Franconia Mountains [key], range in the White Mts., N N.H., rising to 5,249 ft (1,600 m) at Mt. Lafayette; part of White Mts. National Forest. Franconia Notch, a scenic, narrow pass (6 mi/10 km long), is west of the range. Echo and Profile lakes, and the Flume, a gorge with granite walls 70 ft (21 m) high along Mt. Liberty, are in the notch. The Old Man of the Mountain, or the Profile, jutting cliffs that formed the “Great Stone Face” that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's story, overlooked the pass until 2003, when the formation collapsed. Franconia, N.H., northwest of the notch, is a ski resort.
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