River Heritage Tour
River Heritage Tour is a State Scenic Byway in New Hampshire. Within New Hampshire it covers roughly 60 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along River Heritage Tour with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
The River Heritage Trail is less a single road than a network of scenic routes across western New Hampshire, connecting the western slopes of the White Mountains to the Connecticut River Valley. Rather than following one fixed path, the byway lets travelers combine segments — through Franconia Notch, along Sugar Hill's celebrated views of Franconia Ridge and the Kinsman Range, beside the Mad River toward Waterville Valley, and down into the broad Connecticut River Valley itself — into their own custom tour of the region. Along the way, three of New Hampshire's oldest and longest covered bridges still stand, in Woodsville, Bath, and Swiftwater, and the route crosses the Pemigewasset River past working dairy and vegetable farms. Lakes and streams thread through nearly every segment, giving the network broad appeal for anglers, paddlers, and leaf-peepers rather than a single defining landmark.
- A network of routes, White Mountains to the Connecticut River
- Franconia Notch & Sugar Hill views
- Waterville Valley along the Mad River
- 3 historic covered bridges: Woodsville, Bath, Swiftwater
- Pemigewasset River crossing
- Connecticut River Valley
Plan a drive on River Heritage Tour →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along River Heritage Tour
9 campgrounds and RV parks sit within about 5 miles of River Heritage Tour.
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