Mount Moriah

The Carter-Moriah Trail goes over Mount Surprise. It is relatively easy except if wet because it is comprised of much bare rock.
Moriah is the northernmost peak in New Hampshire on the Appalachian Trail and the second northernmost 4000 footer in the state.
The views from the summit are outstanding and it is said that on a clear day you can see the Atlantic.

Routes

Stony Brook Trail to Carter Moriah Trail

13 summits • 7.1 mi • 2,037 ft gain • 3 hr 22 min

Appalachian Trail

4 summits • 7.7 mi • 917 ft gain • 5 hr 27 min

Mount Moriah 9.9 mi route

1 summit • 9.9 mi • 2,921 ft gain • 6 hr 32 min

Latest summits

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"A rather cold trip to the top of Moriah today. 17 deg at the bottom, 7 at the top plus a cruel wind made it a little inhospitable on the summit. Too bad as the bright blue skies were stunning and views for miles in every direction. Good look out from Surprise's ledges. Trail was in excellent shape, snowshoes door to door. Except snowmobilers have ripped apart the trail from the 1 mile to 2 mile mark." — Alohabuffy • Jan 20, 2020

"The temperature was great and the summit beautiful! We had no trouble finding parking on Bangor Street at 9:00am, but could tell right away we were in for a buggy climb (no surprise, it being Memorial Day weekend in the White Mountains). I had frequented a few weather and trail report websites for a week or two leading up to our climb, and therefore knew to pack some microspikes just in case we came upon some snow. And we did (no surprise... it being Memorial Day weekend in the White Mountains). The first third of the trail had moderate grades and easy footing, but was very buggy. The next third was mostly comprised of ledges to shinny over, a few nice views, and more bugs. The final third was bugless (finally!), the one benefit to having to suddenly navigate through/over a mile and a half of crumbling monorail. Lunch at the summit helped to lessen the blow and keep us from developing a poor opinion of what is clearly a beautiful mountain. I would definitely be interested in hiking Moriah again under slightly better conditions (e.g. minus the frighteningly unstable snow pack and the gang of thousands of black flies that followed and attacked us)." — gooner • May 25, 2019

"Put 1 Bangor Rd. in the GPS but no sign of trail head. Drove down rte. 2 until I saw a bunch of through-hikers. Asked one for directions to the Moriah Trail, offered her a ride. Dropped her off but discovered it was the wrong trail. Headed back to Bangor Rd. and saw two through-hikers hitching. Picked them up and dropped them off at a hotel, then found the correct trail. Met lots of nice people hiking. Worried about the time (started at 1300) so raced down from the peak. Got to my car at 1940." — NHClimber • Jul 21, 2018

"Headed out with Curran to snag this peak for March. Well packed, recent trail work done as well. A gorgeous day with blue bird skies...just a bit cold with some wind....warmer than the projected -35 with wind...I would say it was right around 0 to -10. " — shay-shay • Mar 19, 2018

"Went up Moriah today. Out and back up Carter Moriah Tr. Saw a couple of ladies rocking some cool NY patches. They were from NY and NJ working on there NE111. Took a pic of one their packs. Great views today." — newenglandwarrior • Oct 28, 2017

"Learned that the trail was broken out yesterday, so I decided to hike this mountain. Had a few drifts that I had to push through, but the hike overall wasn't bad. Drove up to Carabassett Valley, ME that night. " — newenglandwarrior • Feb 17, 2017

"NoBo AT Thru Hike 2016. I (Tom) met Kim a couple miles south on the trail from the summit of Mount Moriah. We hiked together with the remaining daylight and had to stop shortly before the Rattle River Shelter in order to put on our headlamps. At the shelter we ran into two of Kim's trail friends (Stardust and Flannel) as well as Jeff Davis, who I had helped resupply in Gotham. He didn't have his headlamp and we had to escort him down the trail the remaining 1.5 miles so he could get to where he had set up his camp for the night in a stealth location. Long, but fun and rewarding day. " — Kim-Stilson • Sep 2, 2016

"Started the day by having breakfast in Gorham with Kim and Limey, (Limey I had met back in Virginia the first time I did trail magic) we then packed up and I dropped Kim and three other NoBo AT Thru Hikers who I picked up on Rt. 16 off at Pinkham notch. Kim was gonna take the gondola up since she had already hiked the ridge up to wildcat D the previous day. I was going to start on the other side from US2 and meet her on Mount Moriah. Upon arriving at the trail I saw Puma looking for a hitch into Gotham, I had met him on Killington in Vermont a couple weeks before, so I offered to bring him into town. After dropping him off I headed back to start my hike and when I arrived I saw Jeff Davis looking for a hitch into town who I had met back in Delaware Water Gap when I was doing trail magic. I gave Jeff Davis a ride to Walmart to resupply, the liquor store, and a gas station to get everything he needed and we headed back to the trail. After arriving at the trailhead I have to admit we spent more time than I should have sitting drinking beers and exchanging stories. I ended up heading up later than I wanted to, but still had enough time to get to the summit of Moriah before Kim arrived...." — LGH-Tom • Sep 2, 2016

