Midway along the Kancamagus, the road has settled into its stride. The forest is thick on both sides, hardwood and spruce running up steep slopes, and the Hancock Branch of the Pemigewasset runs close alongside, clear and brown, running over granite boulders. The valley feels deeper and more enclosed here, with cliffs, ledges and the high ridges of the Sandwich Range somewhere out of sight to the south. In places, the trees close over the road, and the light turns green.
This section includes some of the highway's twistier parts, with sequences of bends and a few switchbacks as the road climbs toward the pass. The surface is good, there are no side roads or driveways to speak of, and there is hardly any development. That emptiness is the appeal: the sense that you are in real forest, not a theme park. Trucks are discouraged by the road's character, but cars, campervans and tour groups are not, so be ready to settle into a convoy at the speed of the slowest driver. Passing is restricted by double yellow lines for good reasons.
The forest here is managed as part of the White Mountain National Forest, and it is home to black bears, moose, deer, and in the streams, brook trout. Campgrounds beside the river are popular in summer, and short trails lead to ponds, waterfalls and overlooks. Several scenic pull-offs offer views over the hills, and in fall the slopes turn a patchwork of red, orange and yellow that is hard to describe. Temperature drops with altitude, and there may be frost at the higher points even in early fall.
The nearest towns, Woodstock and Thornton, are well to the west, and the nearest larger centre is Moultonborough, around thirty kilometres in a straight line. Small stores at the ends of the highway sell sandwiches and drinks. If you find a quiet pull-off by the river, turn off your engine and listen: the sound of water over rock, wind in the leaves and nothing else is what this place has to offer.