new hampshire white mountains side trails

[Megapixel]

Looking at my maps, it appears there are a great network of side trails throughout the Whites. We have a week we are hiking and are wondering if any of them are highly recommended to check out. Thanks in advance.

[hikerboy57]

The North side of Mt Madison has some outstanding trails.From Appalachia, there are some great trails that will lead you to Kings Rafvine, a spectacular network of huge house size boulders you weave your way up through. Try the Amphibranch to the Great Gully trail thru Kings ravine up to MadisonYou can stay at the newly rebuilt Madison Hut. Go to www.outdoors.org (http://www.outdoors.org) to make Hut reservations thru AMC. Another suggestion would be off Franconia ridge to the bonds. Just about anywhere in the Whites is next best thing to heaven.(and Im still alive!)

[Megapixel]

thanks hikerboy57!

[weary]

Looking at my maps, it appears there are a great network of side trails throughout the Whites. We have a week we are hiking and are wondering if any of them are highly recommended to check out. Thanks in advance.
It would take a large book to describe all the great trails in the Whites. In fact there is such a book. It's the AMC's White Mountain Guide. 618 pages.

If I were spending a week in the area, I would invest in an updated copy. But all the side trails to the high peaks region surrounding Mt. Washington are worth exploring. The AT bypasses some of these peaks.

For a less crowded area, think about exploring the Caribou Speckled Wilderness on the Maine-New Hampshire border.

[hikerboy57]

thanks hikerboy57!
Good luck on your thru, but take your time with the Whites and ME. 10-12 miles/day is a good pace, and you'll be in some of the best scenerey on the whole AT.

[Slo-go'en]

Most of the side trails around here are simply ways to get to the various peaks, often by multipule routes to get to more or less the same place. Then there are trails which link up other trails in order to make a wide selection of possible loop hikes. It is possible to get hopelessly lost without a map and/or not paying attention to trail junctions in the Whites.

If your doing a thru, there will be no real reason to get off the main AT corridor, unless you need to get off the ridge line for some reason.

BTW its a beautiful day here in the Whites this morning, clear blue skys and cool temps - was in the 30's the last two nights and saw some freash snow up near the summit when the clouds cleared off yesterday afternoon. I should think about going for a walk in the woods a little later today!

[Cookerhiker]

The Bonds are nice mountains accessible via a side trail. They're in the part between Franconia and Crawford Notches. If you're hiking north on the AT, the Bondcliff Trail goes right off the AT from atop Mt. Guyot, less than 2 miles after Galehead Hut.

[Mags]

The Bonds are nice mountains accessible via a side trail. They're in the part between Franconia and Crawford Notches. If you're hiking north on the AT, the Bondcliff Trail goes right off the AT from atop Mt. Guyot, less than 2 miles after Galehead Hut.

...another possibility is the the Pemi loop. (http://www.davidalbeck.com/hiking/pemiloop.html)

I did this loop YEARS ago before I even knew it had a semi-official name (and attempted it a couple years back; (http://www.pmags.com/new-england-rambles) weather did not cooperate) and it is perhaps the best loop in the Whites. At about 35 miles , it is perfect for a moderate 3 or an easy(ier?) 4 day loop.

I'd love to attempt it again in the Fall like I did a little ways back.

http://www.pmags.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=18428&g2_serialNumber=1&g2_GALLERYSID=9b7269e0127675108ae6001d1d0952b4

Franconia Ridge and the Bond Cliffs and end it near water falls? AWESOME!

[Tinker]

I really enjoyed hiking the Bondcliff Trail and the Dry River Trail (which is wooded but not used by the number of people often found on other trails in the White Mountains). The Dry River Trail terminates near the Lakes of the Cloud Hut on the western flank of Mt. Washington.

[peakbagger]

Too many to list. pick up any number of hiking guide published for the area, Dan Doane's 50 hike series are dated and can usually be bought cheap at used book sites and covers most of the great ones. The area is very busy and most campsites up high are very crowded. Many folks do long day hikes to avoid having to carry gear.

There are several mtns not on the AT worth visiting. The Bonds for sure (you can do an overnight and stay at Guyot campsite which is crowded). Mt Carrigan, Whiteface, Tuckerman Ravine Area, Huntington Ravine Area (both on East side of Washington). Mt Chocurua is not a tall mtn but has some great views. If you want to get a view of the really remote north country, Mt Cabot in the Killenny area from the east via Bunnell Notch Trail, Kilkenny ridge trail and down via the Unkown Pond trail. Its not big on long views excepts for the Cabot fire tower site and the Horn, but it goes through a lot of dfifferent habitat types and has less crowds than the rest of the WMNF. It is very representative of far northern NH and on a clear day, you can see Canada and a lot of the Mtns of the AT in Me.

AMC has just published a newmap covering the entire White Mountain National Forest and shows all the trails and distances. Its adequate for most folks for a one week trip as the trails are well signed (although confusing to some). It is printed on plastic

[sixhusbands]

There are a lot of great side trips from the AT in the Whites. Boncliff and the Pemi loop are on the top of my list. The BaldFace Circle loop which is on the "Maine" side of the Carter range is a really nice loop too. Also you can reach Cannon Mountain from the Kinsman range.