Most of the time I use an Olympus XZ-1
for its superior lens and sensor
(better image detail and lower-light capability),
sacrificing zoom (only 4x) and pixels (only 10 M).
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What is the purpose of this website?
The goal of this website is to help you find a mountain to hike in New Hampshire
(or nearby in Maine, Vermont or Massachusetts).
If you know the mountain's name, just look it up in the alphabetic
Index.
If you want to find a mountain near you, try
Hikes by Location.
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How can I get driving directions to my mountain?
Two ways:
1. On the mountain's webpage click on "directions to...".
Here you will find the route, distance and time to drive
to this mountain from Nashua, NH (Route 3 at the MA/NH border).
Then adjust the start to begin at your house.
2. If your mountain is on a popular list, click on that List and then click on "Google Map".
On the left-side list, click on your mountain's name.
Then on the right-side map, click on "Get directions" and enter your home address.
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How can I tell if the access road is closed?
Go to Trail Info Sources
and click on one of the hotlinks under
"Access Road Closures".
The folks who maintain wilderness roads
post status on these websites specifically for us recreational users.
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How can I get detailed hiking trail information?
On the mountain's webpage click on "directions to..."
and check out the recommended Trail Guide.
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Where do I park at the trailhead?
On the mountain's webpage click on "directions to..."
to find the recommended Parking location.
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Can I hike this mountain in winter?
Most NH mountains can be hiked in any season.
The hike may be longer if the access road is closed in winter:
On the mountain's webpage click on "directions to..."
and look under "Winter Accessibility".
The hike may be dangerous in bad weather:
Pick a good-weather day and be sure you are adequately prepared.
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Can I hike this mountain in spring?
On the mountain's webpage click on "directions to..."
and check the recommended Trail Guide about water crossings.
Some trail water crossings are impassable in high water.
In NH you can hike whenever you want (hey, this is the "Live Free or Die" state).
In VT many high-mountain trails are closed in "mud season".
In ME some trails are closed in Baxter State Park in spring.
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What are all these mountain lists for?
If you hike regularly, sooner or later you will seek new mountains to visit.
These lists are a great source for finding them:
Most hikers head first to NH's tallest mountains.
The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) created a list of
48 mountains in NH over 4000 feet tall: NH 4000-Footers.
If you want to venture into neighboring Maine and Vermont, there are
19 more of these tall mountains: New England 4000-Footers.
Bit by the bug, you may want to bag
33 more mountains to complete the
New England 100 Highest.
Or, you may want to explore smaller NH mountains with great views. Here is a list of
52 beautiful (and easier) hikes: NH 52 With-A-View.
If you become hard core, there are
41 more mountains on the
NH 100 Highest list.
...and if you should run out of new mountains to explore,
there are even more suggestions here:
Hike Lists.
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How can I find easier mountains to hike?
Two ways:
Go to the Hikes by Location
page and click on a location to find hikes in that area.
Easy hikes are green, moderate hikes are blue and hard hikes are red.
If you then click on a specific hike, you can see photos and get more info.
Or you can try the 52 With-A-View
list of mountains,
specifically designed for easier (and beautiful) hikes.
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I just want to go for a nature walk!
If you are not into hiking uphill and you live near southern NH,
here is a list of easy Nature Walks.
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Why the photo galleries?
You get to see many kinds of natural beauty while hiking NH's mountains.
The Photo Galleries (waterfalls, animals, mushrooms, etc.)
let you easily find just these photos from various hikes.
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What's with the flowers?
While hiking, the most bountiful small-sized beauty is flowers.
Flowers are divided into four separate photo galleries:
Wildflower,
Garden Flower,
Shrub and
Tree.
There is also a Flower Index --
if you know the flower's name and there is a photo of it, you will find it here.
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How many different flower species are identified on your website?
Flowers are separated into these four photo galleries:
# Photo Gallery
268 Wildflower
273 Garden Flower
92 Shrub
32 Tree
665 TOTAL Species
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What is "Google Maps"?
"Google Maps" is a feature of the Google website that allows the creation of a
customized map with pins at important locations.
This feature is used to pinpoint mountain locations for many lists on this website.
For a step-by-step visual introduction, see Google Maps.
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What can Google Maps do for me?
Google Maps on this website
allows you to find the exact location of a specific mountain.
The map is dynamic -- you can zoom out to see the big picture or zoom in to see detail.
You can select "Map" for road directions or "Terrain" for foot travel.
For a step-by-step visual introduction, see Google Maps.
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How do I use Google Maps?
When you click on Google Maps on this website you will see an
alphabetic list of mountain names on the left and a map with location pins on the right.
When you click on a mountain name, its location pin is highlighted.
- View "Map" or "Terrain" as you wish.
- Zoom in or out as you wish.
Within the highlighted location pin box is a photo and text.
- Click on the photo to go to the mountain's webpage.
- Click on "Get Directions" for driving directions.
For a step-by-step visual introduction, see Google Maps.
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How accurate are the location pins on Google Maps?
VERY accurate!
If you click on a mountain and Zoom here in Terrain mode
you will see the location pin is on the true summit.
If you click on a nature walk and Zoom here in Satellite mode
you will see the location pin is on the parking lot,
or, if an ocean beach, on the sand.
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What is the driving time to each mountain?
For each mountain hike the driving time (listed under "directions to...")
assumes driving at the speed limit under good driving conditions (weather and traffic).
The time is measured from Nashua, NH.
