Mount Whiteface 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 ...

located in

Grafton County Grafton County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,118. Its county seat is North Haverhill, a village within the town of Haverhill. Until 1972, the county courthouse and other offices ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a 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 to the nor ...

. The mountain is part of the

Sandwich Range The Sandwich Range is located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the United States, north of the Lakes Region and south of the Kancamagus Highway. Although the range is not outstanding for its elevation, it is very rugged and has exce ...

of the White Mountains. Whiteface is flanked to the northwest by Mount Tripyramid, and to the northeast by

Mount Passaconaway Mount Passaconaway is a mountain in the Sandwich Range Wilderness of the White Mountain National Forest in Grafton County, New Hampshire, near Waterville Valley. It is named after Passaconaway, a 16th-century sachem of the Pennacook tribe, whose ...

. Whiteface is on the eastern border of the Sandwich Range Wilderness. To the east, between Whiteface, Passaconaway, and Mt. Wonalancet, lies The Bowl natural area, an unlogged

cirque A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landf ...

. Mt. Whiteface lies within the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

of the

Saco River The Saco River (Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean ...

, which reaches the

Gulf of Maine , image = , alt = , caption = , image_bathymetry = GulfofMaine2.jpg , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = Major features of the Gulf of Maine , location = Northeast coast of the ...

Saco, Maine Saco is a city in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 20,381 at the 2020 census. It is home to Ferry Beach State Park, Funtown Splashtown USA, Thornton Academy, as well as General Dynamics Armament Systems (also known by i ...

. The south side of Whiteface is drained by the Whiteface River, thence into the Cold River, Bearcamp River, Ossipee River, and the Saco River. The east side is drained by the

Wonalancet River The Wonalancet River is a river in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the United States. Named after the 17th-century Pennacook sachem Wonalancet, it is a tributary of the southern Swift River, part of the Bearcamp River / Ossipee Lake / S ...

, thence into Swift River, and Bearcamp River. The north side is drained by Downes Brook, thence into another Swift River, and the Saco River. The summit of Mt. Whiteface is in a wooded area along the Rollins Trail, approximately north of the top of the massive granite cliff for which the mountain is named. Many hikers reach the open area at the top of the cliff and do not realize the true summit is farther to the north. The summit is popular among winter climbers, favoring the Blueberry Ledge trail for ascent.

History

In the 1850s, the first official trail to the summit is built, the McCrillis trail. In 1871, the US Coast Survey erected a signal station on the summit. In 1875, the poet Lucy Larcom visited the summit, and wrote a sonnet about it. In 1895, Thomas S. Wiggin cuts the Wiggin trail to the summit, branching from Dicey's Mill Trail. In 1899, Gordon H. Taylor blazes the Blueberry Ledge Trail, useful for snowshoeing. In 1914, The Bowl is added to the WMNF. In 1931, The bowl is designated as a Research Natural Area. In 1984, Congress creates the Sandwich Range Wilderness, including Mount Whiteface. In 2002, Camp Shehadi and Camp Heermance are removed due to deterioration.

References

External links

PeakBagger.com: Mt. Whiteface

AMC: Mt. Whiteface

Mt. Whiteface - FranklinSites.com Hiking Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whiteface, Mount Mountains of New Hampshire Mountains of Grafton County, New Hampshire New England Four-thousand footers

History

See also

References

External links