Mt. Cardigan: A Top NH Day Hike Great for Families

Perfect day hike for leaf peeping

Fall in New England gets busy for a reason; the foliage is spectacular. As much as I curse the traffic at the New Hampshire tolls, it is worth a drive north from the Boston area to take in some of the fall splendor on a day hike. Mt. Cardigan in Orange, New Hampshire checks all the boxes: quick drive from Boston, easy day hike, 360-degree view of foliage at the summit. 

Normally it takes roughly two hours to get to Mt. Cardigan from the Boston area. However, our drive took longer because it was the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend. We have had some epic traffic when heading up north over this long weekend, so we should have known better and planned accordingly. We made it to Cardigan Mountain Road about an hour later than we’d originally estimated, and of course lots of other people were there too. 

Cardigan Mountain Road was a bit of a nut house. The road is narrow in some places and because lots of cars had parked along the side only a single lane of traffic could pass which caused lots of pulling over and backing up. We finally made it to the upper lot and parked. There is a little clearing in this area with picnic tables, map signage and porta johns. 

Our plan was to coordinate with a large group of college friends and spouses coming from all different directions. Because of the delay we were forced to split into two groups: the on timers and the late comers. I’ll admit we were in group two. 

We chose the West Ridge Trail which is the easiest ascent to the summit. It is a 2.7 mile out and back trail.  Luckily the trail was less crowded than the access road and parking lot and we made our way up at a good clip. I would classify this hike as moderately easy. There were plenty of families with children and dogs. 

The woods were bursting with color and after about an hour and a half we met up with the first group of our friends on their way down from the summit. We stopped briefly to chat then continued upwards.

The peak of Mt. Cardigan is only 3,155 feet above sea level; however, it’s bare rock summit and 360-degree panoramic views makes it feel like a higher mountain. Apparently, there was a forest fire in 1855 that caused this bald summit. It was quite windy at the top especially without any tree cover, but we layered up and admired the beautiful view and scrambled over the granite ledges pausing to take pictures and munch on some trail snacks.

I broke out my recently purchased hiking poles to give them another test. I found they really allowed me to descend faster. I had my ACL repaired a few years ago, so I liked the feeling of added security from the hiking poles. They are certainly not a necessity, but you might like them if you have a knee issue. 

We made it back to the parking area in two hours and broke open the cooler for some Oktoberfest’s. We teased our friends that group two had better snacks and beverages even though we couldn’t get our act together to be there on time. Later that evening we were able to connect with all our friends for dinner at the cozy Skunk Hollow Tavern. In my opinion, it was a fall day very well spent.

HELPFUL INFO:

Plug this address into your GPS if you plan to do the West Ridge Trail: 658 Cardigan Mountain Road, Orange, NH 03741

Bring an extra layer, gloves, and a hat. The summit can be quite windy.

Skunk Hollow Tavern, 12 Brownsville Road, Hartland Four Corners, VT

www.skunkhollowtavernvt.com