Owl’s Head via Lincoln Woods Trail
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Owl’s Head Hike Overview
Owl’s Head (4,025’) is one of the least liked 4,000 footers in New Hampshire because of its remote location, river crossings, and lack of summit views. It is one of my least favorite hikes I have ever done if I am being honest! But overall, it is not a bad hike. It is long and feels never-ending, but the views along the slide are beautiful!
Trail Details
Trail: Lincoln Woods Trail > Lincoln Brook Trail > Owl’s Head Path > Lincoln Brook Trail > Black Pond Bushwhack
Length: 19 miles
Elevation Gain: 3,000 feet
My Trail Time: 7:30 hours hiking; 8 hours total
Hike Overview
Owl’s Head is a LONG hike, so be prepared for a long day of hiking, but most of the trail is relatively flat, except the slide. Owl’s Head slide is 1 mile and gains 1,500 feet of elevation and is full of loose rocks (fun!).
If you want to avoid the slide, you can hike the bushwhack next to it. We could not find it when we hiked Owl’s Head, so we climbed the slide.
Also, the trail to Owl’s Head begins and ends at the Lincoln Woods Trailhead, which fills up very quickly on weekends. We arrived at 7 AM, and the parking lot was already full, so we had to park on the street.
Owl’s Head Hike via Lincoln Woods Trail Guide
August 1, 2020
**Always remember to leave no trace. It is crucial to pack out what you pack in and throw away your trash properly.
I began hiking Owl’s Head on a beautiful August morning at 7:30 AM with Sam and Michael. They graciously allowed me to hike Owl’s Head with them because I was not going to be able to convince anyone to hike 19 miles to a summit with no view. The first 3 miles of the hike were on Lincoln Woods Trail, which I had wished I never had to see again after I completed the Zealand Bonds Traverse the weekend before. We were hiking pretty fast, so we hiked the first few miles in under an hour. We accidentally took the spur to Franconia Falls but realized it quickly and returned to Lincoln Woods Trail.
We arrived at the Lincoln Brook Trail and continued left to continue our long hike to Owl’s Head. Over the next 3 miles, we had at least six river crossings. Some were very easy, while others were a bit more challenging, and we were hiking when the water levels were low! We were thankful we didn’t hike this earlier in the season because the river crossings can be almost impossible to cross. We met two ladies who took the Black Pond Bushwhack and said it was essentially a trail and easy to follow. It skips all but two of the river crossings, so we decided we were going to hike it on the way down. Besides the river crossings, the trail was very uneventful. There were many blowdowns and mud, but that was it!
After about 3 hours of hiking, we finally made it to Owl’s Head Path where the slide began. The Owl’s Head slide was very sketchy. There were many loose rocks that made our ascent very difficult. Luckily, we had beautiful views of the Franconia Range behind us. We read that the slide can take up to 2 hours for hikers to complete, but we completed it in about a half-hour. It was very strenuous, but we kept pushing through.
After what felt like forever, we finally came to the top of the Owl’s Head slide and continued 0.3 miles to the official summit of Owl’s Head. The summit is wooded, so there were no views, but it made for a perfect place to relax, eat, and get ready for the long hike down. We met so many great hikers on the summit of Owl’s Head, one of which finished their 48 4,000 footer journey! I would not have chosen Owl’s Head as my last summit but to each their own!
After about a half-hour, we began to make the hike down. The descent on the Owl’s Head slide was pretty crazy. It was so steep and loose, so we took our time going down. I held onto anything and everything I could. We surprisingly hiked down the slide in about a half-hour! I thought it was going to take much longer, but we were with a good group of hikers who were helping each other. Once we were back on Lincoln Brook Trail, we started huffing it.
On the descent from Owl’s Head, the Black Pond Bushwhack was right before the third river crossing. The Black Pond Bushwhack showed up as a trail on my Gaia GPS map, which was great just in case we needed it. The ladies we met earlier in our hike were right. The Black Pond Bushwhack was very easy to follow and was essentially a trail. We were happy to be skipping a lot of the river crossings and cutting off 1 mile.
We finally arrived at the Lincoln Woods Trail junction and stretched quickly before making the final 2.5 miles back to our cars. After a long hike, Lincoln Woods seemed like a death march. We could see where we were going, and it felt never-ending. But soon enough, we arrived at the trailhead and jumped for joy! We finally completed the least looked forward to mountain on the 4,000 footer list!
When hiking Owl’s Head, you have to prepare yourself for a long hike and day. It is a very uneventful trail until the slide and can seem never-ending. I also would not recommend hiking this when it is raining or in the spring. The slide would be scary to climb wet, and the river crossings would be very difficult to cross in the spring. I suggest checking the water levels and reading trail conditions before planning to hike Owl’s Head.
Have you hiked Owl’s Head? Did you hike Lincoln Brook Trail or Black Pond Bushwhack?
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!