Everything You Need To Know About The Winter 4000'er Hiking Challenge
In less than a week it will be winter. Tell that to anyone who lives in northern New England and they will let out an audible laugh. While snow typically starts falling as early as late September in northern New Hampshire, the list-o-holics that are forever pursuing the next hiking challenge in New England will tell you that winter absolutely does not start until December 21, at 10:27 pm on the dot.
The hiking lists that seem to continue to multiply (and govern) New Hampshire hiking communities are great ways to keep things fun and interesting if you’re a list-driven individual. However, the most popular list, hiking each of the 48 4000’ mountains in New Hampshire, has well over 10,000 finishers. As winter is quickly approaching, we have decided to start our break-down of all of the hiking lists in New England with the winter version of this popular list while also outlining what the forty-eight 4000’er hiking list is all about.
The Forty-Eight 4000’er Hiking List Rules and General Information
The buzz around the 4000’er hiking list has only continued to grow in recent years. This hiking challenge requires hiking to the summit of each of 48 mountains in New Hampshire that meet very specific requirements. This list is not comprised of the highest peaks in New Hampshire nor is it comprised of the only mountains over 4000 feet in New Hampshire. Created in 1957, the Appalachian Mountain Club 4000 Footer Committee originally formed to encourage hikers to visit less traveled 4000’ers. According to their information packet, summits like West Bond, the Hancocks, and Owl’s Head were trailless at the formation of this committee, while the Presidential Range and Franconia Ridge were heavily trafficked. To encourage hikers to spread out and give some of these heavily trafficked trails a little reprieve, the AMC 4000 Footer Committee was formed. Less than 70 years later, it’s safe to say that the originators of this committee would be overwhelmed with the results.
The rules for a mountain to qualify as part of the 4000’er list are that the mountain must rise more than 200’ from any ridge connecting it to another peak. For example, while Little Haystack Mountain (4,760’) is over 4000 feet, it doesn’t qualify as part of the 48 4000’er list because the ridge leading to the summit of Little Haystack doesn’t descend 200’ or more from the nearest peak Lincoln (5,089’). From the col between Lincoln and Little Haystack you rise less than 200’ to the summit of Haystack. Therefore it is not included on the 4000’er hiking list (it’s confusing, we know).
The rules for a climb to qualify are much simpler. You must walk to the summit of the mountain using your own feet (not riding in a carrier). You may not use the auto road to walk to the summit of Mount Washington. You must reach the summit in one continuous trip (if that includes overnighting that’s fine). Specifically, you cannot take the cog railway train to the top of Mount Washington and then head over to Mount Monroe and call that climbing Mount Monroe because you didn’t start at the base of the mountain and ascend it on foot. Further information about all the nuances of this hiking challenge can be found on the Frequently Asked Questions page of the AMC 4000’er Committee’s website.
The Winter Version of the 4000’er List
While there are several versions of the “4000’er list” we are going to start our series breaking down the lists of New England with the winter version. According to the AMC 4000’er Committee’s pamphlet, as of May, 2022 over 17,000 people have completed the “4000’er list.” However, less than 2,000 have submitted an application for completing the “4000’er list” in winter. Winter hiking can be both magical and downright terrifying. There is certainly something to be said for the silence of the forest in the middle of winter, when the trees are blanketed with snow. Many hikers venture out in winter in pursuit of joining the ranks of the 2,000 other individuals who have hiked each of the forty-eight 4000’ers in winter, so what exactly qualifies for a winter hike? And what additional challenges will someone face when attempting to hike the forty-eight 4000’ers in winter? Let’s break it down.
For a hike to qualify towards hiking each of the forty-eight 4000’ers in winter, the hike must begin after the winter solstice, (December 21, at 10:27 pm in 2023) and end before the spring equinox (March 19, at 11:06 pm in 2024). You can take as many winter seasons as you want to complete the list; however, all hikes must fall between these dates/times to qualify (check the calendar each year because dates and times do change a bit). You must reach the summit using your feet, however you can ski or snowshoe to the top.
