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Mount Cardigan, New Hampshire | |
| A great 3-hour mountain hike for those of average stamina—and what a view! | ||
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Mount Cardigan (3155 feet/962 meters), in Orange NH, is a favorite 3-hour mountain hike in Mount Cardigan State Park in central New Hampshire. Located 18 miles (29 km) due east of Lebanon NH (map), Mount Cardigan shows a bare summit of metamorphic rock as you approach it, climbing up the mountain road from the small town of Orange. Mount Cardigan State Park, located in the 5000-acre Mount Cardigan State Forest, has a parking area at the trailhead, picnic tables (one beneath a shelter, several with charcoal grills), and pit toilets. An information board shows you the lie of the land, and simple printed trailmaps are yours for the taking. There is no cost for admission. The park has no water supply or other services, so bring what you need for your hike. The 1.5-mile (2.4-km) climb to the summit, a vertical ascent of 1000 feet (305 meters) takes about 1-1/2 hours—at least it did for me, a guy in his 60s who is not in bad shape, but not an athlete. Figuring a half-hour to enjoy the view at the summit, and an hour to descend, the total hiking time is about 3 hours. The rocky path gets difficult and steep in a few spots, and you must clamber over boulders. There may also be patches of mud and muck. Stout shoes are a good idea, as is a water bottle and perhaps some energy snacks. (Several small streams and springs along the trail may do for water in an emergency.) You may want to have sunblock and a windbreaker for the summit, wjhere it will be considerably colder and certainly windy. The bare summit, above treeline, is topped by a fire lookout tower, usually locked up tight. There is no shelter. On a clear day, the panoramic views are spectacular, with vistas all the way to Camel's Hump mountain in Vermont and Mount Monadnock to the south. Stone cairns mark the West Trail, which is probably the way you've come, and is the best way down in an emergency or severe weather. Alpine ski trails wend their way around the east side of the mountain, near the Appalachian Mountain Club's Cardigan Lodge.
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Mount Cardigan, New Hampshire.
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