During the three and a half years that Liz and I lived in New England we managed to climb all 48 of New Hampshire’s 4,000 foot peaks with the vast majority completed within a year. If you’re not familiar with New England, this is a common challenge taken on by many hikers in the area. Having recently move to New England from Washington State, I remember scoffing at the idea of climbing mountains that were so small. The majority are between 4,000 and 5,000 and the highest is only 6,288 feet. Washington State has great mountains like, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, and Mt. Adams, to me this goal seemed rather boring. However, after having completed this challenge, I can say that it is a formidable challenge worth tackling if you live in New England.
Below I have described the best and the worst New Hamsphire’s 48 in my opinion having now completed them all.
Best
Bondcliff – Beautiful views, and somewhat isolated
One of the most iconic sights in the White Mountains, Bondcliff is a thrilling hike, with amazing scenery and sheer cliffs. With its 9-10 mile approach (one-way), this hike dissuades most day-hikers, providing some solitude even on days with the best weather.
Lafayette Loop – Beautifully Scenic, but crowded loop hike
Liz and I have hiked the Lafayette loop a few times, in a few different ways. Depending on the route, hiking this loop involves reaching the peak of at least one other 4,000 footer. On most good weather weekends, this hike will be heavily crowded, especially with our French-Canadian neighbors, but timing is everything. One year, on an Easter Sunday, it was a perfect, sunny day, so we hiked the loop and the trail was mostly empty, no doubt everyone else was busy with Easter festivities. I strongly dislike crowded hikes, but even this heavily trafficked trail, is very much worth it.
The Presidential range, excluding Washington – Stunning terrain and majestic views, but crowded
Hiking the presidential range is a necessity if you’re a hiker in New England. The traverse should be done in 2-3 days unless you’re in superb shape and can manage the logistics of starting and finishing at different trail heads. The 360 degree views throughout this range are spectacular. Once you get up into the range, you follow the ridge for miles and will have opportunities to bag several of the 4000 footers. Our backpacking trip there was one of our most memorable excursions while we lived in New England.
Owl’s Head – Long approach, but accomplishing and isolated
This hike could easily appear under the least favorites of someone else’s list. Due to the length of this hike, it is neither a day hike nor an overnighter. It is around 18 miles round trip, but most of it is pretty flat, so it’s too easy as an overnighter, but too long as a day hike, so you have to choose. Liz and I decided to do it in a day. Due to the level terrain, we ran for most of it. The trail is difficult to follow at times, but after some route finding, we made our way to the end of the lengthy approach, then began our ascent up the steep scree. Once we arrived at the top of the scree slope, the trail went on and on until we finally arrive at the summit cairn. As we ate lunch, a few other’s arrived, and there was a sense of camaraderie since we were all in pursuit of the same goal, hiking the 48, we also knew that there were few others who would attempt this hike if it wasn’t on the list. Completing this mountain in a day felt incredibly accomplishing.
Carter Dome – Beautiful mountain lake
Carter dome was the first of New Hampshire’s 4,000 footers that Liz and I climbed. At the time we weren’t familiar with New England hiking and were shocked when we arrived at Carter Notch Hut. Throughout the White Mountains, there is a system of several huts, usually not far from the Appalachian Trail. By huts I mean large buildings that can accommodate around 40 guests. To see such a huge, man-made structure in the middle of the forest is almost completely unheard of in the Northwest.  The ascent from the hut to the top of Carter dome is steep and strenuous, but as you climb, you can see the hut nestled by a lake and surrounded by mountains, it’s a beautiful site. On our descent, we made the mistake of following the Bog Brook trail. The date was June 1st, which can only mean one thing in New England, black flies and mosquitoes. A good portion of the trail passes through a bog, and we were surrounded by a thick cloud of black flies and mosquitoes the entire time. Despite this poor first experience, we still consider this to be one of the best hikes in New England.
