New Hampshire Fall 2025: Early Mornings on the Kanc and Why I Am Now a Leaf Influencer
Fall in New England was not its best self in 2025. The colors came in quieter than usual, less dramatic, more understated, the kind of season that makes you work a little harder for the shot. I went to New Hampshire anyway because New Hampshire in the fall, even on a slow year, is still New Hampshire in the fall.
My strategy this trip was simple: go early. Early morning on the Kancamagus Highway, before the crowds arrive, is a completely different experience from mid-morning, and after a few seasons of watching tourists descend on spots I love and change their feel entirely, I have become very committed to the pre-sunrise approach. The Kanc at sunrise, with fog sitting low over the mountains and the colors reflected in the Swift River and nobody else around yet, is one of my favorite things in New England. I spent one morning there playing with light from sunrise to about ten in the morning, and the way the colors kept shifting with the light was genuinely one of the most fun shooting experiences I have had.
I also want to tell you about the tourist interaction that made me feel like a true New Englander.
I was standing outside getting a shot while my husband waited in the car. A couple nearby was taking photos, and one of them asked if I could take a picture of them. I said sure, because I always say sure when someone sees my camera and asks. I asked if they wanted to hand me their phone. The guy said no, he wanted me to take the photo with my camera and send it to him. I said I did not know him, so no. He called me a word I will not repeat here. His girlfriend gave me the finger as they walked away. I stood there for a second and then went back to photographing the mountains, which did not call me any names.
Welcome to peak foliage season in New Hampshire.
Despite that particular highlight, the trip delivered. The Omni Mount Washington Hotel, tucked into the White Mountains foliage, is one of those spots I keep coming back to photograph because it never gets old. Something about that historic building against the mountains in October feels like fall distilled into a single image. I said yes every time I drove past it.
The gazebo views were mine alone that morning, too, which felt like winning. The silence, the colors, the mountain backdrop behind it, one of those moments where you genuinely do not rush because there is nowhere else you need to be. The parking lot doors eventually started slamming, and that was the signal to move on.
The foggy mornings were the ones I will remember most. Fog in the White Mountains during peak foliage does something that clear days cannot replicate: the colors go fiery and soft at once, and the mountains disappear into the clouds in a way that makes the whole landscape feel infinite. I kept finding shots in my memory card weeks later that stopped me mid-scroll.
This fall I stopped chasing perfect and just shot what made me happy. The White Mountains never really disappoint when you let them do their thing on their own terms. Even in a quieter year.
