I-93, speeding up towards Canada, and the more leisurely US-3 merge briefly about ten miles beyond Lincoln , to pass through Franconia Notch State Park . From a roadside pullout you can look back and upwards to the Old Man of the Mountain . This natural rock formation, resembling an old man's profile, will no doubt already be familiar from powerfully magnified photographs - and New Hampshire's license plates. Seen from a thousand feet below, it's absolutely tiny but can be fun to try and find. It all has to be held together with wires, and one particular family has the annual responsibility of climbing up to plug the cracks made by the winter's ice.

Franconia Notch itself is a slender valley crammed between two great walls of stone. From the park visitor center (May-Oct daily 9am-4.30pm; tel 603/745-8391, ), you can for $8 walk along a two-mile boardwalk-cum-nature trail to the Flume and look down on the Pemigewasset River as it rages through a narrow, rock-filled gorge; take a $10 cable-car ride up the sheer granite face of Cannon Mountain (May-Oct daily 9am-4.30pm; tel 603/823-8800, ); or hike the various, well-marked trails up to panoramic views for free.

Further on, one mile south of FRANCONIA , the Frost Place on Ridge Road (July to second Mon in Oct daily except Tues 1-5pm, June weekends 1-5pm; $3) is a former home of poet Robert Frost, memorable largely for an inspiring panorama of unspoiled mountains. Each summer the place houses a poet, who will often give poetry readings during visiting hours; however, Frost's farm outside Concord makes a better destination.

Franconia Notch and the Old Man of the Mountains

• Franconia Notch and the Old Man of the Mountains

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