WHITE MOUNTAINS  , the portion of the Appalachian Mountain system which traverses New Hampshire, U.S.A., between the Androscoggin and Upper Ammonoosuc rivers on the north and the lake country on the south . They cover an area of about 1300 sq. m., are composed of somewhat homogeneous granite rocks, and represent the remnants of long-continued erosion of a region formerly greatly elevated . From a plateau which has been cut deep by rivers and streams they rise to rounded summits often noble in outline and of greater elevation than elsewhere in the Appalachian system, except in North Carolina, and culminate in Mount Washington, 6293 ft. above the sea . Thirteen other summits have an elevation exceeding 5000 ft . The scenery is so beautiful and varied that the region has long been popular as a summer resort . It is traversed by railways, one of which ascends Mount Washington, and contains numerous villages and fine hotels . See the article NEw HAMPSHIRE; the Guidebook (Part i., Boston, 1907) published by the Appalachian Mountain Club; and Appalachia (ibid., 1876 seq.), a periodical published by the same club .