White Mountains

The most rugged mountains in New England, covering about a quarter of New Hampshire and a corner of western Maine, with alpine tundra on several of the higher peaks. Mount Washington is the famous one: 6,288 feet, the highest in the northeastern United States, and holder for seventy-six years of the world record for surface wind gust, 231 miles an hour, measured in 1934. It stands in the Presidential Range, named for presidents and other prominent Americans. Most of the area is public land, and its closeness to Boston, New York and Montreal keeps it busy.