Mount Cardigan rises to 3,149 feet in western New Hampshire, but its broad, fire-scarred summit carries the feel of something far loftier. A series of fires in 1855 stripped the upper mountain of its forest, leaving sweeping expanses of bare granite that remain open today, with views taking in the White Mountains to the north and east, Mount Monadnock to the south, Camel's Hump in Vermont, and Pleasant Mountain in Maine.
The mountain sits within the 5,655-acre Cardigan Mountain State Park and is accessible from two directions. The state park trailhead on the west side offers the gentler West Ridge Trail to the summit, while the AMC's Cardigan Lodge to the east provides a base for longer approach routes including the Clark Trail. A popular loop combines the two: ascending via the South Ridge and Clark trails, then returning on the West Ridge, passing the summit fire tower along the way. Most routes involve 2 to 3 miles and 1,500 to 1,700 feet of elevation gain.
The exposed summit demands respect in any season. Wind and icing can make the open ledges treacherous from November through April, and afternoon thunderstorms are a real concern in summer. The bare rock and cairn-marked routes offer easy navigation in clear weather, but the wide-open terrain provides no shelter when conditions change quickly.