"Part of a red-lining, 4th loop, and Grid attempt. Went up Stoney Brook Tr, then went up Moriah from the south, seeing the lovely ledges on the way up. From here, I then went on to North Carter." — newenglandwarrior • Jul 30, 2016

"Beautiful winter day to be out in the Whites! Didn't see anybody else until I reached the top of Moriah, where I bumped into a few others who came up the other side. And passed a few clusters of folks who were heading up Carter-Moriah as I descended. Carter-Moriah was perfectly packed, and microspikes made for a smooth hike. Moriah #45! and #3 for my Winter 4ks!" — matt-beard • Jan 3, 2016

"The final peak of my WCM traverse. I came down from North Carter, which was sketchyyyy. Those chimneys on the way down are covered in ice, which made travel quite difficult. Once I made it past those sections it was smooth sailing. I really enjoyed this section of the C-M trail, the last section I had yet to check out. Climbing Moriah from the south is also interesting with the ledges and lots of views. " — npweeks • Dec 12, 2015

"First trip up Moriah for number 47! It was a cloudy, windy day with scattered snow showered in the area. I parked at Rattle River and walked all the way to the Carter-Moriah trail head in Gorham. CM was quiet and pleasant. I really enjoyed the ledges near Mt. Surprise. Views from the summit of Moriah were awesome! I loved it. From there, I went over to Shelburne-Moriah, a totally worthy side trip. The walk down was uneventful but enjoyable." — npweeks • Nov 7, 2015

"Spent the night near the Rattle River shelter in my new tent, off trail, then hiked up early the next morning. Too tired to do Shelburne Moriah, so next time! It doesn't like the size of my pictures, so next time for that too, I guess. " — Hufflepuff • Sep 7, 2015

"Drove over to Gorham from Highland Center to climb Moriah. Sampled blueberries on our way to the small open rock summit occupied by an orientation outing from Procter School....Girl talk with skittles! The warm humid day called for a dip in Stony Brook....refreshing!" — Nimblefoot • Sep 6, 2015

"Part of a Moriah/Shelburne Moriah hike starting from the Wild River Camp Ground. Moriah Brook trail was rough. Lots of mud and blowdowns. I did get to see a porcupine and a beaver though. " — newenglandwarrior • Jun 11, 2015

"Part of a Moriah-Carters Traverse from Gorham. I completed the loop back to my car with a planted bike at the bottom of the 19-mile Brook Trail. Suffered from severe IT Band problems during the hike, but was able to complete the 4 peaks." — klotito • Jul 14, 2013

"We started out on what we thought was supposed to be a Gorgeous day w/ just a chance of 1-2 passing showers. If that were so this hike would have been Very rewarding as Mount Moriah is a bald peak, and offers 360 degree views! However, LUCK WAS NOT ON OUR SIDE on this day :-( We began our hike 'round 9am, and it was already nearly 80 degrees w/ ~90% humidity. Ugh! The trailhead for the Northern end of the Carter-Moriah Trail is actually located in a residential neighborhood, and took us first over a more frequently visited Mt. Surprise (2194 ft). There are no signs indicating you've reached Mt Surprise, so we used GPS to determine when we'd reached the ~elevation. There was a blue marker on a tree very near that elevation. Also there is a granite slab, of which to take a rest, just before that Blue Marker. That slab provides the only viewpoint from Mt. Surprise. Unfortunately for us, it was cloudy so we had to squint just to make out the town of Gorham in the distance. That first granite slab marks the official start of the Moriah ridge climb-- aptly named as the majority of this climb is over a granite ridge with a fine lichen-like cover. It can be very slippery when humid or wet..." — CiccheMariti • Jun 23, 2013

"Solo hiked the Carter-Moriah range, it was in the clouds the whole time but very mild weather in general. Bits of gusty wind on the bald tops and faces, and plenty of drizzle, with moisture that stuck the whole time. Despite that, it was beautiful and a great experience up there. Wish I could have caught some views of the Pressies, but oh well!" — chrisr00d • Jun 28, 2012

"Imp Shelter to Kelly's Supermarket in Gorham. Nice climb. Great summit. Wanted to take more pictures, but Frank urged me to leave so we could be sure to catch our bus. However, we picked and ate a lot of blueberries between Moriah and town. Bus nearly bypassed us, but alert passenger recognized us and stopped the driver." — barbaratraver • Aug 1, 1991