Davis Path to Mount Crawford

PHOTO: Everyone knows the best time to hike in the White Mountains is in the Fall. Bria, Sharon and Sarah heading up the open ledges on the way to Mount Crawford’s summit. Mount Crawford, elevation 3,119 feet, is included in the 52 With A View list. The start of the Davis Path is the southern terminus of the Cohos Trail that extends all the way to the Canadian Border.

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

Near the bottom of Crawford Notch, right across from Samuel Bemis’ granite mansion, now the fine The Notchland Inn, is the Davis Path Trailhead. The Davis Path was built by Abel and Hannah Crawford’s son-in-law Nathaniel Davis and completed in 1845. The 14 mile long Davis Path was used as a bridle path to the summit of Mount Washington for only ten years and then fell victim to neglect. In 1910 it was reopened for hiking.
The first mountain the Davis Path crosses is Mount Crawford. Well, the Davis Path doesn’t actually cross any summits but passes near the mountaintops of Crawford, Resolution, Stairs, Davis and Isolation before joining the Crawford Path to reach Mount Washington’s summit. Leaving the Davis Path are short spur paths to the mountaintops.
To hike to the summit of Mount Crawford follow the Davis Path for 2.2 miles and turns left up the 3/10ths of a mile spur path that leads to its bare ledgy summit. The hike is strenuous, climbing over 2,100 vertical feet from the valley floor below. But the view of Crawford Notch, the Dry River Wilderness and Mount Washington’s sparkling rockpile makes it well worth the effort.

My friends, Sarah and Sharon since completing the 4,000 footer list have become interested in visiting more splendid peaks in the White Mountains. Peaks not on the extremely popular 4,000 footer list tend to be less crowded. The Davis Path has a large paved parking lot and since these days everyone is driving alone we were confident if we arrived early each of us could find a safe legal parking spot. Oh how I miss the days of carpooling together.
Bria joined us to hike Mount Crawford too. Last year when she hiked the entire Davis Path it was the one mountain she had skipped because she ran out of daylight. The four of us grabbed our packs and headed up the trail to the pedestrian suspension bridge over the Saco River. The water was running low and the foliage was lovely. The path passes by some of the few private homes in Hart’s Location. (Hart’s Location is also famous for being the smallest town in New Hampshire and First in the Nation for Voting.)
The first part of the hike is gentle but then wham it’s steep. We appreciated the switchbacks and the fine stone steps that protect the trail and provide good safe footing. At 1.9 miles the trail breaks out to an open ledge and we enjoyed our first big views of the mountains and the valley below. From here the view just kept getting better.

The signs for the spur trail to the summit are made out of plain wood and do not stand out and are difficult to see. Bria was leading and nearly walked past the intersection. We turned left off the Davis Path and hiked up over a steep bare granite. I don’t recall any blazes but once at the top of the ledge the path foodbed is easy to follow.
There were a few people on the top. The open area is large and we chose to sit and eat an early lunch facing west. We could see down below the Notchland Inn and across to Mt. Bemis, Mt. Nancy and Mt. Carrigain. Together we reminisced about our adventures to the peaks that we had hiked together. We pulled out a map and identified more of the peaks in the far distance.
The young man that had passed us earlier saw us with the map and asked us about continuing on to Mt. Stairs. We showed him the map and he saw that it was another 2.2 miles up the Davis Path to Stair’s spur path. Bria gave him more details about what to expect along the way and we pointed out the route to the mountain too. Mt. Crawford is an excellent vantage to see all the peaks on its path to Mount Washington.

The four of us spent a good hour on the summit enjoying every minute of the fine fall day. On our way back down we passed by a few dozen hikers and maybe just as many dogs. Most of the dogs were well behaved and on leashes. A few, well, their owners could use some training.
We made fast work of picking our way down the mountain and when we reached the suspension bridge we lingered a few moments admiring the river.

When we reached the car we could hear a train coming near. The train tracks run along the west side of Route 302. It was just after 1 pm and the Conway Scenic Railroad Mountaineer Train was headed up Crawford Notch full of happy riders waving at us. We enthusiastically waved back and watched the train continue all the way by before we jumped into our own cars to go home.
Have fun.

hike NH White Mountains