide lanes. You can see camping or skiing areas on both sides as you drive through this narrow and winding lane. From this point or above, the route will be downhill and don't even try to tailgate a car ahead. There is nothing but mountains around there but the man-faced rock is located in a cliff in this area. As you go down the mountains,the road gets wider again. Exit 42 is just around the corner.

Route 89 from Concord to Lebanon.



You can get on Route 89 from Route 93 in Concord. It is the route that heads northwest to Lebanon and up above. If you are rushing to Sunapee Lake region, this route might help but you won't be able to see much sceneries, other than woods really. It crosses some mountains too. Lebanon is located at the state border between Vermont and Granite State.

Route 101 Manchester To Hampton Beach



This highway connects Bedford to Hampton Beach. It is rather a stable route since there is no mountains to cross. Yet, this is not a scenic route.

Everett Turnpike from Bedford to Hudson



You have to pay the toll to use this turnpike. It should be 75 cents. This is used for the quick route between Bedford and Massachusetts.

Blue Star Turnpike from Hampton to Portsmouth



There is the toll for the turnpike. This is a useful route if you have to rush from Hampton to Portsmouth. The road is wide and straightforward but there is nothing special along the highway. If you are heading to Portsmouth, you want to get off at Portsmouth Circle or its business district exit.

Spaulding Turnpike from Portsmouth to Dover



You can get onto the turnpike from the business district of Portsmouth. The turnpike goes on toward the north and you should be enjoy a beautiful scenery of Portsmouth coastline, as you go over a bridge.

Route 393 from Concord to Route 4


It is an extension of Route 93 to get onto Route 4.

Other Routes
Compared to Highways, public routes has a lot of fun, as you can take a closer look at sceneries and stop by places, whenever you like.

Route ? From Littleton to Lancaster



From off the town of Littleton to Whitefield, it is quiet and you can enjoy sceneries. It is nice to drive up and down hills with windows opened. If you see bikers on the other lane, you want to cast a hand sign for them as greeting. It is really an easygoing region. In Whitefield, you may want to have a lunch at a local diner. People around here arealways friendly. You have to still go up north to head to Lancaster. The route between Whitefield and Lancaster is scenic. Literally you are driving up and down mountains. When you go down the mountain, you will realize the beautiful landscape over the town of Lancaster.

Bypass 28 from Salem to Manchester



If you're in the town of Salem and to head to Manchester in north without driving on highway, you will definitely come across the bypass 28. The road will get you out of the town quickly and then you will find yourself in areas full of trees. You will have to go up and down the hill and then get to a traffic circle. Do not get confused there and you must keep on going straight uphill. If you see a church at an intersection on the right hand side, you're now in Londonderry area. From this point and above, it can be a scenic drive, as it is a straight raod that goes under arches of trees. Don't worry about gas. When you are out of the arches, there is a gas station. You would have to drive a little longer until you get to Manchester. You will drive under arches of trees again and go downhill. When you see a tip of the lakes, you should know that you are almost there. Lake is situated at the last sector of the route. This lake, enjoyed by many, is a popular lake in Manchester throughout a year.

Route 3 from Nashua to Manchester



Just like Bypass 28 being a detour between Salem and Manchester rather than getting on the highway, there is a detour between Nashua and Manchester. Route 3 can be used to travel between Nashua and Manchester instead of the highway. It can be slow to travel but you don't have to pay the toll so that in the long-run, it is buck-saving. After you leave Nashua, you will pass by the beer factory, and then go through restaurants, plazas, houses and buildings, which stand sparsely along the road. The town can go on several miles. There is a little ice cream house on the left hand side, where President Bush stop by before the campaign. You still have to head up north until you get to Bedford. You will pass through little hills and woods and then finally you get to Bedford, which is adjacent to Manchester. Make sure that you go over the bridge at the borderline of Bedford and get onto Elm Street. If you go up north on Elm, you will get to the downtown Manchester.

Route 3 from Manchester to a Diner located around Veteran Cemetry near the fork of Route 3 and 4.



First of all, this road trip does not really have scenic views. Rather, it is the road trip to go through some of the main cities in NH. From Manchester, you must drive toward Hooksett. Take right at the last intersection on north Elm street, go straight on Route 3. After Daniel Webster, Route 3 which connects Manchester to Hooksett, you will be in Hooksett. It is a nice town, where country-styled lifestyle can be found. You may want to stop at 99 for dinner. From Hooksett, you will go up north toward Concord. You are on the right track if you pass a hunting store, in Hooksett, on the left hand side. In Suncook, you will go up a hill after a bridge and keep on going straight through a town of Penbroke. There is a traffic light within a few miles just before you go down a hill. You stay on the route, go down and up a hill and keep on going straight. When you come down a hill next time, you will realize that you are getting to a city. It is the city of Concord. You go under highway, and keep on going straight. You will go across the city. Some intersection might look tricky but stay on the same route. As you get away from the city, within a few miles, there is a jail on the left. You might pass some town but keep on going. There is a fork in several miles ahead. You take the left route there to remain on the route 3. After you pass the residential area then, you will get to a curved T intersection. You will turn left to merge onto the route coming from behind. This is still the route 3. After a few miles, you will get to another fork route. This time, take right to remain on the same route. You should realize that the other one is the route 4. This is a woody region. From the fork, it is not that far until you get to the diner located around Veteran Cemetry. The diner is located on the left hand, adjacent to a motel. It has an atmosphere of a log cabin and they serve good Sunday brunch.

