Yes. New Hampshire Route 112, the Kancamagus Highway, is a state-maintained through road and it is plowed and open all winter, all thirty-four miles from Lincoln over the 2,855-foot Kancamagus Pass to Conway. It is not seasonal in the way Tripoli Road, Zealand Road and Bear Notch Road are, all of which are gated from roughly November to May. In January the Kanc is a two-lane mountain road through a white forest with nobody on it, and our guests who drive it then tend to call it the best version of the highway.
What changes in winter is everything around the pavement. The road closes temporarily during and after big storms and for crashes, sometimes for hours; the plows work it hard but the pass gets far more snow than Lincoln does. Many of the overlook pull-offs and trailhead lots are not plowed, or are plowed days late, so the stops you know from summer may be a snowbank. And the thirty-four miles still have no gas, no food, no services and no cell signal, which matters more at ten degrees than at seventy. Below: how to check, what to expect at each stop, and the side roads that are closed.
Open, plowed, and occasionally closed
The Kancamagus is a state highway and the Department of Transportation plows it through the winter like any other. During a heavy storm, and for a while afterward while the plows catch up on the pass, the road can be closed at the gates near Lincoln Woods and near Conway, and a crash on the descent closes it too. Closures are posted on New England 511, the regional road-conditions service, along with the state's traffic cameras; check it before you leave the lodge on any winter morning, and again if the weather has changed. The Franconia Notch Parkway and Route 302 through Crawford Notch behave the same way.
What is different at the stops
The big overlooks near the pass, Sugar Hill, C.L. Graham Wangan Ground, Hancock and Pemigewasset, are usually plowed enough to pull into, and the views over the snow-covered Pemigewasset Wilderness are the best of the year. The smaller pull-offs are often buried. The recreation sites along the Swift River, Sabbaday Falls, Rocky Gorge and Lower Falls, have their lots plowed intermittently and their walks unmaintained; Sabbaday's gravel path becomes ice and the gates at some sites are closed. The Lincoln Woods and Greeley Ponds trailheads are cleared for the skiers and snowshoers who use them; Lincoln Woods is closed for trail repairs through November 2026 regardless.
There are no restrooms open in winter at most sites, no water, and nothing to buy for the whole length of the road. Fill the tank and the thermos in Lincoln.
The side roads that close
Bear Notch Road, the shortcut from the Kancamagus near Passaconaway over to Route 302 at Bartlett, is gated at both ends by the town of Bartlett for the winter and becomes a snowmobile and ski route. Tripoli Road, Zealand Road and the Forest Service spur roads are gated too. Sawyer River Road and Passaconaway Road are not maintained. In winter the Kanc is a single line from Lincoln to Conway with no shortcuts, which is part of the appeal and part of the planning.
Driving it: the practical part
Winter tires or good all-seasons, a full tank, a scraper, a blanket and a charged phone even though it will not work. The pass is a thousand feet higher than Lincoln and several degrees colder, and the descent toward Conway is long and shaded; black ice on the curves below the pass is the classic Kancamagus winter accident. Drive to conditions, keep well behind the plow, do not stop on the road itself for a photograph, and remember that if you slide off there is no one to call and the next car may be 20 min behind you. Our winter driving post covers the whole region's roads.
Why bother
Because the winter Kancamagus is the summer Kancamagus with the crowds removed and the view doubled. Fresh snow on the spruce, the frozen Swift River, the wilderness white to the horizon from the Hancock overlook, and the road to yourself. Pair it with a snowshoe at Greeley Ponds or Sabbaday, or a plowed-lot walk at Lincoln Woods when it reopens, and turn around at the pass if the far side looks bad; you lose nothing by not reaching Conway. Our winter guide and our snowshoe trail directory have the rest.
From the lodge
The Kancamagus starts at the edge of town, 5 min from the lodge, and in winter New England 511 shows whether the pass is open, and we're always happy to help you check. Fill up on Main Street, take the thermos, and if you only drive as far as the Hancock overlook and back, that is still the best hour of a winter day here.
Useful links
- New England 511 road conditions
Closures, crashes, winter conditions and cameras for the Kancamagus and the notches. - White Mountain National Forest: alerts and road status
The seasonal gates on Bear Notch, Tripoli and Zealand roads and the Lincoln Woods closure. - Our Kancamagus Highway guide
Every overlook and stop on the 34 miles, in any season. - Our winter driving post
Tires, ice, the notches and the plows. - Our cross-country and snowshoe trail directory
The winter trails that start along the highway.
Sources & official info: newengland511.org · fs.usda.gov · visitwhitemountains.com
— Launchpoint Lodge, From the lodge
