Town and country

New Hampshire community mixes the quaint with the artistic

A covered pedestrian bridge spans the Ammonoosuc River in Littleton. (Mark Wilson / Globe Staff)

DISTANCE FROM BOSTON:165 miles
POPULATION: 4,498
WEBSITES: golittleton.com, littletonareachamber.com
ODD FACT: None other than Jezebel herself - Bette Davis - summered in Littleton, and her film "The Great Lie" had its world premiere in town on her 33d birthday in 1941.

A statue of the ever-friendly and optimistic Pollyanna stands arms outstretched on a hill in front of the Littleton Public Library, and in many ways she is an apt metaphor for this welcoming community with its quaint Main Street surrounded by the White Mountains. Here a courthouse and the Post Office share a space, a cappuccino cafe takes up residence in a florist shop, and a hair salon is also an art gallery and clothing boutique. There's a cigar emporium and an old-fashioned penny-candy store. But there are also upscale restaurants and bars and fashion-forward boutiques. This quintessential walking town is bohemian while at the same time New England quaint. And did we mention the great view?

Take a hike beside the rapids at Riverwalk, a circular half-mile walk off Mill Street that crosses the rapids of the Ammonoosuc River on a covered pedestrian bridge at one end and a metal pedestrian suspension bridge at the other. Afterward you should still have enough energy to pack a picnic lunch and head to the Dells, a park and pond with easy walking trails 1.2 miles northwest of downtown. The trail skirts the pond and there is fishing for children only. The park has picnic tables, fireplaces, and a deck overlooking the pond, where great blue heron, bitterns, and other water birds are a common sight. The park has entrances on Route 18 or Dells Road. If you'd like to get a glimpse into New Hampshire's geological past, head to Kilburn Crags (trailhead parking on Route 135). A 3/4-mile hike through a stone-wall-lined meadow along an old logging road will bring you to an outlook with some great igneous rocks from the Devonian Period and polished granite stones left over from the last continental glacier - 10,000 years ago. Look up and you'll see the Ammonoosuc River and the Presidential Mountain Range.

Visit the Littleton Grist Mill (18 Mill St., 888-284-7478, littletongristmill.com), where organic flour is ground by stone much as it was in 1798. Visitors can watch the process and buy products at the facility, which was restored in 1997. If you are someone who sees the cup half full, you should definitely get your photograph taken with Pollyanna. Children's author Eleanor H. Porter was born in town, and some think her preternaturally optimistic heroine was based on her early life. An oversize statue of the exuberant girl stands in front of the Littleton Public Library (92 Main St., 603-444-5741). Each year in early June the town hosts an official Pollyanna Glad Day. Pollyanna would surely love Littleton's free summer concerts, which take place in July and August on Friday evenings from 5:30-7 at the gazebo in Remich Park. BYOC - bring your own lawn chair. At Art to Go (85 Main St., 603-444-3111, arttogogalleryandsalon.com) energetic entrepreneur Kate Goldsborough will help you navigate her combination art gallery, clothing boutique, and hair salon.

Thayers Inn (111 Main St., 603-444-6469, thayersinn.com, doubles in summer $90-$110). This 1850 railroad hotel, with its cupola and Doric columns, is a throwback to the robber baron era. Over the years, celebrities including Ulysses S. Grant, P.T. Barnum, Richard Nixon, and Bette Davis have stayed here. Remember the old days before Disney World when staying in a clean, affordable motel with a swimming pool was all that? If you remember those days fondly, the Country Squire Motel (172 West Main St., 603-444-5610, thecountrysquiremotel.com, doubles $59-$64 May 16-Sept. 18) is the place for you. It's a delight: Morning coffee and Wi-Fi are free, and you don't need to take out a small-business loan to have your family stay there. For those who enjoy roughing it, there's the Crazy Horse Campground (788 Hilltop Road, 603-444-2204, ucampnh.com/crazyhorse, tent sites $27, full hookup $34-$36). It's located near Moore Lake, so campers can fish, boat, swim, and hike. Crazy Horse has a catch-and-release fish pond for the kiddies and free Wi-Fi for the teens and grown-ups who can't bear to be unconnected.

Picture this. Homemade watermelon gazpacho, beet salad with mandarin oranges, and freshly baked carrot cake, all in view of an 18th-century grist mill and a covered bridge with the Ammonoosuc River roaring in the background. Miller's Cafe & Bakery (16 Mill St., 603-444-2146, millerscafeandbakery .com, lunch $5-$9) has all that, 18th-century pine floors, and one of the nicest staffs around. For a taste of nostalgia, check out the Littleton Diner (145 Main St., 603-444-3994, littletondiner.com, breakfast $2.99-$9.99, lunch and dinner $2.99-$11.99), which has been in business since 1930. Sink your teeth into a steaming stack of pancakes made from organically-grown buckwheat ground at the Littleton Grist Mill down the street. Looking for something more upscale? Try the Tim-Bir Alley Restaurant (7 Main St., 603-444-6142, dinner $18.95-$25). Diners can sit in the European-style storefront restaurant, with its exposed brick and white linen topped tables, and sample delicacies like eggplant, feta, and sweet pepper pate or sauteed sea scallops on artichoke pancakes from a menu that changes weekly.

World Cup ski champion Bode Miller is said to be one of the many après-ski and hiking regulars who frequent Bailiwicks (111 Main St., 603-444-7717, bailiwicksfinerestaurant.com). This cozy North Country restaurant-bar with a distinctly urban feel can be found on the lower level of Thayers Inn (see REST). While sipping your favorite pinot grigio and relaxing, you might also want to sample some fondue or Center Harbor mussels. And if you happen to be of the green persuasion, you'll be happy to know the establishment recycles its wine corks. Bin 42 Bistro & Wine Bar (42 Main St.) sells artisan flatbread pizza, and on Thursday and Saturday nights features live entertainment starting at 9. Guitarist-songwriter Matt Tellier is a frequent performer.

There's no doubt that Littleton has a lot to offer in terms of natural beauty, but it's also a haven for those seeking retail therapy. Main Street is full of galleries, boutiques, and some truly avant-garde purchasing possibilities. At the League of N.H. Craftsmen Retail Gallery (81 Main St., 603-444-1099, nhcrafts.org), work from 150 craftspeople is for sale. Here you can find high-end, one-of-a-kind gifts from amber jewelry to handmade Shaker-style chairs. The League shares this space with the Village Book Store (181 Main St., 603-444-5263, booksmusictoys.com), an independent bookseller with a fine children's department, a nice selection of books by local authors, natural history and trail guides, and bestsellers. No trip to Littleton would be complete without a visit to Chutter's (43 Main St., 603-444-5787, chutters.com), which claims to have one of the world's longest candy counters: 112 feet. One long wall is lined with jars upon jars of what used to be called penny candy (it's about $5.98 a pound). And they do a range of gummy treats: sharks, lobsters, root beer bottles - and oh, yeah, bears. When you've had your fill of sweets take a walk on the vintage side at the Tannery Marketplace (111 Saranac St., 603-444-1200, thetannerymarketplace.com). This complex is housed in the renovated 1898 Saranac Glove works and now houses antique sellers, art galleries including one that displays the work of Bob Copeland, the former Boston television weatherman, and ADMAC Salvage, where shoppers can find a selection of vintage doorknob hardware and other examples of domestic archeology.