Mt. Washington Auto Road Opens for 148th Season

Pinkham Notch, NH—The Mt. Washington Auto Road will open for its 148th season on Saturday, May 9 at 9:00am for guests to drive their own vehicles. (Guided Tours not yet available.) The Mt. Washington Auto Road will be open to 4.5 miles to a turnaround point above treeline, which affords stunning vistas of the surrounding peaks and offers a true taste of the Mt. Washington experience.

Each spring, the Road Crew works to remove the ice and snow from the surface of the Mt. Washington Auto Road in order to make it passable for vehicles. Above the 4.5-mile point, the Road Crew is still working to remove the remaining snow and ice from the road surface and make final repairs. As recently as fifty years ago, it was considered a success if the Mt. Washington Auto Road was open to the summit by Independence Day, but weather permitting, the Mt. Washington Auto Road hopes to open to the summit on May 16. Guided tours will also be offered at that time.

Early season pricing is in effect through May 15: $23 per car.

First opened in 1861, the Mt. Washington Auto Road is America’s oldest manmade attraction. At nearly 8 miles long, it stretches to the summit of Mt. Washington at 6,288 feet, the highest peak in the Northeast

The Mt. Washington Auto Road will be open daily from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., weather permitting.

Click here for the operating schedule.
Click here for rates.

To take a look back at the Road Crew's efforts this spring and for updates all season long, visit the Road Blog.

Early season schedule:
May 9 - May 15: Open to 4.5 miles, daily. 9:00am - 4:00pm, weather permitting; Guided Tours not yet available.
May 16: Open to the summit, daily. 9:00am - 4:00pm, weather permitting, subject to change; Guided Tours begin.
Glen View Cafe and Gift Shop also open on May 16
May 23: Red Barn Museum opens for the season