Mount Moosilauke is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

at the southwestern end of the White Mountains in the town of Benton,

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 ...

, United States. It is the tenth highest and most southwesterly of the 4,000 foot summits in the White Mountains. Moosilauke is ranked 9th on the New England Fifty Finest peaks, a list of summits with the highest

topographic prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

. 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 ...

passes over the mountain. It is sometimes referred to as the "Gentle Giant". The site of down mountain ski races since 1927, the 1933 Moosilauke race was the first U.S. downhill skiing championship sanctioned by the National Ski Association.

Etymology

The name ''Moosilauke'' (with its many variant spellings) is derived from the

Abenaki language Abenaki (Eastern: ', Western: ), also known as Wôbanakiak, is an endangered Eastern Algonquian language of Quebec and the northern states of New England. The language has Eastern and Western forms which differ in vocabulary and phonology an ...

. The most common translation is "bald place". However, the derivation of place names from

Algonquian languages The Algonquian languages ( ; also Algonkian) are a family of Indigenous languages of the Americas and most of the languages in the Algic language family are included in the group. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from ...

is often quite uncertain, and other possible translations of Moosilauke include "at the place of ferns", "at the smooth place on the summit" and "good moose place along the brook".

Geology

Mount Moosilauke is made up of metamorphic rock called the Littleton Formation which is Lower

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

in age. The Littleton Formation is primarily a

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into fragile elastic plates. This characteristic is described as ''perfect basal cleavage''. Mica is co ...

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

with zones containing

garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...

and staurolite- sillimanite. The unit also contains interbedded

amphibolite Amphibolite () is a metamorphic rock that contains amphibole, especially hornblende and actinolite, as well as plagioclase feldspar, but with little or no quartz. It is typically dark-colored and dense, with a weakly foliated or schistose ...

s. The mica schist started out as clay-rich mud in a marine basin that probably formed during the early Acadian Orogeny. The amphibolites may represent metamorphosed submarine

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

flows.

Pegmatite A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than and sometimes greater than . Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, having a similar silicic c ...

dikes cross-cut the Littleton Formation and can be seen from the Gorge Brook Trail as it nears treeline. These pegmatites are likely related to the geology to the east of the mountain which is dominated by the Kinsman quartz monzonite. This Acadian-aged

igneous rock Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial ...

can be seen at the Kinsman Notch / Beaver Brook pond area.

Topography

The summit of Moosilauke is treeless and offers panoramic views of the Kinsmans to the north, 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 ...

and Franconia Ridge to the northeast, the heart of the White Mountains to the east, Lake Winnipesaukee and neighboring lakes to the southeast, and the

Green Mountains The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont and are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Que ...

and

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York (state), New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the hi ...

to the west, along with great views closer in to numerous glacially-carved ravines on Moosilauke's shoulders. The firstStaff (November 8, 1919
"Prof. C. H. Hitchcock Dies"
''The New York Times'' winter high country weather observatory was set up at the top of Mt. Moosilauke in the winter of 1869-1870. Moosilauke has numerous subsidiary peaks, including Mount Blue, elevation , to the north of the summit, and the South Peak, elevation , between the Carriage Road and Glencliff Trail, about one mile southwest of the main peak. The South Peak, reached by a spur trail, is particularly noted for its fine views of the main summit ridge, into the deep Tunnel Brook Ravine to neighboring Mt. Clough and westward into the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges into Long Isl ...

valley and

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

beyond.

Climate

Climbing routes

The most commonly climbed route to the summit is the Gorge Brook Trail from Ravine Lodge. One can make a loop by returning via the Carriage Road and Snapper Trail. Other trails to the summit include the Glencliff Trail from the southwest, the Benton Trail from the north, the Beaver Brook Trail ascending very steeply past numerous waterfalls from Kinsman Notch to the northeast, the Carriage Road from the south and the Asquam Ridge Trail from the southeast. The Appalachian Trail, from south to north, utilizes the Glencliff, Carriage Road, Benton and Beaver Brook trails.

Moosilauke Ravine Lodge

The Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, which offers food and accommodations to hikers, is situated in the valley on the southeast side of the mountain. The lodge is owned by

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

and is run by members of the Dartmouth Outing Club. Dartmouth College owns much of the southern and eastern portions of the mountain and has long had a close association with it, with the Outing Club maintaining its trails and the Appalachian Trail from Kinsman Notch southward to

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

. Due to this long association, Moosilauke is often called "Dartmouth's Mountain".Smith, Steven D. and Mike Dickerman, ''The 4000-Footers of the White Mountains'', 2nd Edition (2008). Bondcliff Books, pp. 424-447.

References

External links

hikethewhites.com: Moosilauke

"Mt. Moosilauke Hiking Guide"
FranklinSites.com
"Hiking Mount Moosilauke"
Appalachian Mountain Club. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moosilauke, Mount Mountains of New Hampshire White Mountains (New Hampshire) Mountains of Grafton County, New Hampshire Mountains on the Appalachian Trail New England Four-thousand footers New Hampshire placenames of Native American origin