Cannon Mountain Ski Area

Cannon Mountain Ski Area is New Hampshire’s state-run downhill ski resort in Franconia Notch, based at Peabody Lodge. Cannon and Mittersill make this a full-day mountain, while Tuckerbrook is the family learning area. If you like a challenging, no-frills place built around skiing, make time for it. New skiers can start at Tuckerbrook, but expect the rest of the mountain to lean harder: the terrain mix is 15% easier, 52% more difficult and 33% most difficult.

Its trail network covers 25.3 miles across 98 trails and glades, with a 2.3-mile longest run. The ski area reaches a 4,080-foot summit and faces north and northeast. Tuckerbrook has its own beginner trails, including Rabbit Path, Turkey Trot and Moose Alley; the wider Cannon and Mittersill areas are where stronger skiers find more of the mountain’s challenging terrain.

Peabody Base Lodge is at 2650 Profile Road. This is a winter-season visit, typically from late November into early or mid-April, with the exact season depending on the year. Food service, equipment rentals, lessons and a ski shop are available at the base, so you can make a day of it without treating Cannon as a resort village with lots of off-slope options.

Trail work began here in 1932, and the Richard Taft Trail opened the next year. Cannon hosted the first World Cup races held in the United States in 1967, alongside the North American Alpine Championships. The ski patrol has its own early history: when the aerial tram opened in 1938, some of its summer guides were hired for winter patrol work, making it the first paid professional ski patrol in the country.

Austrian baron Hubert von Pantz opened Mittersill in 1945. It closed in 1984, then returned as a backcountry ski area in 2010; the Mittersill Double Chair restored lift access in 2011. That history gives today’s two-area ski mountain a distinct second chapter, rather than just another set of runs on Cannon.