If you plan to make a day of it, pack a lunch. Most of the highway passes through the White Mountain National Forest, and you'll only find food and gas at either end.
It's best to travel from east to west, stopping first at the Saco District ranger station to pick up a National Forest day-use permit and a map of the Kanc and all the stops. The majority of them are concentrated in the first half, and most come up on the right. So while you'll be driving uphill most of the way, facing a wall of forested mountains, occasional stops won't require as many left-hand turns across heavy fall foliage traffic.
About 6 miles west of the ranger station, make a sharp right into the parking lot for the Albany covered bridge. It's a short walk to the 120-foot span, built in 1858 and renovated in 1970. The weathered wooden bridge is a prime photo stop.
On our last visit, we encountered Richard Kennedy and Lynn Becher, who were exploring the White Mountains on their Harley-Davidson. The Canton, Ohio, couple weren't sure they'd try ascending Mount Washington on the Auto Road, but they gave a definite thumbs-up for the thrill of the ride on the Kanc. They stopped for a picture at the bridge, then hit the road to seek other bridges off Route 16.
If you want to linger, take the paved walkway along the river that leads east down to a fishing pier and continues toward the campground. In the other direc tion, unpaved Deer Brook Road, which is closed to motor vehicles, heads along the riverbank.
Perhaps the best place to picnic along the Kanc is Lower Falls, only a half-mile west from the bridge turnout. Picnic tables sit beneath a covered pavilion overlooking the Swift River as it splashes down on boulders. The cool green pools below the biggest rocks are popular for cooling off in the summer, but as the weather chills, you'll probably want to stay dry by scrambling from boulder to boulder.
