Vintage Car Clubs invited to Kancamagus Highway Celebration

05-28-2009

 

 

 NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. - This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the famed Kancamagus Highway and a celebration is planned for August.

 

 The Kanc, as it is affectionately called, is a 34-mile ribbon of roadway that connects the towns of Woodstock and Conway. Before 1959, the road was a dead-end on both sides until a massive construction project opened the two-lane road, which also appears on maps as SR-112.

 

 In the decades that have followed, the Kancamagus Highway has become one of the most spectacular drives in the northeastern United States, as it winds through the White Mountain National Forest's undeveloped wilderness mountain landscape, climbing to an elevation of 2,855-feet at the Kancamagus Pass on the Lincoln-Livermore town line.

 

 In 1996, it was designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as a National Scenic Byway, the only one in the northeast at the time. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the road, organizers are looking to for vintage car clubs that would be interested in taking part.

 

 "Since the Kanc opened in 1959, millions of cars, including your father's Oldsmobile, have passed over it, with their drivers and passengers impressed by the beauty of it," said Jayne O'Connor, president of White Mountains Attractions in North Woodstock, which is helping to organize the celebration, along with the U.S. Forest Service. "We are putting out the call to vintage car clubs to take part in this anniversary celebration, which will bring back for a day the adventure that was driving over the Kanc 50 years ago."

 

 Those interested in participating in the anniversary celebration can call O'Connor at 603-745-8720 or email her at jayne@visitwhitemountains.com or Colleen Mainville at the White Mountain National Forest, 603-528-8796 or email her at cmainville@fs.fed.us.

 

 White Mountains Attractions, founded in 1958, is the marketing association for the White Mountains region and its 16 attractions, including Attitash, Cannon Mountain, Clark's Trading Post, the Cog Railroad, the Conway Scenic Railroad, Flume Gorge, the Hobo Railroad, Loon Mountain, Lost River Gorge, Mount Washington Auto Road, Polar Caves, Santa's Village, Six Gun City, Story Land, Whale's Tale and Wildcat Mountain.

 

 The White Mountain National Forest makes up more than 800,000 acres of land and designated wilderness in northern New Hampshire and western Maine. The WMNF was created in 1918, and has nearly 6 million visitors annually.

 

 For information about the White Mountains, the visitors' center is located off exit 32 on Interstate 93 in North Woodstock; visit www.visitwhitemountains.com or call 800-FIND-MTS. For information on visiting the state of New Hampshire, go to www.visitnh.gov.

            

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