MT. Kearsarge

Photo: Me!

Overview:

Mt Kearsarge is located just above the town of North Conway, nh. Although there are a few different routes to the summit, I took the 3 mile long Kearsarge North trail which is rated double black on trailforks. The hike up starts on a mellow wilderness trail, before turning into a wide trail with jagged rocks, into rock slabs, and finally turns into a scramble up big boulders before reaching the top.

Pros:

This trail is 3 miles long making it unusually long for the east coast. You’ll also find plenty of variety, from super fast paced tech, to slow but extremely plentiful rock slabs, and the entire trail offers tons of line choices making two runs down Kearsarge never the same. There are also some sick views to distract you while you bomb down rock slabs you’d think were in British Colombia.

Cons:

This is a 3 mile trail, making the hike up with a bike pretty brutal and long. There is also the technical aspect to this trail making it only appeal to advanced riders. While heading down the bottom of this trail, I had to bail off my bike around 5 times which isn’t something I do often. Lastly, the entire top sixth of the trail (actually pretty long) is basically impassible to bikes unless you’re a pro trials riders. It’s a waste of elevation, and made me so disheartened that I decided to turn back only 0.3 miles away from the summit.

Rating: 8.5/10

I’d say this place would tie with Mt. Cardigan, despite the two being very different trails. If you turn back before the rock scramble, Kearsarge will give you a long, epic, gnarly, and fun descent that you’ll definitely remember. However, I strongly recommend that you stay away if you’re not prepared for the physical and technical challenges this place has to offer.