Region
Highlights
- One of only 7 peaks over 5,000 ft in New Hampshire.
- Dramatic alpine summit above treeline on Franconia Ridge between Little Haystack and Mt Lafayette
- From the summit peer east deep into the heart of the Pemigewasset Wilderness.
Routes
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5 summits • 20.0 mi • 6,229 ft gain • 10 hr 13 min
1 summit • 8.6 mi • 3,654 ft gain • 7 hr 1 min
1 summit • 9.3 mi • 3,637 ft gain • 6 hr 7 min
Latest summits
"Did Franconia Ridge Loop on Sunday, 11/17/19. It ended up being a really nice day. Pretty much sunshine all day. Was 11 deg at the base when we started, hit about 25 for a high on the ridgeline. There were pretty blustery conditions on the peaks only, in general it was fairly calm. Probably gusted to 20 mph. Several inches of snow, too soon for snowshoes. Used microspikes the whole way." — Alohabuffy • Nov 17, 2019
"Cool and bugless. A windy battle on top, but the cloud table was high enough to allow for great views. We ascended via Falling Waters Trail and Franconia Ridge, then headed for Lafayette and the Greenleaf Hut." — gooner • May 27, 2018
"Franconia ridge traverse....amazing day with clear skies...relatively warm! We realized during our hike to the last mountains that our car spot key was forgotten in the first car....so we had to backtrack to liberty again and head down liberty springs and road walk on the bike path for a few miles to get to our car...still an amazing day! Just a little longer than intended!" — shay-shay • Mar 25, 2018
"Coming up through Franconia notch, the morning sun looked so nice we ditched plans and swung into the lot. Up Falling Waters, big winds hit as soon as we summited Little Haystack. Fortunately the temps stayed in the 30s. Steady 25 mph winds along the ridge gusting to 40. We were the only 2 on Lafayette summit, crazy." — Alohabuffy • Jan 27, 2018
"Hiked up the Falling waters trail to the Fraconia ridge over Little Haystack, Lincoln and Lafayatte. Took thw Bridle trail down. Was a beautiful fall day, almost felt like summer." — blackwolf_03278 • Oct 22, 2017
"Camped @ Lafayette Place campground & did this loop hike the day after my Mom's death. I needed to sort through the emotions
of the past 48 hrs. & a long day on the trail seemed to be the answer. Winds gusting to 40 mph made the hike challenging." — billsussdorff • Sep 11, 2017
"Franconia Ridge hike with Meetup Group...
Trails: Old Bridle Path, Franconia Ridge Trail, Liberty Springs Trail
Parking: Cars at The Basin and cars at Old Bridle Path
Snow covered trails up to summits, a few icy patches, slushy patches and bare rock…throw in some mud in a few places and voila! SPRING!
Water crossings: Lots on Liberty Springs all open…we had to get our boots wet quite a bit
Dogs…just a few, all well behaved
Traction: Spikes up, and in between a few places and some bare booting. We carried our snowshoes all day.
Lost & Found: broken glasses on Liberty (PEOPLE, PICK UP YOUR CRAP!)" — shay-shay • Apr 15, 2017
"Bagged in between Little Haystack and Lafayette. An unbelievably gorgeous hike on the Franconia Ridge loop. Up the Falling Waters Trail and down the Old Bridle Path. The views along the entire ridge were simply spectacular." — HikeLikeMike • Jul 30, 2016
"A day that where the forecast called for sunny and warm temps turned out to be anything but. From Greenleaf Hut to Lafayette was foggy and then turned quite windy and cold on top of Lafayette. Wind subsided going down Truman and skies cleared for some nice views. Decided to head down from Little Haystack cutting short my original plan to hike over to Liberty and Flume and then back to Little Haystack.
http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/3143637" — markst-john • Dec 12, 2015
"Part of a Franconia Ridge Traverse with Denise Fredette and Nick Montecalvo. The second peak of the day. We went up Old Bridal Path and came down Osseo Tr with a car spot set up. Incredible day to be out. " — newenglandwarrior • Jul 17, 2015
"Partly Sunny, 70s. Windy at summit. Agony ridge proves its point. Hut was an oasis. Ridge trail absolutley awesome. Descending Falling waters very long, although beautiful. Lots of alpine wildflowers. Peak bagged Lafayette." — Alohabuffy • Jul 6, 2014
"We went up the Falling Waters trail to Little Haystack and on to Mt Lincoln and Mt Lafayette on the Franconia Ridge trail, from there, stayed on the AT to Garfield Ridge trail and camped at Garfield pond. The next morning we ascended Mt Garfield and came down Garfield trail minus one toenail and plus a few new blisters. Great hike otherwise. We had gorgeous weather and views on Sunday, but it rained overnight and was foggy, windy and had no good views on Monday. " — Hufflepuff • Aug 25, 2013
"Decided to add some mileage and some elevation gain in preparation for a hike we're doing in a couple of weeks. Started out quite foggy and windy with the Franconia Ridge 'socked in', but by the time we got to the Ridge the fog had lifted." — markst-john • Aug 10, 2013
"Beautiful hike up Falling Waters (tons of waterfalls), lunch at Little Haystack then continue to Lincoln and finish with Lafayette. Headed down to check out Greenleaf Hut (awesome toilets and running water to wash your hands with!) and then finished the hike. Fantastic sunny day!" — Jocelyn • May 5, 2013
"Hit the Franconia Ridge during the coldest weather to date since last winter. 38 degrees air temp, with winds blowing 40-55 mph and gusting higher, which brought temps down to 15-25 degree range. In the clouds as well with no view above 4500 feet. Trail conditions were good besides a downed tree coming up the Falling Waters trail. Awesome hike!" — chrisr00d • Sep 10, 2012
"Overnight hike from North Twin to South Twin to Galehead, Garfield, Lafayette, Lincoln, Little Haystack down Falling Waters Trail. Stayed at Garfield Campsite. Great weather - great pictures." — markst-john • Aug 19, 2012
"The wind was so strong on the Franconia Ridge that it was almost impossible to walk in a straight line. It was also really cold, probably close to -35 Celcius with the wind chill. Many people retreated before reaching the summit." — VinceB • Jan 14, 2012
"The highlight of today's hike. Great views all along this ridge. The highlight may have been Lafayette had it not been for the clouds rolling in just before I would get to that summit." — VonSelmer • Aug 9, 2011
"Once we hit the peak of Lafayette, getting to Lincoln was a piece of cake! There is a rocky scramble up at the last part to get to the summit. Great views-but then again what mountain doesn't?" — Amero4k • Jul 22, 2011
"First time across Lincoln I was barefoot, I dropped one of my sandals on the way up. Someone found it and brought it down and we happened to bump into each other, at least I didn't have to get new sandals." — Lilbuda • Apr 15, 2011
Photos
Awards
Challenges
About peakery awards
Log successful summits 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.