Elevation

4,080 ft / 1,244 m

#72 in New Hampshire

#39,200 in United States

Prominence

720 ft / 219 m

#86 in New Hampshire

#3,966 in United States

Summits

422 summits

Top climbing months

July   16%

June   12%

August   12%

Most climbed route

Kinsman Ridge Trail

5.0 mi • 2,489 ft gain

Highlights

  • Cannon Mountain is a 4000-footer in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
  • Located within Franconia Notch State Park.
  • Known for both its technical rock and ice climbing (particularly on Cannon Cliff, pictured) and its skiing (the state-owned Cannon Mountain Ski Area), the mountain was home to the Old Man of the Mountain until the formation collapsed on May 3, 2003.
  • It is the parent mountain of three mountains collectively known as "The Cannon Balls."
  • The mountain is a type of geological formation known as an exfoliating granite dome which is layered like an onion.
  • The Kinsman Ridge Trail can be taken un-interrupted from the trailhead to the summit.
  • Two other features of the mountain which attract hikers are the Appalachian Trail and the Appalachian Mountain Club-maintained Lonesome Lake Hut.
  • Cannon Cliff is the largest vertical rock face in the Northeast at roughly 1,000 vertical feet and more than a mile long.
  • As written in a description of climbing possibilities on Cannon, "Some of the aid lines are long and difficult enough to require a bivy, making Cannon the only Big Wall in the northeast."
  • Cannon is popular both in the summer months with free- and aid-climbers alike, and in the winter it attracts both ice climbers and mixed climbers .
71 summits • 5.0 mi • 2,489 ft gain • 4 hr 9 min
25 summits • 5.8 mi • 2,415 ft gain • 4 hr 54 min
2 summits • 6.1 mi • 2,246 ft gain • 6 hr 50 min
1 summit • 15.0 mi • 5,544 ft gain • 8 hr 7 min
1 summit • 3.9 mi • 2,072 ft gain • 3 hr 50 min
1 summit • 6.9 mi • 2,268 ft gain • 7 hr 16 min
1 summit • 7.8 mi • 2,579 ft gain • 5 hr 53 min
1 summit • 7.9 mi • 2,355 ft gain • 7 hr 24 min

Awards

Challenges