The southern leg of the Baldface Circle Trail covers roughly 2.7 miles from the Evans Notch trailhead on Route 113 to South Baldface (3,570 ft), and the difficulty escalates sharply well before the summit. The early going passes through forested terrain and the popular Emerald Pool, a glacially carved swimming hole that signals little of what lies above. Above the South Baldface Shelter at around 2,150 feet, the trail breaks into open sky and the scrambling begins in earnest: terraced granite slabs gaining more than 1,300 feet in under a mile, with minimal handholds and no shade or shelter from wind.
What earns this route a place on the Terrifying 25 is the slab's complete change of character in wet or icy conditions. In dry weather the climb is sustained Class 3 terrain requiring hands and feet throughout, with significant exposure on the upper ledges. When the granite is wet, the same slabs become near-frictionless and the consequences of a slip are serious. A bypass via the Slippery Brook and Baldface Knob Trails avoids the ledge system entirely and should be taken seriously as a fallback when conditions are marginal.
Poles should be stowed before the slab section begins. Footwear with aggressive lugs matters far more here than on most White Mountain trails, and a weather check on the morning of the hike is not optional.
