| Franconia Notch | |
|---|---|
 View of Franconia Notch, dominated byCannon Mountain. Ascree field can be seen at the bottom of the Cannon cliffs. | |
| Elevation | 1,950 ft (594 m) |
| Traversed by | Interstate 93,U.S. Route 3 |
| Location | Franconia /Lincoln,Grafton County,New Hampshire, United States |
| Range | White Mountains |
| Coordinates | 44°10′15″N71°41′17″W / 44.1707°N 71.6881°W /44.1707; -71.6881 |
| Topo map | USGS Franconia (NH) |
 Interactive map of Franconia Notch | |
| Designated | 1971 |
_Franconia_Notch%2c_N.H%2c_by_Bierstadt_Brothers.jpg)
Franconia Notch (elev. 1,950 feet/590 m) is a majormountain pass through theWhite Mountains ofNew Hampshire. Dominated byCannon Mountain to the west andMount Lafayette to the east, it lies principally withinFranconia Notch State Park and is traversed by the Franconia Notch Parkway (Interstate 93 andU.S. Route 3). The parkway required a special act of Congress to sidestep design standards for the Interstate highway system[1] because it is only one lane in each direction.[2]
The notch was home to theOld Man of the Mountain, a rock formation which collapsed in 2003 but whose profile remains a symbol of the state of New Hampshire.
The notch is located primarily in the town ofFranconia but extends south intoLincoln. It is bordered to the east byFranconia Ridge, comprisingMount Lafayette (5,249 feet/1,600 m),Mount Lincoln (5,089 feet/1,551 m), andLittle Haystack Mountain (4,780 feet/1,460 m), and to the west by 4,080-foot (1,240 m)Cannon Mountain and the sheer face of Cannon Cliff. The notch'sheight of land is located near its northern end, at the base of Cannon Mountain.Echo Lake lies just north of the high point of the notch, with an outlet that flows into Lafayette Brook, then theGale River, theAmmonoosuc River, and finally theConnecticut River, which entersLong Island Sound atOld Saybrook, Connecticut. Just south of the height of land,Profile Lake lies beneath the cliff that once held the Old Man of the Mountain. Profile Lake is the source of thePemigewasset River, the primary tributary of theMerrimack River, which flows to theGulf of Maine atNewburyport, Massachusetts.
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