The world’s best autumn rail journeys | Wanderlust

Route: Marshfield Base Station–Mount Washington

Duration: 3 hours (including return)

The Mount Washington Valley is famed for its autumn colours between mid-September and late October, and the world’s first rack railway is a great way to see them. Opened in 1868, the railway scales the highest peak in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, climbing above the tree line for the alternative attractions of a 360-degree panorama and dramatic sunsets. Tree species and colours change as the train ascends, beech, birch and sugar maple giving way to red spruce and fir before reaching the sub-alpine zone of dwarf trees, often subjected to ferocious winds – until 1996 the mountain had recorded the world’s highest wind speed, of 231mph.

References

^{^} thecog.showare.com (thecog.showare.com)