Mount Whiteface - 4,020'

Hike date: 11/11/2017

Description: Mount Whiteface is located in the Sandwich Range Wilderness. The lookout ledges just below the wooded summit offer great views south towards the Lakes Region. Using the below route, you will have the opportunity to do some fun rock scrambling and enjoy excellent views from the ledges near the summit.

Trails Used: Ascend via Blueberry Ledge Trail to Rollins Trail to the summit of Mount Whiteface. Descend by turning around and returning the same way you came up.

Trail Summary: Mount Whiteface is commonly done with Mount Passaconaway, making for a big loop and a long day. However, we chose to only do Mount Whiteface, which makes for a fun and interesting in-and-out hike. The trailhead for this hike is at the end of Ferncroft Road. As you’re driving up the road, you’ll see a big open field. After that field, the parking lot will be on the right. You have to park here because the rest of the road is private access for the residents that live there. You will be taking the Blueberry Ledge Trail to get to the summit of Mount Whiteface, which is a very scenic route, though the upper portion of the trail is steep and rough, requiring some rock scrambling. For this reason, the Blueberry Ledge Trail earned itself a spot as an elective on The Terrifying 25 list, so more specific details and photos about this trail can be found here.

To get to the Blueberry Ledge Trail from the parking lot, you will have to walk along the road for about 0.3 miles, passing some of the houses, until you reach a split where Blueberry Ledge Trail goes left across a bridge (while Dicey’s Mill Trail continues straight). After the bridge, you will still be on a private gravel road for another 0.2 miles until you pass the last house and head into the woods. Soon after entering the woods, you will come to a split where the Blueberry Ledge Cutoff goes right along the Wonalancet River. The cutoff is equal in distance as the main trail, and is a bit more rougher than the parallel section of the Blueberry Ledge Trail. Though it is a nice alternative, we chose to stick to the main Blueberry Ledge Trail for this hike. The trail follows an old road for a while before passing through a flat area, where it then begins to start gaining elevation at a moderate grade. You will then come to the bottom of the ledges and climb to the top, where you will have limited views looking towards the Ossipees. The trail continues to climb moderately, and eventually the Blueberry Ledge Cutoff will rejoin the trail on the right (marked by a cairn). The trail enters the woods again, still climbing moderately, though there are some steeper sections that utilize rock steps. Once you reach the junction with Tom Wiggin Trail, after 3.2 miles of hiking, the trail will really start to climb as you ascend the ridge. You will approach a steep cliff (be careful if it is wet or icy) and then you will climb up a steep ledge. You’ll continue scrambling up steep, rough, and rocky terrain, passing lots of nice viewpoints that look west and east along the way. The ledges take you to a false summit, at the junction of the McCrillis Trail and Rollins Trail. To get to the true summit of Mount Whiteface, you will continue on the Rollins Trail for 0.3 miles. The Rollins Trail will do some minor ups and downs and pass the Kate Sleeper Trail before reaching the wooded summit of Mount Whiteface. After tagging the true summit in the woods, it’s best to head back to the top of the ledges to enjoy fine views and lunch. To descend back to the car, you’ll return the same way you came up. Note that descending the upper portion of the Blueberry Ledge Trail can be difficult, especially when wet or icy, so extra caution is necessary in order to return safely to your car!

Alternative routes:

1. One really nice alternative is hiking Mount Whiteface and Mount Passaconaway together as one big loop. The major benefit of doing this is you get to summit both peaks in one trip. This is the route we did in the winter. We did this loop clockwise, so first we ascended the Blueberry Ledge Trail to get to the summit of Mount Whiteface. We chose to go clockwise that way we were going up the steep upper ledges of Blueberry Ledge Trail rather than down them. You then take Rollins Trail all the way to Dicey’s Mill Trail, which then leads you to the summit of Mount Passaconaway. You will descend by taking Dicey’s Mill Trail all the way back to the trailhead. More information on what you can expect from this loop can be found on our blog post here. Hike Stats: 11.9 miles — 3,680 feet of elevation gain — Around 8 hours

We climbed Mount Whiteface and Mount Passaconaway together in one big loop trip in the winter. While both hikes can be hiked individually, the most efficient way to tag both peaks was the long loop.

We have a complete blog post on our experience winter hiking Mount Whiteface and Mount Passaconaway, which you can check out by going here!

Questions? Comments? Want to share your take on this hike? Get in touch with us using the contact page!

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