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 borders 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 a ...

to the summit of Mount Washington (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. It contains the highest peaks of the Whites, the most notable of which are named for American presidents, followed by prominent ...

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 (New Hampshire), White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., wit ...

'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 (New Hampshire), White Mountains of New Hampshire, owned and maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club. They are modeled after similar huts in the Alps and posi ...

. 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 Tra ...

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 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.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 the 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, * 1819 - Abel Crawford led the first recorded guided hike up the new Crawford Path on September 9, 1819. Included in this group of college students, mostly from

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

, were

Samuel Joseph May Samuel Joseph May (September 12, 1797 – July 1, 1871) was an American reformer during the nineteenth century who championed education, women's rights, and Abolitionism in the United States, abolition of slavery. May argued on behalf of all ...

, George B. Emerson,

Samuel E. Sewall Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venerate ...

, Caleb Cushing,

Joseph Coolidge Joseph Coolidge (1798–1879), who married Thomas Jefferson's granddaughter Ellen Randolph Coolidge, Ellen Wayles Randolph, was a partner of several trading companies, working most of his career overseas in the opium, silk, porcelain, and tea tra ...

William Ware William Ware (August 3, 1797 – February 19, 1852) was an American writer and minister. Biography Ware was born in Hingham, Massachusetts on August 3, 1797. He graduated from Harvard University in 1816, studied for the Unitarian ministry, ...

and Joseph G. Moody. Doran, Jeffrey J. (2023), ''Ramble On: How Hiking Became One of the Most Popular Outdoor Activities in the World'', * 1820 - Ethan Allen led the second expedition along the Crawford Path to the summit of Mt. Washington on July 31, 1820. This group of distinguished citizens from nearby

Lancaster, New Hampshire Lancaster is a town located along the Connecticut River in Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. The town is named after the city of Lancaster in England. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,218, the second largest in the cou ...

, named many of the mountains in the Presidential Range during this excursion. Among those in this group were John Wingate Weeks, treasurer of Coos County and a U.S. congressman, Adino Nye Brackett, clerk of the Superior Court, General John Wilson, and Philip Carrigain, the New Hampshire Secretary of State. Doran, Jeffrey J. (2023), ''Ramble On: How Hiking Became One of the Most Popular Outdoor Activities in the World'', * 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 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 within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

. 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 fo ...

and Mount Washington, which was diverted from the original path off the ridge to go by AMC's

Lakes of the Clouds The Lakes of the Clouds are a set of tarns located at the col between Mount Monroe and Mount Washington in the White Mountains of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The lakes form the source of the Ammonoosuc River, a tributary of the Con ...

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