| NATIONAL PARKS QUICKLINKS |
Mountain Map: White Mountains, NH
The Granite State's crown jewel is an epicenter for alpine adventure, from peakbagging to ridgewalking to hut camping. Where to start? In the heart of the Whites, with beta from our map team. Trek across windswept plateaus, tag a handful of the range's 48 peaks above 4,000 feet, and get a taste of high-altitude tundra.
Trail Mix: Great November Hikes in the East
Your region's go-now guide: Explore New York City, hike four states in 24 hours, and perfect days in NC, GA, and NH.
The High Life: White Mountains Traverse, NH
Hike our quieter insider's variation on this classic route.
Killer Trips: Weather
Our favorite high-risk, high-reward adventures in North America.
Trail Mix: East
Your region's go-now guide
The Other Way In
Hike to life-list hot spots without waiting in life-list lines. These under-the-radar trails deliver everything but the crowds.
Burn After Reading
Empty White Mountain summits. Tourist-free Yellowstone geysers. Rarely hiked Yosemite ridges. Rangers, guidebook writers, outfitters, and ultra-hikers dish their favorite routes for the first time.
Readers' Choice 2012: Top 3 - Northeast Hikes
The region's top map contributor—with 20 years of experience in the area—dishes tips for beating the crowds on her all-time favorite hikes.
Online Exclusive: Readers' Choice 2012: Lisa Densmore's Five Favorite Hikes in the Northeast
Five more must-do hikes from this region's top map contributor—with 20 years of experience in the area—dishes tips for beating the crowds on her all-time favorite hikes.
Perfect 10: North America's 10 Most Memorable Hikes
Ten trails. Ten unmatched miles each. Get maximum bang for each boot step on hikes that our most-traveled contributors call their all-time favorites.
Perfect 10: Free PDF Trip Planning Guides
We've picked the top 10 miles of North America's 10 most memorable hikes. Find your way to wilderness nirvana with these map and planning guides.
Backyard Everests: Mounts Webster and Jackson
Claim a rare feat on this classic-in-waiting loop.
Local Hikes: Northeast
Head out on one of these trails in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
Going to Extremes
Can you ever really have too much of a good thing? Once you've seen the biggest tree, largest glacier, and deepest canyon, nothing else compares.
The High Life: Hiking Utah's Highline Trail
Watch your step on Utah' Highline Trail. The nonstop views and rampant wildlife are distractingly spectacular. Plus: Gaze away on 9 more elevated hikes.
Local Hikes: Northeast
Paddle to Maryland's Assateague Island; pack an ice axe for the Presidentials.
Readers' Choice 2011: America's Best Hikes
The undisputed local experts—you—chose the top parks, trails, campsites, and weekend getaways from Alaska to Alabama.
Trip Finder: Northeast
Your favorite Northeast hikes—from dayhikes to weekenders to multiday trips.
Readers' Choice: Northeast
Your favorite parks, weekend getaways, peak ascents, campsites, and more in the Northeast.
Fall/Winter Gear Guide: Best Winter Trips
We traveled to Fjordland and discovered that nothing compares to skiing glacier-clad mountains above deep-water fjords. Plus: 20 winter adventures, from California to New York.
Long Trail Hikes
Traverse the first long trail in Vermont.
America's Scariest Trails: What are You Afraid of?
Haunted mountains? Vanished campers? Bloodthirsty creatures? An evil wind that lures hikers over a waterfall? We dare you to hike America's scariest trails.
Best. Hikes. Ever.
We've covered 245,591 miles of trails in our 37-year history. Here are our 20 all-time favorite trips, plus—shocking!—20 routes we never covered.
Best Hikes Ever: Mt. Cabot Loop, NH
Bag a little-known triple crown in New England's northern woods.
Best Hikes Ever: Presidential Traverse, NH
Tag a team of the East's most challenging peaks in the White Mountains.
Local Hikes: Manchester, NH
The best hikes near Manchester.
Local Hikes: Northeast
The best hikes, as recommended by the best hiking clubs in the Northeast.
The Trail to Neverland: Hut Keepers of the White Mountains
No one stays young forever, of course. Just don't tell the hut keepers in New Hampshire's White Mountains.
Zones: Peaks
Hike high points on Mt. Rainier, Mt. Washington, and Mt. Whitney.
Local Hikes: New Hikes Near You
Our army of reader-reader scouts mapped 59 local hikes from South Carolina to Northern California. See their favorites, then learn how to download tracklogs and waypoints.
Local Hikes: Northeast
Hike across a state, gain the country's best foliage view, and top alpine balds. (Click linked trips for GPS waypoints, photos, and more.)
Peak: Mt. Washington, NH
If you don't mind the potential of extreme weather and wind, Mt. Washington is your hike.
