Kancamagus Highway
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The Kancamagus Highway is a 34 1/2-mile, two-lane road that runs east-west through the White Mountains of New Hampshire in New England. Part of New Hampshire Route 112, it is generally considered one of the most scenic drives in the region, and is packed every October by traffic from "leaf-peepers" who come to view New England's famous autumn foliage. The twisting, rural highway is occasionally closed for short times during winter due to snow.
The highway, which opened in 1959 after two one-way stretches of road were connected, runs from the Pemigewasset River in Lincoln, and along the Swift river from Kancamagus Pass to the Saco River at Conway.
The highway is named after Kancamagus ("The Fearless One"), who ruled as the third and final Sagamon of the Panacook Confederacy (sometimes spelled Penacook) of Indian tribes in what is now southern New Hampshire. In 1691, due to fighting with English settlers, he made the decision to move north into upper New Hampshire and what is now Quebec.