White Ledge Campground and Diana’s Bath, July 2020

This weekend we headed to the White Mountain area with the intention of staying at Jigger Johnson campground. Unfortunately, even a 9AM arrival time for this no reservation campground wasn’t early enough to secure us a spot. At the recommendation of the campground host we headed to White Ledge Campground directly off of route 16. This campground is a mix of reservation and non reservation sites.

White Ledge Campground

Our arrival at White Ledge was bittersweet. We found a few sites open which meant we didn’t have to pack up and head home but….after staying at the other campgrounds in the White Mountains this one was a bit of a let down.

Although it was clean, safe and the sites provided a bit of privacy, most of the non reservation campsites were near the road (busy route 16) so there was quite a bit of noise. The campground in itself was less maintained then others we’ve stayed at and although there were hiking access directly from the campground there was no river access.

Despite all this we were happy to have found a spot somewhere, since the alternative would be to go home. All in all our campsite had some fun features, including big boulders and beautiful trees.

The convenience of being right off route 16 was also a bonus. It allowed for quick access to North Conway without having to drive the Kanc like we’ve done in the past. Our original plans this weekend had been to check out Lincoln and The Flume Gorge, but since we ended up in such a different location we decided to change things up a bit.

Passaconaway road

After getting settled in the campground we headed up to the North Conway Outlet area to get some ice cream at Dairy Queen. It just felt like an ice cream day. As the kids ate their ice cream we decided to go for a drive to explore some of the back roads in North Conway that took us back to our campsite. We ended up on Passaconaway road, that lead behind the Covered Bridge Campground off the Kanc. It was beautiful and quiet. Much less traveled.

We pulled along the side of the road. Jake had fallen asleep so Jamie and Anika went into the river to swim for a bit while I stayed with him in the car. They had fun and saw lots of tadpoles.

Albany Covered Bridge

After we left we passed through the Albany Covered Bridge as we headed back to the Kanc.

Jake had woken up at this point so we pulled along a different spot and Jamie took him swimming for a bit while I waited with Anika.

After this we headed back to the campsite to hang out and have tacos for dinner.

Diana’s Baths

The next morning we planned to wake up early and finally check out Diana’s Baths. This has been on our list to visit for years, but it is always so so busy there. We were hoping an early arrival time would help us avoid this.

We got there by 7:30 AM to find only about 10 other cars in the parking lot. The hike was short and easy. The trail was wide and well maintained. We arrived at the falls and climbing all the way to the top allowed us to have our own little secluded area The kids played for about an hour before we decided to head back down.

At this point it was about 9 AM and the crowd had really started to come in. On the hike out so many people were coming in. We were able to stay on our side of the trail and keep our distance, but definitely just got out of there as quickly as possible. The parking lot was completely full with a line of cars waiting to get in. Attendants allowed cars in as others left. Even with this system with the number of people we saw walking in and how small the falls area actually is, it has to get insanely crowded there. We liked Diana’s Bath and were happy to see it once, but because of the busyness we wouldn’t go back again.

Discovering Crawford Notch

After we left we decided to explore for a bit before heading back to the campsite. We drove up past Bartlett until we made it to the Crawford Notch area. It was beautiful….absolutely beautiful. Mountains surrounded the road on every side. We stopped at Wiley House Historical Site and got out to look around. It was situated on Wiley Pond with access to two hiking trails. There was a footbridge crossing the pond and multiple ducks that Anika quickly befriended and named.

Lunch and a swim on the Kancamagus

After this we headed back to White Ledge Campground for lunch and to play for a bit. Then we drove down the Kanc and Jamie took the kids for a swim in the river.

After that we headed back to the campsite and had hamburgers for dinner.

Headed home

The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast and headed home.

Although this weekend didn’t go exactly as planned we checked some things off our list we’ve been wanting to see (Diana’s Bath and Albany Covered Bridge) and found a new area we plan to head back to explore (Crawford Notch).