The New Hampshire Forty-Eight 4000'er List
If ever there was a hiking challenge that defines the hiking culture of New England it is “The 48.” “The 48” is a list of forty-eight 4000’+ mountains scattered throughout the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In the summer, you’ll be hard pressed to hike any one of these peaks and not find yourself surrounded by fellow peakbaggers hoping to complete this hiking challenge (or those that already have). Spawned off of “The 48” are a myriad of other hiking lists that range in difficulty and length. These challenges, created by different individuals or groups, turn hiking into a bit of a game. The prize, besides bragging rights, is often a patch that you can display or sew on your backpack (and most of them cost a few dollars).
“The 48” was created in 1957. The Appalachian Mountain Club 4000 Footer Committee originally formed this hiking challenge 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 trail-less 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. With over 17,000 finishers as of 2022 the original intent of the 4000’er committee, to spread out the foot traffic on certain trails, has caused a massive influx of people looking to join the ranks of other finishers. So what are some of the basic rules of the game and what makes a summit qualify for “the list.” Let’s get into it.
Qualifying Mountains
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 Hikers
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.
Additional Versions of the Forty-Eight 4000’er List
There are multiple spin-offs of “The 48” and to finish off this post we’re going to link all of the ones we know of below. Rather than rehashing everything that the AMC 4000’er Committee’s website has laid out about the 48, we encourage each of you to check out their page and peruse around. Read about the history of this list and the various iterations it has taken on since its creation. And we hope that by sharing the basics of the forty-eight 4000’er list here we have clarified what constitutes a qualifying hike and why some peaks are on the list and some aren’t.
Forty-Eight 4000’er List
Forty-Eight 4000’er List Winter
Forty-Eight 4000’er List Four Season
Forty-Eight 4000’er List GRID
Forty-Eight 4000’er List “Compass” (hiking each peak from the north, south, east, west)
Forty-Eight 4000’er List Direttissima (hiking all of the 48 as a single thru-hike)
