Next up in my series of posts of family fun in the White Mountain, NH is Clark's Trading Post. It is very difficult to describe Clark's Trading Post in a few words which is why this post is so long. There are so many different things to do there including shows, a train ride, museums, and other attractions. This is a fabulous family run attraction that is a must see when in the Lincoln, NH area.
The kids were excited to see what Clark's Trading Post had to offer. I had never been so I was looking forward to our visit also.
New Hampshire weather is unpredictable. We know this living in New England that the weather can change quickly. We were very lucky throughout our trip to have mostly sunny days however the one day we were going to go to Clark's Trading Post was mostly rainy. We had such a packed itinerary that there was no changes that could be made. It worked out though and we quickly figured out that Clark's is a great day to go rain or shine.
I had heard so much about the Bear Show that I couldn't wait and that is what we started off with. At the time we were there the Bear Shows were running three times a day. You can check out their full schedule here.
In 1949 Edward and Murray Clark began teaching bears for shows. Now you can find up to 20 family members still working the business. You can see the love this Clark brother and sister pair have for the bears during the show.
The bears are amazing in the show.
Have you ever seen a bear play basketball? We have.
Click here and you can save $1 per ticket up to 4 tickets.
They even ride on a little scooter!
The bears even take a swing. So adorable. We actually went and watched the show twice. You can go to attractions and shows as much as you want during your visit.
Here is the bear getting weighed in.
There were two bears in the show we saw.
I also learned that bears love ice cream. These guys got a treat of ice cream for all the good work they did during the show.
Yum!
At the beginning of the show they explained how these bears are taken such good care of and actually live longer than bears in the wild.
Here you can see the tented area that you watch the shows in. We sat on the top level as you don't have gates in front of you.
From the Bear Show we headed straight to the train ride. The train was beautiful. My son loves trains and thought it was awesome.
The train ride takes about 20 minutes. This is another attraction that we experienced twice as my son loved it so much.
The train takes you in to Wolfman territory. Wolfman is quite a character and wants you to leave his land. There are speakers on the train so you can hear what he is saying. He does shoot a fake gun in to the sky which makes a loud noise so be aware of this with little children. My kids thought he was funny and happily yelled "Scram You Old Goat" when we were told to. He does not ever come on to the train and you are told he can't cross the bridge as he is afraid of water so there is no worry for kids after getting off the train that he will come back.
He does have a cool car that he chases the train with. You can read more here about Wolfman.
Next we headed to the Circus Acts Show. They schedule the Train Ride, Bear Show and Circus Show so that you can do all of them consecutively if you want. They also made sure to tell us not to rush from one to another as they give a few minutes for people to move from one attraction to the next. These acrobats were amazing with two men in each dragon costume!
The girls on the unicycles with bowls were pretty amazing too.
What strength these guys had as they literally jumped through hoops. The show is about 20 minutes or so.
Believe it or not there is more! The rain stopped for a bit so we headed to the Segway rides. This area called Wolfie's White Mountain Wheelin' Segway Park opened in June of 2009. Included with your admission is a 3 minute glide on a Segway. Evan loved this! He did it multiple times.
You got to take a few loops around. You are required to wear a helmet which they provide. If you want to take a longer ride you take a Segway Safari into Wolfman's Territory. This is a 45 minute ride and takes you to see Wolfman!
Here is a cute photo op with Wolfman's Hotel.
We then headed over to some of the museums and other attractions.
It is an adorable little place to visit.
Even the restrooms are beautiful looking on the outside.
The museums have some pretty cool stuff in them.
We watch a lot of American Pickers shows and Evan was wondering what they would offer for some of the really cool stuff we saw.
Bring some change as you can use some of the machines for a dime or quarter.
More cool stuff.
We went to Merlin's Mansion where the room is literally turned upside down. This mansion was built on a gravity point and your tour guide will explain more. There are warnings about noise and darkness but my 8 and 10 year old had no problem. There was really just some thunderstorm type sounds. We thought it was pretty cool.
We also went in to Tuttle's Rustic House. This is a short 10 minute guided tour with some silly jokes and mind bending views of a crooked house.
Pool balls actually rolling up hill!
In 2014 Water Blaster Boats were added. These boats allow you to spray each other and there is a platform with sprayers for spectators.
The kids had fun!
There is even a climbing Tower.
There is so much to do and they are continuing to add attractions. Here you can see a new slide that will be done with floats. This opened shortly after our visit.
Watch out Lauren!!!
Here you can see one of the bears from the outside. Every time we drove by we would check out what they were doing.
Overall Clark's Trading Post is an awesome place to visit and sort of hard to explain. There are so many facets to this attraction that you have to see it for yourself.
Check them out online: http://www.clarkstradingpost.com/
Twitter: @clarksbearsNH
Disclosure: I was provided with admission for my family for review purposes. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.
