Clark's Bears

The Clark family established their trading post in the 1920s, and over the decades it grew from a simple stop into a full family attraction. The trained-bear shows became the heart of it, with generations of the family raising and working with the bears and building the act into a White Mountains institution.

That continuity is central to the charm. Clark's has stayed in the same family, and it wears its long history openly, from vintage buildings to attractions that parents remember from their own childhoods. It is the kind of place people return to across generations, bringing their children to see what they once saw.

One of the highlights is a ride on the White Mountain Central Railroad, pulled by a real steam locomotive along a stretch of track that crosses a historic covered bridge over the Pemigewasset River. The train and the bridge are authentic pieces of railroad and engineering history preserved and put to joyful use.

The ride is famous for a bit of theater: a wild mountain character emerges to chase the train, a gag that has become part of the Clark's experience. It is exactly the sort of homemade, good-natured showmanship that defines the whole place.

Beyond the bears and the train, Clark's is a treasury of the offbeat. There are museums of antique tools, cars, firefighting gear, and curiosities collected over the years, alongside rides, games, and a tower to climb. Everything is on a human scale, walkable in an afternoon, and much of it hand-built.

The appeal is deliberately nostalgic. Clark's does not try to compete with big amusement parks; it offers something they cannot, the feel of a genuine mid-century roadside attraction that has been cared for rather than modernized away, an increasingly rare thing to find intact.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.