Pemi Mountain Meandering: The Most Beautiful Hike in New England: the Franconia Ridge Loop

the Franconia Ridge Trail to Mt. Lafayette

I am not the first person to consider the Franconia Ridge loop, the trail to Little Haystack, over Mt. Lincoln & Mt. Lafayette and back down, as the best hike in the White Mountains. Only the Presidential Traverse gets as much publicity as this route. Recently National Geographic deemed this hike one of the 10 best in the world, the lone US east coast trail on that list. So why all the praise?

Anyone who has hiked this route on a clear day can tell you, it is the views. The sight of the Kinsman Ridge & Cannon Cliff to the west, the Presidential Ridge and the Twins to the east, looking down into the Pemi Wilderness on one side and Franconia Notch on the other, the view of the trail itself from the high points, it is all gorgeous. I easily spend an extra hour taking photos on this route when the sky is clear. But the Franconia Ridge is not the only hike in the White Mountains with spectacular views. And the views from the top are not the only reason this is the most beautiful hike.

Swiftwater Falls

The sights going up and coming down are awesome too. If you hike this route the most popular way, up Falling Waters Trail and down the Old Bridle Path Trail, then you get to enjoy Swiftwater & Cloudland Falls, and a quick diversion to Shining Rock before getting to tree line. On the way back from the Lafayette summit you have a nice look at Cannon Cliff and Echo Lake, then half way down the trail a perfect view back up at the Franconia Ridge itself. All this lovely scenery is packed into a 8.5 mile loop. Every half an hour of hiking leads to another scenic spot. It can be too much to take in on the first time around.

Shining Rock

But it is not just the scenic beauty. The hike is challenging without being over whelming. The ascent is stiff at 2500 feet of climbing, but it is never exposed and only lasts 2.5 miles. The traverse is narrow but not perilous. A couple of scrambles up to Mt. Lincoln and Lafayette add to the challenge, but they are not long or difficult. Alpine terrain is rare on the east coast, and 2 miles on the Franconia Ridge is a treat. The descent is demanding in sections but reasonable, especially when broken up with a rest stop at the Greenleaf Hut. Each time I've descended back to Franconia Notch I feel like I've accomplished something.

Hiking down to the Greenleaf Hut

And it's the accessibility of this hike. The trail head is an exit off I-93. It is 140 miles from Boston and 180 miles from Montreal, an easy drive from each. I have no wonder why the trail head parking is full by 8:00 a.m. every fair weather summer weekend (and most of the fall too). I've been distressed at how many cars are parked on the side of the highway the past 3 years. The State Park Service now has a shuttle from the parking lot at the Cannon Tramway. Hopefully the shuttle will become more utilized in the near future. When we arrived at 8:45 last weekend I got the very last spot on the grass along the campground access road. That accessibility has it's down side too. Weekends are crowded both at the trail head and on the ascent. I picked up more litter in the dip between Little Haystack and Mt. Lincoln last Saturday than I've ever seen on a high trail. For those that like solitude this route should be avoided until late in the fall. Hiking the Franconia Ridge in winter requires an entire other level of skill & equipment. Even folks with extensive hiking experience have been caught out on this ridge to their doom.

But mostly this hike is beautiful for it's amazing scenery. So I hope you enjoy viewing these pictures as much as I did taking them. Truly they only capture a glimpse of the beauty apparent in these mountains. Looking at them makes me eager to get up there again.