Forget the crowded mall. Instead, pack some water and head up to Wilmot, New Hampshire, where Winslow State Park sits on the rugged northwest slope of Mount Kearsarge. You start hiking at an elevation of 1,820 feet, which gives you a serious head start. It saves your knees. From the picnic area, you can tackle the Winslow Trail, a steep 1.1-mile climb over granite slabs and tangled roots that will absolutely leave you gasping for breath. If you want a gentler climb, take the Barlow Trail instead. They form a great loop. Actually, completing the full 2.8-mile circuit gets you to the 2,937-foot summit where the old fire tower stands.

The payoff is huge. On a clear afternoon, you can point out Mount Cardigan, Ragged Mountain, and even the giant peak of Mount Washington squinting in the distance. My students always argue about who can spot Vermont's Green Mountains first. It gets pretty loud. After the hike, you can relax in the shaded picnic area that features charcoal grills and a playground. So, bring some hot dogs. You do have to pay a small day-use fee at the gate, but the panoramic views make it worth every single penny. Just wear sturdy shoes.

Sheep once ruled this rocky slope. Back in the early 1800s, local farmers cleared the dense timber to graze their flocks, leaving behind the stone walls you can still trip over today. Then came the tourists. A guy named William McLean saw dollar signs in the mountain air and built a grand resort called the Winslow House right here in 1866. It did not last. Fire gutted the hotel just a year later, but McLean rebuilt it, only for another blaze to level the place in 1874. Just ash and stone left.

The property got its name from Admiral John Winslow, the Civil War officer who commanded the USS Kearsarge when it sank a Confederate raider. He actually visited the hotel. After the second hotel burned to the ground, the cellar holes sat empty for decades until the state finally stepped in during the mid-1930s to turn the scarred land into a public recreation area. Nature took back the pastures. Today, if you wander past the picnic sites, you can still find the old stone foundations of the carriage house and the hotel's original well. Real ghosts of the Gilded Age.