Orange

Orange is one of New Hampshire's tiniest towns, with just 320 residents spread across 23 square miles of Grafton County hill country. The defining feature is Cardigan Mountain, whose 3,155-foot bare granite summit rises within the 5,655-acre Cardigan Mountain State Forest and Park that lies largely within town borders. From the top, the views sweep east to the White Mountains and west to Vermont's Green Mountains — one of the best summit panoramas in New England for the effort required. The town was named for the yellow-orange ochre found on Cardigan's slopes, and that mineral-rich geology gives the landscape a distinctive character. Town government runs on pure New England democracy: voters serve as legislators at the annual March meeting, and a three-member selectboard handles administration. The harvest festival, potluck supper before Town Meeting, and Christmas party are the social calendar. This is a place for people who want land, sky, and solitude.