America's 10 Most Dangerous Hikes
Like your life and limbs intact? Then you'd better get skilled before visiting these trails.
Northeast Readers' Choice Hikes
A state high point, killer foliage, and a hike loaded with waterfalls
Your Favorite Places: Readers' Choice Trips 2010
Who knows the secret trails and must-do classics in every corner of the country? Our teams of regional experts, recruited from the ranks of readers like you. Here are their top hikes from coast to coast.
America's Scariest Trails: Mt. Washington's Phantom Crowds
Never let your guard down on this deadly peak, where the weather–and spirits–are unpredictable.
Weekend Planner: Quick Escapes
Get big views and rack up long miles with these close-to-home adventures.
Where Solitude Rules - Lonely Summits
You won't find bottlenecks on these untrammeled peaks.
Master the Steeps: High-Angle Hiking Trails
First, check out our tips for healthy hiking on steep terrain in the May 2009 issue then, put them to the test on one of our favorite high-angle trails from California to North Carolina.
Weekend Snow Climbs in the Pacific Northwest, Rockies, and Northeast
Pack snowshoes for these nine epic treks to snowy solitude in the Pacific Northwest, Rockies, and Northeast.
Party Peaks
Ten perfect summits for your next group hike
Ten Epic Hikes
Paddling, hiking, testing self arrest skills–we cover it all in these 10 epic trips throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
Top 3 Winter Hut Treks
Trek into the wilderness but sleep in comfort with these hut treks
Cold War: A Winter Traverse of New Hampshire's Presidential Range
Got guts? Good. Now learn what skills you'll need to bag America's Little Everest—a traverse of New Hampshire's Presidential Range in Winter.
Wind Power: Turbulence Ahead
Wind power offers clean energy–but how much will hikers compromise to get it?
America's 10 Most Dangerous Hikes - Mt. Washington, NH
It'll blow you away
Trip Finder: Ridgewalks
From the West Coast to the Rocky Mountains to New England, we've got nine epic ridgewalks just for you.
Top 3 Get-There-Fast Hikes
You can only get so far off the grid in a single day - that is, unless you take a shortcut into the mountains. Many ski resorts, including the three premier sites mentioned below, open a lift or two in summer and fall, offering an express route to places high and wild. There's no other way to get this deep into the woods this fast.
Through the Kaleidoscope: A Family Fall Trek Through New Hampshire's White Mountains
Cozy huts, five-course meals, and world-class foliage highlight one family's fall trek.
America's Best Campsites
Whether you are after fishing holes or skinny-dipping, Backpacker tracked down the best campsites in the country
America's Hardest Dayhikes
Push yourself on any of these challenging hikes
Fall Hiking in New Hampshire's Baldface Range
Vibrant colors and a ridge walk you'll never forget
New Hampshire: The Great Gulf Wilderness
Here is your chance to tag six summits in only 3 days.
Mt. Jefferson, Presidential Range
Scenic ridges and some high White Mountain peaks abound on this great hike.
Best Backpacking In New Hampshire
Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in New Hampshire.
Two Shades of White Mountains
Lines at backcountry outhouses. Hikers competing for tent sites. Is there any solitude left in New Hampshire's White Mountains? Lots of it, if you know where to go.
Hikers Mourn The Loss Of Guy Waterman
Guy Waterman died near the summit of Mount Lafayette, a peak in the White Mountains in northern New Hampshire, on February 6.
New Hampshire's Chorus Of Loons
A chaotic chorus of loon calls penetrate the darkness, the warbling sounds echoing off the wooded hills around the New Hampshire lake.
New Hampshire: Pop Goes The Forest
You can spend days exploring the Dry River Valley forest without seeing another soul, even if it sounds like you're being chased by a well-armed militia.
White Mountains, New Hampshire
Sometimes walking "backward" is the only way to go in New Hampshire's White Mountains.
Wapack Trail, NH
A Thoreauvian classic hike in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire's Kinsman Ridge Trail
Thrills and views by the minute on the Kinsman Ridge Trail.
New England's Metacomet-Monadnock Trail
Panoramic ridge-hiking through New England.
New Hampshire's Baldface Range
Baldface Range's icy swimming holes and heights will get any hiker worked up.
Soar To New Hampshire's Pilot Range
When the White Mountains' hot spots get too hot, there's always the Pilot Range.
New Hampshire's Carter Dome
A hike up New Hampshire's Carter Dome has it all -- mountains, forests, water, views, solitude, and even a little challenge.
Hiking The U.S.-Canada Coho Trail
In mountains most hikers don't even know exist, the 150-mile Cohos Trail just waiting to carry you far from the crowds and on to Canada.
Twelve Toughest Trails
Twelve trails that'll chew you up, spit you out, and have you begging for more.
