This fall season I had very limited time to spend in the White Mountains to see the foliage so I had to make it count! I planned to drive a big loop through all the notches. A lot of the places along this drive were short little roadside stops that required very little time, but I also wanted to find some hiking in Franconia Notch. I wanted something that wasn’t the overcrowded and overdone Artists Bluff but that was short enough there would be time for all the other places on the agenda. After some searching I landed on Mount Pemigewasset.
How to Get to Mount Pemigewasset
The trailhead for Mount Pemigewasset shares a parking lot with the flume gorge. If you drive up and around the circle you’ll see a row of spots lined up in front of a bike path. Walk up the path a short distance and you’ll see a sign for the trail on your left hand side. From there it’s a 1.5 mile hike to the top!
The Hike
The hike is rated moderate, but for the White Mountains I would consider it on the easier side of that rating. The elevation gain (a little over 1,200 ft) was very gradual compared to many other hikes in the area, and the trail was extremely well marked. Although there aren’t any views until the summit, the trail itself was stunning. The path was surrounded by fields of green ferns and the oranges and yellows of falling leaves. The trail was incredibly well maintained and we passed through only one slightly muddy patch. This was after the holiday weekend so although the crowds that had been hiking in Franconia Notch the previous week had thinned out a bit, we still shared the summit with about 15 or so people. We spent about three hours total here, which included the time spent to take photos and relax at the summit.
Views From the Summit
Trail: Mount Pemigewasset
Length: 3.7 mile out and back
Elevation Gain: 1,253 ft
Difficulty: Moderate
Parking: Lot at trail head
Directions: Click here for Google Maps