As industry filled the valleys, the heights and lakes drew a different economy. In the 19th century the White Mountains became a celebrated destination, and grand resort hotels rose to host summer visitors who arrived increasingly by rail. The Lakes Region around Lake Winnipesaukee built its own tourism around water, summer camps, and lakeside towns.
At the center stands Mount Washington, the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288 feet, famous for some of the worst weather in the world. In 1934, observers on its summit recorded a surface wind gust of 231 miles per hour, a figure long held as a world record for a staffed weather station.
Outdoor recreation became part of New Hampshire's identity year-round — hiking and climbing in the mountains, skiing in winter, and lake and seacoast life in summer. The Old Man of the Mountain, a rock profile in Franconia Notch that served as an unofficial state symbol, stood watch over this landscape until it collapsed in May 2003.