Hedgehog Mountain, May 30, 2013, White Mountain National Forest, Sandwich Range Wilderness

K on Hedgehog Ledges

In the White Mountain National Forest, the mountains that are designated on the 4,000 footer list seem to capture the most attention... and therefore the most trail traffic. Hoping for a more solitary day in the backcountry, K and I decided on a smaller mountain with a rather benign name...  Hedgehog Mountain.

Dwarfed by its neighbors in the Sandwich Range Wilderness, Hedgehog kind of resembles its animal kingdom namesake with its rounded arching top visible from the Kancamagus Highway. The UNH trail head - named for the University of New Hampshire group that cut the trail - departures from the proximity of a popular campground.

View of Mt. Passaconaway and Hegdgehog Summit from Lower Ledges

Needless to say, we wouldn't even consider taking this trail on a weekend or a holiday.

But our midweek hike on the UNH trail featured total isolation. More importantly, the trail turned out to be pretty darn awesome. A gradual climb through pleasant woods gives way to some steeper scrambles over roots and rocks to a series of wide open rock ledges due south-east of the main summit. We broke for lunch on these ledges to admire the view, actually thinking that we'd made it to the summit.... which in reality required another hour of uphill hiking. The main ledge was equally impressive. All in all, the low elevation hike was still a challenge but the rewards were great.

Highly recommended as one of my favorite half-day hikes in the Whites.

Peak: Hedgehog Mountain
Elevation: 2,532 feet  
Distance: 4.8 miles roundtrip, loop trail
Conditions: Sunny, 86 degrees F