Worst
Mount Washington – Too many people
Mount Washington, the crown jewel of the White Mountains is a must-do for New England hikers, but massive crowds make it difficult to enjoy. If you ever visit New England, you’re destined to see cars with bumper stickers that proudly state, “This car climbed Mt. Washington.” For Liz and I, this is horrifying. The first time we climbed Mount Washington, it was a cold, cloudy day in June. We had to wait in a very long line to take our picture next to the sign at the summit, due to the vast quantities of people who had arrived mostly by car. In my opinion, hikers should be given first dibs for using their own energy to get there! We then grabbed a slice of pizza in the lodge, yes that right you don’t even have to pack a lunch. We were Surprised and disappointed by all the cars, tourists, and merchandise for sale.
On a separate occasion in March, we climbed up the snow and ice on a beautiful sunny day. We thought by hiking it in the winter we could avoid the cars and crowds. As we were eating our peanut butter sandwiches on the top, relishing the view, and relative isolation, we heard the sound of a very loud engine. We looked up and were horrified to see a snowcat open up its doors to let people off to take pictures by the summit sign. Yes, that’s right a snowcat shuttles people up in the winter! Once again, we were disappointed by the number of people who had been chauffeured to the top. To make things worse, on the hike down our descent was halted due to a line of around 30+ hikers. After waiting in the same place for around 45 minutes, we discovered the hold-up. There was a steep, icy drop that was partially blocked by a fallen tree. We then saw some hikers in front of us who had not come prepared; they didn’t even have ice axes or traction devices on this snowy, winter hike!
Waumbek and Cabot – Long drive and uninteresting
Cabot and Waumbek were two of the last 48 we completed, mostly because of how secluded they are. From where we lived in Newmarket, NH, it was roughly 3-3.5 hours just to drive to the trailhead. They weren’t terrible hikes, but they also weren’t interesting either. They were too easy, short and unscenic to make me want to drive that far in a day. We wouldn’t have hiked them if they hadn’t been part of the 48.
Carrigan  – Uneventful until the end
I have mixed feelings on this hike. If we had hiked this trail on any other day, my opinion might be different. However, the one thought that stands out to me when I think of Mt. Carrigan is just how boring it was. For the most part it was long and slow with little variation in incline and scenery until the very top, where there is a fire tower with decent views. There are less interesting hikes, but this one stands out as being particularly plain.
Cannon Mountain – Short and crowded
The one thing I never really got used to in New England was how accessible they try to make the outdoors to everyone. There is an auto road up Mt. Washington and huts scattered throughout the White Mountains. For Cannon Mountain, there is a tram/gondola that goes to the top. The trail we took to the top was short and relatively easy, only 2 miles from the trail head to the summit. So we were surprised to see so many people at the top who had taken the tram. We were equally surprised to see how prepared some of them were with giant backpacks, expensive outdoor clothing, trekking poles, and huge lunches. I kept wondering what it was about the tram ride that required so much preparation.
Honorable mentions
Wildcat D, (from the west) – Strenuous, but rewarding
What Liz and I consider fun, others may consider punishing; this hike falls into that category. This is an incredibly steep rocky ascent. During the first 2 miles you ascend 1,500 feet. It is steep and painful, but somehow fun and rewarding. This hike can be combined with the other Wildcat peaks and Carter Dome for an epic hike.
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East Osceola – Fun scramble
Who doesn’t love a good rock scramble? If you take the trail coming from the west, then you’ll find a fun rock scramble to the top. The view at the top isn’t great, but the scramble is short, steep and thrilling.
Conclusion
If you live in New England, completing the New Hampshire 48 is a worthwhile goal. I would suggest to plan your hikes very carefully. Be strategic and combine as many peaks as you can into as few trips as possible to reduce driving time. Since we did not begin climbing them with this in mind, we had to make several more trips just to bag a peak that we could have just added on to a previous hike. I highly recommend the map we used to help plan your routes. Also, get the boring, less scenic ones out of the way first such as Cabot and Waumbek, and save some of the better ones for last so you can take in this accomplishment with a beautiful view. There you have it my list of the best and worst of the New Hampshire’s 48. I’d love to hear from you if you’ve done them. Do you agree with this list?
By Alex