The Crawford Path is an hiking trail in the White Mountains of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

that is considered to be the United States' oldest continuously maintained hiking trail. It travels from

Crawford Notch Crawford Notch is a major pass through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, located in Hart's Location. Roughly half of that town is contained in Crawford Notch State Park. The high point of the notch, at approximately above sea level, is at ...

to the summit of

Mount Washington Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934, ...

(Agiocochook). The first iteration of the Crawford Path was cut in 1819 by Ethan Allen Crawford and his father, Abel Crawford. The trail ascends a cumulative , first through densely wooded forest for about , then following the exposed southern ridge of the

Presidential Range The Presidential Range is a mountain range located in the White Mountains of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Containing the highest peaks of the Whites, its most notable summits are named for American presidents, followed by prominent publi ...

mostly above the treeline. The Crawford Path is a popular hiking trail. The primary parking lot for hikers is off Mt. Clinton Road, 0.1 miles from U.S. Route 302. Using short loop trails, either off of or paralleling Crawford Path, the summits of Mt. Pierce, Mt. Eisenhower, and Mt. Monroe can be reached. The Crawford Path also passes the

Appalachian Mountain Club Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is the oldest outdoor group in the United States. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., with 12 chapters stretching from Ma ...

's Lakes of the Clouds hut, one of their

High Huts of the White Mountains The High Huts of the White Mountains are eight mountain huts in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, owned and maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club. They are modeled after similar huts in the Alps and positioned at intervals along the Ap ...

. The Crawford Path is part of the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tr ...

from their junction north of Mt. Pierce to the summit of Mt. Washington.

History

A brief history of Crawford Path: * 1784 - A geology party headed by

Manasseh Cutler Manasseh Cutler (May 13, 1742 – July 28, 1823) was an American clergyman involved in the American Revolutionary War. He was influential in the passage of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and wrote the section prohibiting slavery in the Nort ...

named Mount Washington."Condensed Facts About Mount Washington", Atkinson News Co., 1912. * 1790s - The Crawford family moved to New Hampshire's White Mountains from

Guildhall, Vermont Guildhall ( ) is a New England town, town in and the shire town (county seat) of Essex County, Vermont, Essex County, Vermont. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262. According to a large sign in the town center ...

.Julyan, Robert Hixson; Julyan, Mary (1993), ''Place Names of the White Mountains'' (revised ed.),

University Press of New England The University Press of New England (UPNE), located in Lebanon, New Hampshire and founded in 1970, was a university press consortium including Brandeis University, Dartmouth College (its host member), Tufts University, the University of New Hampsh ...

, Johnson, Christopher (2006), ''This Grand & Magnificent Place: The Wilderness Heritage of the White Mountains'', University Press of New England, * 1819 - Ethan Allen Crawford and his father, Abel, cut the first iteration of Crawford Path, an 8.5-mile trail from the valley where they lived (then called White Mountain Notch, now called Crawford Notch) to Mount Washington's summit.Smith, Steven D. and Dickerman, Mike (2012), ''White Mountain Guide'', Appalachian Mountain Club, * 1820 - Ethan Allen led one of the first guided expeditions up Crawford's Path to Washington's summit. The group he led collectively named many of the mountains in the Presidential Range on this expedition. * 1821 - Ethan Allen Crawford built a house on the summit of Mount Washington, which lasted until a storm in 1826. * 1840 - Thomas J. Crawford, a younger son of Abel, converted the path to an

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

route. * Early twentieth century - Hikers dominated use of Crawford Path over equestrian activity. * 1994 - The Crawford Path was designated a

National Recreation Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

on its 175th anniversary by the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

. It is believed that the trail mostly follows the original path, except for a section between the summit of

Mount Monroe Mount Monroe is a mountain peak southwest of Mount Washington in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, United States. It is named for American President James Monroe and is the fourth highest mountain on the 4000 foote ...

and Mount Washington, which was diverted from the original path off the ridge to go by AMC's Lakes of the Clouds hut.

References

{{coord, 44, 13, 22, N, 71, 23, 52, W, type:landmark, display=title Hiking trails in New Hampshire White Mountain National Forest Appalachian Trail