Cannon Mountain

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 .

Routes

Kinsman Ridge Trail

71 summits • 5.0 mi • 2,489 ft gain • 4 hr 9 min

Hi-Cannon Trail, Kinsman Trail

25 summits • 5.8 mi • 2,415 ft gain • 4 hr 54 min

Cannon Mountain 15.0 mi route

1 summit • 15.0 mi • 5,544 ft gain • 8 hr 7 min

Cannon Mountain 3.9 mi route

1 summit • 3.9 mi • 2,072 ft gain • 3 hr 50 min

Cannon Mountain 4.3 mi route

1 summit • 4.3 mi • 2,096 ft gain • 4 hr 14 min

Cannon Mountain 6.9 mi route

1 summit • 6.9 mi • 2,268 ft gain • 7 hr 16 min

Cannon Mountain 7.8 mi route

1 summit • 7.8 mi • 2,579 ft gain • 5 hr 53 min

Latest summits

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"Beautiful day for a hike but very slippery over the rock scrambles (most of the trail) with the hard recent rain. A lot of mud spots and standing water that was tough to get around in places. Foliage had mostly passed but still some great views. Busy at the top with the tram carting people to the tower. " — AndreaM • Oct 15, 2022

"A solo hike on a beautiful warm day. Bugs were around but not too annoying. Scree part of trail for about.5 mile. Then rock slabs and stone steps UP! Looked out on Echo Lake and Franconia Ridge from yesterday. It leveled out a bit at the top. More rock scrambles up to Tram and Observation Tower. Met a ton of people on the way down! " — lfrancois • Jun 25, 2022

"After 3 weeks of not hiking and some recent rain, Molly and I decided to hike something on the shorter side with no river crossings. She needed Cannon for her Grid. It was windy in the Tramway parking lot. We made our way up the steep KRT. In the open stretch just below the summit, it was somewhat windy and the trail had been obscured. A couple of ladies joined us as we located the trail and made our way to the summit. Nothing to see today except clouds. We came down and briefly lost the trail on the way out. We made it back to the car. " — newenglandwarrior • Feb 19, 2022

"Hiked Cannon Mountain via Lonesome Lake to Hi-Cannon and the ladder to Kinsman Ridge. Back down Kinsman Ridge to Lonesome Lake Trail around the lake and back out. Lafayette Camp Trailhead parking was full and had to park down the road at The Basin which added and extra 3 miles round trip to the hike. There was a threat of a thunderstorm while we were at the summit but it is missed us. It was my friend Rose's first 4000 footer." — dmcosker • Jun 5, 2021

"Nice day, light winds, filtered sun. Went up Kinsmen Mt Trail, descended to 2nd car at Lafayette Place. The snow formations at the summit and down towards the Cannon Balls is stunning. Trees covered with rime ice, gorgeous. Going down the backside of Cannon which is extremely steep, had to do a few of those long downs on your butt. Plenty of snow though. Lonesome Lake was frozen over and a lot of people were crossing it." — Alohabuffy • Feb 13, 2021

"After Molly's inactivity, we went after something short distance. We went up from the Tramway, tagged the summit, and came back down. We teamed up with Denise for this one. 4 miles." — newenglandwarrior • Dec 26, 2020

"Beautiful morning, got an early start. Wet trail, a lot of slippery rocks up and down. Firt stop Cannon Cliffs outlook. Sunny, jus perfect. On the summit at the top of the platform, could see the clouds coming from the west. As we left the summit, the wind turned cold. By the time we got back to Cannon Cliffs, the sun was gone and it was getting quite cold quickly. We headed down and must have passed about 100 hikers heading up. Saw a ot of sneakers." — Alohabuffy • Oct 4, 2020

"A great day for this hike - warm and sunny...until the last few miles where it poured for 20 minutes! This felt great, for the first 5 minutes and then the trail became a stream and well, ya know :) Thanksfully we were done with the major drop by then. Started at Lafayette Campground to the Ridge Trail, over the Cannon Balls to the Kinsmen and down the Reel Brook Trail. Somewhere around 14 miles and 5000 ft of gain. Fun day." — deb-and-rob • Aug 15, 2020

"Cold and windy day on Cannon Mountain. Sunny and clear. Stopped in at the summit lodge for a beer at the bar. Hiked up via Lonesome Lake Trail to Kinsman Ridge to the summit. Only needed micro-spikes. The Kinsman Ridge section of the trail was very steep for about 0.2 miles that required scrambling. Went back the same way with a quick stop at the Lonesome Lake Hut. Was treated to a spectacular moon rise over Franconia Ridge when I got back to the parking lot. " — dmcosker • Mar 7, 2020

"Great quick hike in beautiful weather. Started at noon, with bright blue skies, around 25 degs. Views from the cliffs were fantastic. Opening day on Cannon so we saw a bunch of skiers. Light winds, so the sun at the summit was great. Several inches of snow cover, so spikes all the way." — Alohabuffy • Nov 23, 2019