Mount Garfield via Garfield Trail
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Mount Garfield Hike Details
Trail: Garfield Trail
Miles: 10
Hours: 4:15 hiking; 5 total
Level: Easy/Moderate
Mount Garfield Hike Overview
Mount Garfield (4,500’) is one of the easiest 4,000-footers and a great beginner 4,000-footer if you are looking for a longer hike. It is 10 miles out and back, so it can be strenuous on the legs, but with the gradual elevation gain, it’s not too difficult.
NOTE: Garfield Trail is easy, in my opinion. Obviously, the mileage makes it a bit more strenuous if you aren’t used to longer trails, but the trail gains 2,900 feet of elevation over 5 miles gradually, so it isn’t too bad! The last 0.2 miles though… WOOF. It is a killer. Definitely the most difficult part of the hike to Mount Garfield.
Mount Garfield Hike via Garfield Trail
September 23, 2018
**Always remember to leave no trace. It is crucial to pack out what you pack in and throw away your trash properly.
Alex and I began the hike to Mount Garfield on a crisp Sunday morning around 8:30 AM. It was 37°, but we had clear skies, so the cold wasn’t going to hold us back! Garfield trailhead is off of Gale River Loop Road and easy to find. Mount Galehead’s trail is also off this road as well, so make sure you park at the correct trailhead! There were only a few cars in the parking lot when we began our ascent, so we were excited to have the summit be peaceful and quiet!
Unfortunately, Garfield Trail is one of those trails that has nothing exciting or worth noting on it, so the hike to Mount Garfield feels long. We didn’t start to feel it, though, until the descent. The ascent began with roots in the trail and shifted to rocks after a bit. We crossed a river twice which was very easy because the river was small and had plenty of rocks to rock hop our way across. Garfield Trail was also well-marked, so we knew where we going at all times. We knew we only had to follow the blue rectangle!
As we reached mile 3 or so, we began to gain more elevation. Garfield Trail had some switchbacks as we got closer to Mount Garfield’s summit, so the elevation gain was never too much. Around 4.8 miles, we came across a sign pointing left to the Galehead Hut and right to Mount Lafayette. If I hadn’t looked at the trail map beforehand, I wouldn’t have known to go right because there is no signage that says “GO RIGHT TO GET TO Mount GARFIELD”. Welp, now you know to go right, so you will be all set once you see that sign!
Alright, ladies and gents. It wouldn’t be a 4,000-footer if there wasn’t a difficult section! Once we turned right at the sign, the real ascent began. The last 0.2 miles of Garfield Trail were STEEP, so we put our stair-stepping pants on, and hiked on up! Knowing we only had 0.2 miles until we reached Mount Garfield’s summit helped get us through it, but boy oh boy, it was a butt burner. But hey, we couldn’t complain because the first 4.8 miles were easy and warmed us up for this portion.
After the last, short push to the summit, we were rewarded with beautiful 360° views! We reached Mount Garfield’s summit around 11:45 AM, and the sky was cloudless. Mount Garfield is at the top of the White Mountains, so we had beautiful views of everything. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a summit sign, but we knew we reached the summit when we saw the base of an old fire tower, which came in handy when we wanted to escape the winds! From Mount Garfield’s summit, we could have continued 3.5 miles to Mount Lafayette if we wanted to peak bag. We could have also hiked to Galehead Mountain. from the sign 0.2 miles back if we continued left.
As I have said in previous posts, I love meeting other hikers! We met a guy who is from the same town as Alex and I and lives on the street over from me! Talk about a small world!! There was also a woman who paints the view from every summit she hikes in watercolors. Her paintings were absolutely beautiful!
After chatting it up with other hikers and eating lunch, we decided to head back down Garfield Trail around 12:45 PM. Remember the steep 0.2 miles to the top? Yeah, well, we now had to descend that. We had to get ready to use all of our limbs to get down these boulders. After that, we were golden! Kind of. We still had to hike down 4.8 miles. It didn’t seem too bad at first, however, as I said before, this was where Garfield Trail began to feel as if it would never end. Because Garfield Trail was uneventful, the miles seemed to drag. As we approached mile 10, we started to run. The trail was made up of roots here, so we were careful, but we just wanted to be back in the car.
People must have thought we were trail runners because everyone we passed seemed surprised and impressed are we ran by lol! After running on and off for the last mile of Garfield Trail, we finally made it to the parking lot around 1:30 PM. We read that the hike to Mount Garfield takes on average between 6-8 hours, so we were excited to complete it in 5 hours! We felt accomplished and were not too sore.
Overall, the hike to Mount Garfield was great! I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to do a 4,000-footer because it is one of the easier ones. And the views from Mount Garfield’s summit are fantastic! Definitely worth the 5 miles to the summit.
Have you hiked Mount Garfield? How did you feel about the long mileage to get to this summit?
Hey, I’m Nichole!
I am the creator behind Nichole the Nomad, the home of my explorations around the world, mountain hikes, and beautiful pictures taken along the way. I have a deep passion for capturing the world in a beautiful light and sharing my experiences.
I created this blog to share my travels, show how beautiful the world is, provide tips and tricks for traveling, and encourage you to explore. Whether you want to travel across the world or explore what’s in your backyard, I hope this blog inspires you to get outside and find your adventure!