Mount Washington Cog Railway

The Mount Washington Cog Railway is a marvel of 19th-century engineering and the second steepest cog railway in the world, having pushed passengers to the 6,288-foot summit of Mount Washington — the highest peak in the northeastern United States — since 1869. It was the world’s first mountain-climbing cog railway and remains one of New Hampshire’s most iconic attractions. The historic coal-fired steam locomotives, known affectionately as grasshoppers, push specially designed cars up grades as steep as 37.41 percent along three miles of track on the western slope of the Presidential Range. Riders are rewarded with panoramic views of the White Mountains and, on clear days, vistas extending into five states and Canada. The summit of Mount Washington is home to the Mount Washington Observatory and is famous for some of the most extreme weather conditions ever recorded, including the world record surface wind speed of 231 mph set in 1934. The railway offers a choice of historic steam-powered cars or modern biodiesel-powered coaches, with interpretive narration providing insight into the mountain’s natural history, ecology, and the railroad’s extraordinary 150-year legacy.