This White Mountains town with the world’s longest candy counter is also completely tax-free

Littleton’s Main Street won a national award

Littleton, New Hampshire, sits along the Ammonoosuc River in the White Mountains with about 4,600 people and a Main Street that won the Great American Main Street Award in 2003.

Travel & Leisure put it on its list of America’s Greatest Main Streets, and the walkable downtown runs from one white-steepled church to another, lined with independent shops, galleries, and places to eat.

New Hampshire has no sales tax, so everything you buy here is tax-free. But the shopping is just the start.

The river drops 235 feet through the center of town

The Ammonoosuc River runs right through the middle of Littleton, dropping 235 feet as it passes. A dam built in the 1790s powered the town’s first sawmill and gristmill, and that’s what put Littleton on the map.

The town has served as the commercial hub of New Hampshire’s North Country since the late 1700s. By the 1980s, though, storefronts sat empty and the downtown had gone quiet.

Local business owners and residents bought and restored the buildings through the 1990s, and the comeback is now considered one of New England’s best.

Walk past 500 glass jars at Chutters candy store

Chutters candy store on Main Street holds the Guinness World Record for the longest candy counter in the world.

It stretches 112 feet, and more than 500 glass jars line the length of it, filled with gummy bears, old-fashioned favorites, and everything in between.

You can also pick from over 170 varieties of nut clusters and chocolates or about 50 flavors of house-made fudge. The shop has stood on Main Street since the late 1800s, and USA Today readers voted it the No. 3 best candy store in the country.

A ski shop that opened in 1920 still sells gear

Lahout’s on Union Street has been open since 1920 and bills itself as America’s oldest ski shop. Herbert Lahout emigrated from Lebanon in 1898 and started selling goods from a horse and wagon with his wife, Anne.

Their son Joe added ski equipment in the 1940s after winning the Golden Cannon Medal at Cannon Mountain’s annual downhill race in 1947.

Vintage leather ski boots, old lift tickets, and U.S. Ski Team memorabilia still hang on the walls. The shop is now in its fourth generation with eight locations across northern New Hampshire.

A bronze Pollyanna stands on the library lawn

Eleanor H. Porter was born in Littleton on Dec. 19, 1868, and in 1913, she wrote the children’s novel Pollyanna, about an orphan girl who plays “The Glad Game” to find something positive in every situation.

The book sold over a million copies in its first year and was translated into a dozen languages. You’ll see the character everywhere, from crosswalk markings to banners downtown.

In 2002, the town unveiled a bronze statue of Pollyanna on the library lawn, sculpted by New Hampshire artist Emile Birch. Every second Saturday in June, Littleton celebrates Official Pollyanna Glad Day.

Cross a covered bridge to the oldest grist mill

Behind Main Street, the River District stretches along the Ammonoosuc with walking paths, shops, and places to eat.

You reach it through the Pollyanna Gateway, a staircase on Main Street decorated with colorful floating umbrellas.

From there, a 352-foot pedestrian covered bridge, built in 2004, spans the river with views of the rushing water below. On the other side sits the Littleton Grist Mill, originally built in the late 1790s by Solomon Mann.

The building and its visible waterwheel sit along the riverbank, and it’s one of the oldest commercial structures in northern New Hampshire.

Hike 45 minutes for views of the Presidential Range

Kilburn Crags is a 1.7-mile out-and-back trail on the northeastern shoulder of Walker Mountain that takes about 45 minutes to an hour.

You gain about 390 feet of elevation as you pass through a meadow along an old stone wall, then enter the woods on an old logging road.

At the top, you get sweeping views of downtown Littleton, the Ammonoosuc River Valley, the Presidential Range, and Franconia Ridge.

Benches line the trail, and a picnic table waits at the summit overlook. New Hampshire Magazine gave it an editor’s pick for best “locals only hiking trail.”

22 miles of mountain biking trails on Parker Mountain

If you want more trail time, the Parker Mountain Trails give you a 22-mile hand-built network for mountain biking, hiking, skiing, and running.

For something gentler, The Dells is a woodland preserve with boardwalks, easy walking trails, and a pond good for birdwatching and picnics. The Pine Hill Trails take you past glacial boulders on a round-trip walk through the woods.

Along the river, the Littleton Riverwalk connects the covered bridge to the Curran Suspension Bridge on a paved path, and the Ammonoosuc Rail Trail stretches toward Woodsville through open countryside.

Galleries, murals, and a guitar shop on Main Street

Colorful murals and paintings pop up on side streets between Main Street and Mill Street.

The League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Gallery on Main Street shows work from about 250 New Hampshire artisans, from pottery and jewelry to textiles and woodwork.

Northern Lights Music has sold guitars and instruments on Main Street for over four decades. If you want to make something yourself, the Littleton Studio School runs year-round classes in clay, metalwork, jewelry making, and mixed media.

Down on Mill Street, The Loading Dock, a volunteer-run performance space, hosts live music, open-mic nights, and art shows.

Cannon Mountain is 15 minutes down the road

Littleton sits just off Interstate 93, north of Franconia Notch, so the White Mountains are right at your doorstep.

Cannon Mountain, known for its challenging skiing and the former site of the Old Man of the Mountain, is about a 15-minute drive south. Franconia Notch State Park, with the Flume Gorge and Echo Lake, is nearby.

Back in town, Mt. Eustis Ski Hill first opened in 1939, closed for 32 years, and reopened in 2015 as a community-run slope. The town of Sugar Hill is just a few minutes away with scenic drives and mountain views.

A single-screen cinema from 1951 still shows new films

Littleton is a walking town.

Free parking sits in lots within a block of Main Street, and most of what you want to see is a short stroll away. You can follow a walking tour past historic buildings that still have their original architecture.

The Littleton Opera House, built in 1894 and fully restored, hosts concerts, theater, and film screenings under its original pressed-tin ceiling.

The Jax Jr. Cinema, a single-screen movie theater that opened in 1951, still runs first-run films. From the candy counter to the covered bridge, this town packs more into a few blocks than places ten times its size.

Explore Littleton’s Main Street in New Hampshire

You can reach Littleton by taking Interstate 93 to exits 41, 42, or 43 in northern New Hampshire.

The drive from Boston takes about two and a half hours, and from Manchester, N.H., you’re looking at about 90 minutes.

Burlington, Vt., is about an hour and 45 minutes away. The closest commercial airports are Manchester-Boston Regional and Burlington International.

Summer and fall draw the biggest crowds, with peak fall foliage rolling in around early October. Give yourself a full day to walk the town end to end.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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