Route 3 from Laconia to Meredith



This is one of the famous routes for bikers. There are some biker's stops around Meredith. The lake region is nice too. This is a popular route among bikers in the summer.


Route 3 from Laconia to Franklin

Route 106 from Route 3 to Laconia

Route 4/202 from Route 28 traffic circle to Portsmouth

Route 107 from Route 4 to Raymond

Route 152 from Route 4 to Lee

Route 156 from Route 152 to Route 101

Route 33 from Route 101 to Greenland

Route 1A from Hampton Beach to Portsmouth

Route 102 from Route 101 to Nashua

Route 111 from Nashua to near Sandown

Route 101 from Bedford to Milford

Route 13 from Milford to Goffstown

Route 77 near Goffstown to near Henniker

Route 149 from Goffstown to Hillsborough

Route 31 from Hillsborough to Route 10

Route 10 from Route 31 fork to exit 13 on Route 89

Route 114 from Henniker to Sunapee Lake

Route 11/113 from Route 89 to Claremon

Route 120 from Claremont to Lebanon

Route 109 from Wolfeboro to YMCA out of the town

Granite State in winter is cold and snowy and most pickup truck drivers choose to get a snow plow on the truck. In that kind of snowy place, people really appreciate them, if they can clear ice and snow out of the road before the state does. Years like 2000 and 2001, we had late snow compared to typical years. Even if it's the year of late snow fall, noone is really upset about the weather, because they all know it will eventually. In the first pile of snow, many kids like going out and jumping into the snow as soon as they find it. After overnight heavy snow, schools and offices can be closed, as they call it too dangerous to drive. In fact, if you don't have snow tires, it is easy to slide over and a hell to drive. You have to know how to brake in snow, too. You may often see cars, run off the ramp and police helping them out. You really have to be careful.

Despite such a weather, people really enjoy the season. They like skiing, snowboarding, ice-skating and riding on snowmobiles. As for winter sports, there are ski resorts up north like those in White Mountain region. There are some ice-skating rinks across the state, too. Some of the outdoor venues are frozen lakes. It seems that ice-skating population in the state is not really high, though. Lately, a popular winter sport in Granite State might be snowmobile riding, as it is growing and is common to see snowmobile riders in open fields and hills along highway. They can go through almost anywhere.


Spring

Granite State's winter has come to close, when you find that the snow covered field, where kids used to play, turned to green and the frozen lake has melt into water. Easter eggs tell the resurrection of the god and at the same time the beginning of spring. It is a good idea to resume your Sunday church visit, which was less frequent during snowy winter. It might still snow but the winter is officially over by then. You can see birds' winging across the sky, which was dim throughout the winter but is now clear. Snowmobile owners carry their vehicles to storage. Snow plows are taken off from the trucks. There are seasonal greetings written on signs along the road.


Summer

It gets warmer in summer in Granite State so that a lot of people like going for watersports. If you see many trucks towing a family-owned ship, it is a sign that it is the time to enjoy the summer. They go to sea and lakes to have fun. A lot of bikers march into towns to head to a traditional biker's festival in Laconia. There can be storms in early summer. Once in a while, riding in summer's stormy rain can be your memory. You feel as if you are in one of those summer songs. You must realize that you are in the States, when you hear the sounds of the Independence day's fireworks. It is the country's birthday.

It is nice to go for driving in summer. There are cool places like sea, lakes and mountains in Granite State. However, scenic views from the seacoast line in mid-summer can be less attractive, as it ends up in seeing packed tourists in the region. Hampton beach itself draws many tourists from all across the nation and the area really looks like a tourist site especially in summer. Unless you like to see nice chicks and others, you should choose other scenic routes.

The roads around Lake Sunapee, for example, can be really comfortable to drive, because you drive under arch of trees and is a mountain road. Winnipesaukee Lake region is good, too.


Fall

The long-lasting chilly weather tells the end of the summer. The most popular activity in Granite State in fall would be hunting. People go hunting games for the thanksgiving dinners. In fall, we often see a car or a truck carrying a dead deer. There is no Granite State without a culture of hunting. You should be trained before you go for hunting. Bear Brook State Park has a good training site for bow hunting.

Sooner you will find out that leaves on trees change their dresses. Once they were all green, now they are red. Sooner, they will fall from trees. You can see this almost anywhere in Granite State. It is beautiful.