In terms of accessibility to trailheads, winter makes things more difficult as many of the trailheads are on closed forest roads. Prior to setting out to hike a summit in winter, be sure to check that the trailhead is open on this site. The following trailheads are commonly closed in late fall and have trails that lead to 4000’ers on them:
Gale River Loop Road (Galehead & Garfield)
Jefferson Notch Road (Jefferson)
Sawyer River Road (Carrigain)
Zealand Road (Hale, Zealand, the Bonds)
Tripoli Road (Osceolas & Tecumseh)
Haystack Road (The Twins & Bonds)
Ravine Road (Moosilauke)
Mount Clinton Road (Pierce & Eisenhower)
While accessibility to trailheads can make things more difficult, there are still some trails that you can take which are commonly used in winter to access many of the above listed peaks without adding long roadwalks. For example, while you cannot access Mount Jefferson from Jefferson Notch Road, you can access it from the Cog Railway (which is commonly hiked in winter) or from the Appalachia parking lot. Although you can’t reach Mount Osceola Trail from Tripoli Road without a roadwalk, you can access it from the Kangamangus Highway (if you’re willing to ascend East Osceola to reach Mount Osceola proper).
On top of road closures, the significant drop in foot traffic on the trails means that the number of trails that are broken out decreases. While there are a lot of ways to reach the summit of some of the 4000’ers, many of those trails aren’t used in winter. Unless you’re willing to break out several feet of snow, hiking the less traveled trails in winter is not recommended. Water crossings, difficulty of terrain, and likelihood of being almost inaccessible for rescue means that going off of the most common trails that are hiked in winter can be downright dangerous.
Before deciding to hike one of the 4000’ers in winter you should be checking trail conditions as well as road closures. We also recommend checking weather at the trailhead and on the summit using higher summit forecast tools like Mountain-Forecast. We go over much more about winter hiking basics in this post, so be sure to check it out before your first official winter hike.
Examples of the most common trails to the summits of each of the forty-eight 4000’ers are as follows. This post should not be the only research that you do prior to hiking to a summit in winter. Refer to the White Mountain National Forest hiking map set and the White Mountain Guidebook before setting out on any hike. Some of the below trails are the main trail in a series of trails taken to each summit. For example, Valley Way is often hiked from the Appalachia trailhead but does not reach the summit of Mount Madison and Mount Adams. Additional trails are used to reach the summits proper. The primary trail alone will be listed below:
Northern Presidentials & Monroe -
The Cog Railway
Ammonoosuc Ravine
Valley Way
Lion’s Head Winter Route
Southern Presidentials -
Crawford Path
Ammonoosuc Ravine (Monroe)
Webster-Jackson Trail
Willey, Field, Tom -
Avalon Trail
A-Z Trail
Middle Carter, South Carter, Carter Dome -
19 Mile Brook Trail
Imp Trail from Camp Dodge
Moriah -
Stony Brook Trail
Carter-Moriah Trail (most common)
Wildcats A & E-
19 Mile Brook Trail
Polecat Ski trail (must purchase an uphill pass, see website for more details)
Waumbek -
Starr King Trail
Cabot -
Bunnell Notch Trail
Carrigain -
Signal Ridge Trail
North & Middle Tripyramid -
Pine Bend Brook Trail
Passaconaway, Whiteface -
Blueberry Ledge Trail
Dicey’s Mill Trail
Osceola & East Osceola -
Greeley Pond Trail to Mount Osceola Trail
Middle & Mount Hancock -
Hancock Notch to Cedar Brook Trail
Mount Bond, Bondcliff, & West Bond -
Lincoln Woods Trail to Bondcliff Trail
Zealand Trail to Twinway
North Twin Trail to Twinway
North & South Twin -
North Twin Trail
Gale River Trail to Twinway
Zealand -
Zealand Trail
Hale -
Hale Brook Trail
Galehead -
Gale River Trail
Garfield -
Mount Garfield Trail
Lincoln & Lafayette -
Old Bridle Path
Falling Waters Trail
Liberty & Flume -
Liberty Spring Trail to Franconia Ridge Trail
Owl’s Head -
Lincoln Woods Trail to Black Pond Bushwhack
Isolation -
Rocky Branch Trail North to Engine Hill Bushwhack
Cannon -
Kinsman Ridge Trail from Cannon Tram parking lot
Lonesome Lake Trail to Hi-Cannon Trail
North & South Kinsman -
Lonesome Lake Trail to Fishing Jimmy Trail
Mount Tecumseh -
Mount Tecumseh Trail from Waterville Valley ski resort
Moosilauke -
Gorge Brook Trail (by far easiest and most common)
Carriage Road
Glencliff Trail