If you plan to carpool, here are approximate driving times (from Route 3, Exit 1)
to popular Park-and-Ride stops (hours:minutes):
0:30 -- Route 93, Exit 11 (Hooksett)
0:40 -- Route 93, Exit 14 (Concord)
1:10 -- Route 93, Exit 23 (New Hampton)
1:20 -- Route 93, Exit 24 (Ashland)
1:40 -- Route 93, Exit 32 (Lincoln)
2:10 -- Twin Mountain
2:50 -- Gorham
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What is the hiking time for each mountain?
For each mountain the hiking time (listed under "directions to...")
is an estimate of how long an average hiker will take to complete the hike.
Add extra time to this estimate if you want to linger on top,
if you hike slowly, or if trail conditions are poor.
The "round trip" time is a rough estimate, useful for initial hike planning
(e.g., for when to get up in the morning).
The "one way, up to the summit" is more exact,
useful for getting to the top at a specific time (e.g., for sunset).
For further information (e.g., hiking time for a varied route),
see the recommended Trail Guide.
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How can I find mountain hikes close to where I will be staying?
Go to the Hikes by Location cross-reference list.
Here you will find all the mountains on this website organized by location.
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How can I find hikes suitable for kids?
Go to the Hikes for Kids cross-reference list.
Here you will find those NH mountains that seem kid-friendly to me,
including a difficulty rating (trail length and elevation gain).
You can also go to the Hikes by Location
cross-reference list
and check out the easiest
(text color green) mountains.
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What camera do you use?
Pocket-size digital cameras are now available that produce photos
of surprisingly high quality, so I have pretty much switched over
to this small-size, convenient-to-carry-everywhere technology.
Most of the time I use an Olympus XZ-1
for its superior lens and sensor
(better image detail and lower-light capability),
sacrificing zoom (only 4x) and pixels (only 10 M).
When hiking in truly bad weather I occasionally use an Olympus
Stylus Tough 8010 which is waterproof, freezeproof and crushproof,
sacrificing functionality and image quality.
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Can I get a copy of one of your photos?
The photos on this website have been reduced in size and quality
for quick on-screen viewing. If you want
a high-quality image,
please request the original photo (for free, about 3 Mbytes)
via the Comment form.
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Why are there more NH 4000-foot mountains on the Trailwrights list than on the AMC list?
Everything in civilized life is political,
even the determination of what constitutes a mountain!
To make it onto the AMC NH 4000-Footers list
there must be at least a 200-foot drop between the mountain
and all other 4000-footers (otherwise, it's just a shoulder of
another mountain).
This leads to the definition of 48 4000-footers in NH.
For the NH Trailwrights 72 list
the drop requirement is 100 feet.
This leads to 72 4000-footers
(the same 48 as AMC, plus 24 new ones).
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What is the "52 With-A-View" list?
NH 52 With-A-View is a list
of NH mountains under 4000 feet that have both a good view and a trail,
as compiled by the "Over the Hill Hikers" of Sandwich, NH.
There are 48 NH mountains on the AMC NH 4000-Footers list.
The NH 52 With-A-View list adds just enough more mountains
to make a nice round "100."
(This list is different from the NH 100 Highest
list which just measures height
and therefore includes mountains
without a view, without a trail, or both.)
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What is a "bushwhack"?
A "bushwhack" is a hike where
you have to find your way at least part of the time
through woods without a trail.
Since someone else has not cleared a path for you,
the bushes may "whack" you as you make your way through them,
hence the cute name.
You need to be competent navigating with map and compass and
preferably be with a group before attempting a bushwhack.
To visit all the mountains on the NH 100 Highest
list, you will need to learn the skill of bushwhacking.
For more information about bushwhacking, see the magazine article: Those Crazy Bushwhackers.
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Why is there a "photo to the right" hyperlink?
Depending on how you traversed the Web to get to a mountain's webpage, the
right-side photos may be absent. Clicking on this link guarantees they show.
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How can I locate specific information on your website?
Type in a word(s) in the "Find" box on the bottom of
the Home page.
The resulting list will give links to every page on this website
which includes that word(s).
For instance, if you type in "jay" you will find every webpage
that talks about the Gray Jay, Jay Peak (in Vermont), or a hiker named Jay.
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How many mountains are on your website?
The lists of mountains on this website have some overlap.
For instance, Mt. Shaw
is on three lists: NH 52 With-A-View,
NH 200 Highest and Ossipee Range.
So, to find out how many different mountains are here (with photos!),
they can be added up by the number of unique mountains per list like this:
# Mountain List
48 NH 4000-Footers
55 NH 52 With-A-View (including 3 doubles)
39 NH Little Mountains (including 5 doubles)
24 NH Trailwrights 72
9 New England 100 Highest (in NH)
35 NH 100 Highest
57 NH 3000-Footers
20 NH 200 Highest
9 Belknap Range
7 Ossipee Range
159 Listless Peaks (in NH)
462 TOTAL in NH
19 New England 4000-Footers
22 New England 100 Highest (outside NH)
21 New England 50 Finest (outside NH)
52 Listless Peaks (outside NH)
114 TOTAL outside NH
576 TOTAL mountains on this website
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Why do you maintain this website?
I enjoy collecting, creating, photographing, writing,
hiking, and building something useful to others.
This website lets me do all of these (smile).
If you should see an error on this website or imagine a way
in which it could be improved, please send me a
Comment.
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