Region
Highlights
- Mount Cardigan is a prominent bare-rock summit in western New Hampshire.
- Extensive areas of bare granite ledges and alpine scrub giving it the feel of a much higher mountain.
- Most of the summit area was denuded by devastating forest fires in 1855.
- The Civilian Conservation Corps helped to develop the alpine ski trail network still in use today on the east side of the mountain.
- The mountain is set in the 5,000-acre Cardigan Mountain State Forest.
- The Cardigan Lodge, operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club since 1934, is located to the east at the foot of the mountain, and is often used as a base for day hikes in and around the mountain.
Routes
50 climbs • 3.5 mi • 1,205 ft gain • 2 hr 36 min
8 climbs • 4.7 mi • 1,631 ft gain • 3 hr 3 min
2 climbs • 6.0 mi • 1,809 ft gain • 4 hr 37 min
2 climbs • 5.0 mi • 1,680 ft gain • 3 hr 56 min
Latest climbs
"Went up Manning trail and 900 ft elevation climb in, I lost the trail. It was quite a scary adventure getting back on track! Got to firescrew and easy shot to Mount Cardigan from there. Beautiful view from the top. Went done Clark trail to Holt. Was not steep at all and was able to jog most of the way down which was nice." — HikingMomMC • Oct 19, 2023
"Great hike. Much better than the West side, mainly because of the views between Cardigan and Firescrew. But also a more varied trail. Review incoming at www.trailspotting.com." — trailspotting • May 12, 2023
"This was a treat. My 300th peak. Much appreciated to Scott and this site for helping and the other members for trip reports . Solid storm front came thru while I was on top so I didn't get all 4. What a great time " — puddlepirate • Sep 28, 2022
"Hiked the Mount Cardigan Loop Trail via the Mount Cardigan State Park parking lot. Beautiful. Got caught briefly in a short but windy and wet storm which added extra adventure points." — FL2NH • Sep 6, 2021
"Day started out very foggy. Hikes up west Ridge trail to intersection with South Ridge trail and then hiked up the latter. It was very empty, misty and wet. The steep section near the cliffs before the Skyland Trail intersection was particularly slippery with wet leaves so take care. No views in the fog from Rimrock but by the time I had gotten to South Peak, there were views starting to open up through the mist and occasional views of Cardigan. After staying about 1/2 hour on Cardigan, the sun started peeping through the vies were considerably better, including nice views of Firescrew. There were lots of people at the summit and on the way down, there seemed to be almost an endless stream of hikers heading up the West Ridge Trail. In retrospect, I should have returned the way I cam, up the South Ridge Trail. " — rjnick • Oct 3, 2020
"Nice hike with Kurt and Bob starting at the AMC lodge in Alexandria. Went Manning a Trail up over Firescrew, to Cardigan and both were socked in with fog and low visibility. Went down the other side of the mountain via West Ridge Trail over to Skyland Trail and Skyland Trail over Rimrock and then Mount Gilman/Orange. Then went down via Vistamont Trail over to Grand Junction and then down to the lodge via the Holt Trail. Started around 8 AM and finished around 12:20. Just under 8 miles and just over 2,600 vertical." — mattgardner • Oct 3, 2020
"Mount Cardigan will hold a special place in my heart. It was one of my first true climbs in New England and I absolutely fell in love. The greenery changes very quick to pines on the steep granite slabs towards to summits. The views are incredible. The fall foliage was just fantastic! Fog rolled over in the morning but disappeared and allowed the colors around to be seen. " — laurenwehner • Oct 3, 2020
"Pretty bright sunny day with temps in the 70s. Good weather for a climb with about a mile of above treeline exposure. Good views north in the Whites. Lots of people on Cardigan summit." — Alohabuffy • Aug 7, 2020
"Hot and humid day. 7-10 cars in the lot when we arrived at 7:45 a.m. Many, Many people on the trail and summit. Few wore masks and no-one was socially distancing on the summit. Started back down with the sound of thunder and rain could be sen in the distance. Back in the lot, it was full with cars parked down the access road for quite a distance." — rjnick • Jun 20, 2020
"Cool and windy day on Mount Cardigan. Hiked up via West Ridge Trail to Skyland Trail to Rim Rock. Then over to South Peak and Mount Cardigan. Continued on over to Firescrew Mountain. Had lunch on Firescrew where there were no people. Mount Cardigan summit was fairly crowded. From there hiked back out via West Ridge Trail back to the parking lot. No bugs for a cool spring day." — dmcosker • May 31, 2020
Photos
Awards
Challenges
About peakery awards
Log climbs on peakery to earn awards:
Peak Badges: Earn a special badge for each unique peak you summit. See all of your badges on your Badges page.
First Ascent Award: Only 1 available per peak. Goes to the first peakery member to log a successful summit of a peak. Snag this award and the peak will forever bear your name.
King of the Mountain Award: Only 1 available per peak. Summit a peak more times than any other member. Beware: this award can be lost!
Summit Steward: Summit a peak at least 5 times to become one of its Summit Stewards. As Steward of a peak, you’re encouraged to keep that peak’s info up-to-date on peakery and spread goodwill on your future climbs up the peak.