Hiking Pine Mountain NH via Pine Mountain Trail

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Pine Mountain NH Details

Trail: Pine Mountain Road > Pine Mountain Trail > Pine Mountain Loop Trail

Miles: 3.5 miles

Hours: 1.25 hours hiking; 1.75 hours total

Pine Mountain NH Overview

Pine Mountain (2,405’) is a small but beautiful mountain in New Hampshire, providing stunning views of the Presidentials and Pinkham Notch. The easiest and shortest way to hike to Pine Mountain is taking Pine Mountain Road to Pine Mountain Trail. I recommend hiking the loop counterclockwise, so you ascend the steep sections first. If you want to skip the steep trail, you can continue further up Pine Mountain Road and take the Pine Mountain Loop Trail to Pine Mountain.

Note: Although this is a shorter trail, it gains about 850 feet of elevation in the last half of the trail. Pine Mountain Trail is steep and requires hiking on rock slabs. Also, the trail follows along Pine Mountain Road for the first half of the hike, which leads to the Horton Center. The Horton Center hosts retreats during the summer, and cars drive on the road. It is also prohibited to visit the Horton Center and Chapel Rock while it is open since it is only for guests.

Pine Mountain NH via Pine Mountain Trail Guide

July 10, 2022

**Always remember to leave no trace. It is crucial to pack out what you pack in and throw away your trash properly.

Pine Mountain in New Hampshire has been on my bucket list for a few years because the views are stunning, and it is on the 52 With a View List. Alex, Meadow, and I arrived at the trailhead around 9:30 AM and got the last spot in the parking lot. The parking lot is tiny, so we were happy to have found a parking spot. Also, the trailhead is off a dirt road near Dolly Cop Campground that is closed in the winters. The GPS was confused once we were about a mile into the drive, but as long as you continue straight, you will eventually come to the parking lot on the left.

Once we got to the parking lot, we crossed the road and began the hike up Pine Mountain Road. There are other trails on the same side of the road as the parking lot, but those go to Madison Spring Hut. The first half of the hike on Pine Mountain Road was a breeze. Many people complain about road walks, but we didn’t mind this one because it was a great warm-up for what was to come. The Horton Center was open, so many cars drove up and down the road. It didn’t cause any problems because the road was large enough for us to continue hiking as they drove past us.

After 0.9 miles, we arrived at the Pine Mountain Trail junction on our right. If we wanted to skip the steep section of the trail, we could have continued up Pine Mountain Road for another 0.7 miles to Pine Mountain Loop Trail. We continued right onto the Pine Mountain Trail and immediately began ascending steeply. It was only about a half-mile to Pine Mountain from the junction, but the trail was very steep. Pine Mountain Trail switched from steep rock-like stairs to rock slabs before finally reaching the ledges near Pine Mountain. Some of the trail offered beautiful views overlooking the nearby mountains, which helped mentally with the steepness!

I was in love with the views from the ledges near Pine Mountain because we had panoramic views of the Presidentials and Pinkham Notch! For such a short trail, I was shocked by the views and the lack of people. There were people on the ledges from the Horton Center, but other than that, we only saw four people! We hung out on the ledges for a bit, enjoying the views, before beginning the ascent to the summit of Pine Mountain.

The summit of Pine Mountain didn’t have any views, but we didn’t mind since we had incredible views from the ledges. As we continued hiking on Pine Mountain Trail, we were treated to many short detours to small overlooks. I highly recommend going to every overlook because they are stunning! Soon enough, we came to the Pine Mountain Loop junction. Pine Mountain Trail continues to downtown Gorham and is a great way to reach Pine Mountain in the winter. We turned left onto Pine Mountain Loop Trail for about 0.2 miles before reaching Pine Mountain Road again. The final descent on Pine Mountain Road was easy, and we decided to run most of it for fun!

Pine Mountain is a stunning hike and an underrated mountain on the 52 With a View list! If you hike Pine Mountain in New Hampshire, you will not be disappointed! Have you hiked Pine Mountain in New Hampshire?