Many of the most popular hikes in New Hampshire’s White Mountains follow the Appalachian Trail as it winds its way through the National Forest area.

Certainly, these well-worn routes take you through some of the most dramatic landscape and hikes in the whole of New England, and allow you to summit and admire more than one 5,000-foot plus peak, including Mount Washington.

The fact is, Route I-93, U.S. 3, and connecting major roads have made the majority of New Hampshire’s White Mountains accessible to everybody. And in my view providing we remain good custodians of this resource this is not a bad thing, especially if it educates us in conservation and preservation.

But at times the price for easy access can be overcrowding and well, let’s be honest, remote wilderness places not feeling quite so remote and not a lot like wilderness. If you’re of this ilk and want to hike and experience New Hampshire as if you’d just arrived 1,000 years ago before any settlements or harvesting of trees for lumber, then the Cohos Trail may be just the hike for you.

The Cohos Trail is a 162-mile remote and wild trail in Coos County in northen-most New Hampshire - which roughly translated means you’re more likely to meet a moose than another human being when on the trail. The route starts in the Presidential Range and ends at the Canadian border after traversing through a million acres of New Hamsphire’s Great North Woods, and the states most isolated and unpopulated terrain.

The Cohos Trail can be difficult in places, largely because it is lengthy and, in many places, very isolated. There are few supply stops, huts or shelters. The Cohos Trail is not for everyone, and the Trail Keepers suggest, you need above average woods and outdoor skills, and be in good physical condition and health to complete it. You also need to carry a very well thought out pack and if you’re a through hiker, you’ll need to ship supplies ahead to several locations.

For those not wanting to invest or attempt to hike the complete trail there are a number of day hiles available, and these range from easy to tough and strenuous hikes, with most of the summit views being on the more difficult trails. A complete list of day hikes can be found at the web site below.

As of this writing in late 2007 there are only 12-miles of the trail to be constructed, and these sections can be navigated with the aid of the Cohos Trail maps.

The volunteer effort for creating the trail has been tremendous and is a wonderful testament to the people’s of New Hamsphire commitment to preservation of the state’s Great North Woods region.

Updates and new information are gathered on a regular basis along with tips and things to be aware of, and again these are posted at the Cohos Trail offocial web site here: www.cohostrail.org

For more suggestions of things to see and do in the area check out my special White Mountains page by clicking here.

I’ll be posting some not-to-be-missed travel resources in a few days time so make sure you come back and visit or even easier subscribe to my New England blog feed by clicking here.

Talk to you soon,

Cliff Calderwood
Executive Director
New England Vacations Guide