Clark's Bears has been on Route 3 in Lincoln since 1928 — it started as a sled-dog exhibition, added its trained black bears in the 1940s, and has grown into a full roadside park: the bear show, a standard-gauge steam railroad that crosses a covered bridge and gets held up by a Wolfman, water rides, a segway safari, and a cluster of museums that range from Americana to Avery's Garage. It is the family headliner of the valley, 4 min from the lodge.
We are an adults-only inn, so the plain framing is this: Clark's is a kids-and-grandparents day, and most of our guests are not its audience. Some are — the railroad and the museums have a real nostalgic pull, and the bear show is a genuine piece of New England showmanship. This guide gives you the facts to decide.
The bear show, and the question everyone asks
The show is the reason the place exists: black bears — currently two young ones, Darla and Hildie — climbing, balancing, and playing for treats in an open-air amphitheater, with the trainers narrating. It runs several times a day in season, about half an hour, and it is professionally done. The bears are born and raised at the park, and the family has been at this for four generations.
Whether trained-bear shows sit right with you is a personal call, and we are not going to make it for you. Plenty of visitors love it; some skip the show and do the train and museums. Both are legitimate ways to spend the ticket.
Everything else on the ticket
One admission covers the park: the White Mountain Central Railroad (a real steam-hauled ride across the Pemigewasset on a covered bridge, with the Wolfman ambush that small children remember for the rest of their lives), water rides in summer, the segway safari, the climbing tower, and the museums — Americana, a florist shop of yesteryear, Avery's Garage, an old-time photo parlor. Plus a Chinese-acrobat circus act in season, gift shops and food.
It adds up to a full day for a family, and to about a half day for adults picking the train and museums. The park is compact and walkable.
2026 prices and season
General admission (ages 4 to 64) is $33 booked online in advance or $37 at the gate; seniors 65+ and military with ID are $30 advance / $34 day-of; ages 1 to 3 are free; a season pass is $125. Everything inside — rides, bear show, circus, train — is included; the online price is the one to pay.
The park runs a seasonal calendar — roughly late spring through foliage — with days and hours that shift by month; check clarksbears.com's season calendar before you go, especially in May, June and September when it is not daily.
The grown-up version
If you are staying with us and curious, the two things worth an adult's time are the railroad — historic equipment, and the covered-bridge crossing is a beautiful bit of engineering — and the museums, which are eccentric, dense, and clearly a labor of love. Go midweek in shoulder season for the quiet version.
And then, 4 min back down Route 3, the lodge and the notch and the Kancamagus, which is where most of our guests spend their days.
Where to stay for it
Clark's is about 4 min north of the lodge on Route 3. Because the lodge is adults-only, most guests who go are doing the train-and-museums version on a curious afternoon; families make it their whole day from elsewhere in the valley.
Sources & official info: clarksbears.com · clarksbears.com · clarksbears.com
— Launchpoint Lodge, From the lodge
