LONELY PLANET: New Hampshire Wild - the Live Free Road Trip

LONELY PLANET: New Hampshire Wild - the Live Free Road Trip

June 18, 2026 · 43 min · Season 4 · Episode 14

About this episode

This episode explores a seven-day road trip through New Hampshire's rugged regions, highlighting its natural beauty and artistic heritage.

There is a state in New England where ancient mountains rise above the treeline into bare Arctic tundra, where sheer granite summits look out over oceans of forests, and where one of the fastest wind speeds ever recorded was once clocked here at 231 miles per hour. But New Hampshire is also the place where Thoreau came to reflect, Thornton Wilder was inspired to write his seminal play Our Town, and the oldest summer stock company in America stills performs in an 18th century barn. New Hampshire is art and adventure, natural wonders and quintessential charm. But most of all, like the state’s nickname suggests, it is a place to live free and to the fullest. In today’s episode we set off on a seven-day road trip through three of the state’s most rugged and fascinating regions - from backpacking in the White Mountains and scrambling up waterfalls to discovering art inspired by nature, and nature infused with an artistic eye. Get ready for the Live Free Road Trip. Highlights include: Hiking the Presidential Traverse - three days, and four peaks above 5,000 feet, including Mt Washington, the highest (and windiest) summit in New England. Discovering the ‘business class of backpacking’…

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: MacDowell Institute

Places: New Hampshire, White Mountains, Apallachain Mountain Club

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