RV travel in New Hampshire

New Hampshire is small, mountainous, tax-free, and excellent value once you understand the geography. The White Mountain National Forest is the largest area of free dispersed camping in the Northeast, the Kancamagus Highway is the region's most scenic two-lane, and the state's no-sales-tax status makes Kittery-Portsmouth fuel and Walmart runs worth the detour. The catch is altitude and grade: the Whites have real mountain passes with 9% descents, the back roads have low covered bridges, and Mount Washington has its own weather system that has killed unprepared hikers in July. Plan around the Notches, respect the bridge clearances, and New Hampshire pays back the planning with the best public-land camping east of the Mississippi.

Last verified: 14 May 2026

Free RV PDF guide to New Hampshire

Driving rules, RV-friendly and RV-restricted highways, NPS reservation rules, BLM and NF boondocking, propane, dump stations, weather, and emergency contacts. Save it to your phone for offline use on the road.

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Driving rules

Interstate (cars)70 mph (I-93 and I-89 rural)

Interstate (trucks + towing)Matches posted

US/State highway (cars + towing)55 mph default; 35-50 mph through Notches

Built-up areas25-35 mph (posted)

Drive onRight

SeatbeltsRequired for under-18 only (no adult seatbelt law -- but use them)

Cell phone use while drivingHands-free only; texting prohibited statewide

RV-friendly and RV-restricted highways

RV-friendly

I-93Salem to Littleton via Manchester, Concord, and Franconia Notch. Main north-south corridor. Franconia Notch section narrows to one lane each way around the Old Man site -- still RV-friendly but slow.

I-89Concord to West Lebanon and into Vermont. Smooth four-lane through the Sunapee region.

I-95Coastal toe of NH (16 miles between Mass and Maine). Toll, fast, gets you through the state in 20 minutes.

US-3Parallels I-93 through the Whites. Slower, more scenic, no tolls.

NH-16Conway to Berlin via Pinkham Notch. Two-lane with shoulder; big-rig manageable but slow through Glen and Jackson villages.

NH-101Portsmouth to Keene cross-state. Mostly four-lane, easy.

RV-restricted

Kancamagus Highway (NH-112)Beautiful, two-lane, no services for 35 miles between Lincoln and Conway. Big rigs legal but tight at the height-of-land overlooks. No fuel, no propane, no dump. Drive it east-to-west to descend the steeper grade if your brakes are marginal.

Mount Washington Auto RoadPrivate toll road. 7.6 miles, 12% average grade, no guardrails most of the way. RVs technically permitted up to a length limit but it is genuinely not advisable. Park at Pinkham Notch and take the shuttle, or skip it.

Bear Notch RoadTight, gravel-paved, low covered bridges nearby. Big rigs use Kancamagus instead.

Crawford Notch (US-302)Two-lane with 9-10% grades on the descent into Bartlett. Manageable for most RVs but use low gear -- brake fires on the descent are a real thing here.

Most covered bridgesNH has 50+ historic covered bridges with clearances from 8'6" to 12'6". Check posted clearance before approaching -- the cost of a bridge strike runs into six figures.

National parks and monuments

Saint-Gaudens NHS$10/person (16+); under-16 free. Cornish, NH. Day-use only, no camping. Small lot; park-and-walk fine for tow cars and small RVs.

Appalachian National Scenic Trail (corridor)Free. Crosses NH through the Whites including Mount Washington. Trailhead parking only; no RV camping on the corridor.

Boondocking and dispersed camping

BLM: No significant BLM land in New Hampshire. Public-land boondocking is concentrated in the White Mountain National Forest.

National Forests: White Mountain National Forest (770,000+ acres straddling NH and Maine) allows free dispersed camping along most forest roads, 200 ft from any road, water, or trail. Popular areas: FR 27, FR 113 (Tripoli Rd -- check seasonal closure), Sandwich Notch Rd (rough, small rigs only), and the Wild River area. Stay limit 14 days, then move 5 miles. The WMNF is the best free RV-friendly camping in the Northeast.

Stay limit: typically 14 days per location.

Service stops

Propane: Plentiful in Manchester, Concord, North Conway, Lincoln, and Berlin. Sparse in the Whites themselves -- top up in North Conway or Lincoln before heading into the National Forest. State-line stops in Salem and Portsmouth carry full RV propane services tax-free. Most KOA and Good Sam parks fill on-site.

Dump stations: Reasonable coverage along I-93 and I-89. Most NH State Parks with camping offer free dump stations for registered guests. The Lincoln/Woodstock area has several commercial dump stations serving the WMNF crowd. Truck stops along I-93 at Salem, Manchester, and Lebanon have fee stations ($10-15). Sparse in the Great North Woods (Berlin north).

Fuel: Diesel and gas widely available along all interstates and US-3. Genuinely sparse on the Kancamagus (no services for 35 miles), in the Great North Woods north of Berlin, and on the back roads through the WMNF. NH has no sales tax on most goods including motor fuel (federal/state excise still applies), so prices are typically the lowest in New England -- worth a detour from Mass or Maine to fill up. Carry an extra 5 gallons for the WMNF backroads.

Weather windows

Best monthsLate June through mid-October. Daytime highs 70-85 F valleys, 50-70 F in the Whites. Foliage peaks late September to early October. Mt Washington summit averages 26 F in July -- bring layers.

Avoid monthsMid-November through mid-April. Most state-park campgrounds close. Snow common; nighttime lows in the single digits or below zero. Mud season (April-early May) can close back roads and forest roads. Black-fly season (late May to mid-June) is brutal in the Whites.

Mount Washington has the worst documented weather in the Lower 48. The summit has recorded 231 mph winds and below-zero temperatures every month of the year. Check the higher-summits forecast before any hike, regardless of season.

Emergency and road conditions

State patrolDial *SP (*77) from a cell phone for non-emergency state police; 911 for emergencies

Road conditionshttps://www.newengland511.org