A Look At Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains, New Hampshire

Cannon Mountain is located in Grafton County, New Hampshire, which is about twelve minutes from Lincoln, NH (I would advise staying in this city if hiking in the White Mountains). This area is located in the heart of the Franconia Notch State Park. You can either hike this mountain or ski it. It does have their famous Aerial Tramway, which will take you all the way up to the summit in either the summer or winter.

Cannon is apart of the infamous 48 hiking challenge in New Hampshire. This challenge, encompasses 48 different high peaks, that are all above 4,000ft in height. After hiking and skiing at Cannon, I can attest, that Cannon is a high peak but totally worth the climb for the views. Anyways, in this article, you will read about all the different ways to hike Cannon Mountain and everything you need to know about skiing/snowboarding there.

In addition in this article you will read about, Cannon Mountain aerial tramway reviews, Cannon Mountain bike, Cannon Mountain hike, Cannon Mountain RV Park, Cannon Mountain bike rentals, Cannon Mountain NH, Cannon Mountain ski, Cannon Mountain elevation, Cannon Mountain lift tickets, the Mount Washington Cog Railway, Flume Gorge, Loon Mountain Resort, Waterville Valley, Cranmore Mountain Resort, and more.

This article is all about Cannon Mountain.

Cannon Mountain :

Cannon Mountain Directions

Now if you live in Massachusetts, Vermont, or Maine this isn’t too bad of a drive for you. But if you live in New York or west of New York, this is a heck of a drive because of good old Vermont. Vermont has LIMITED highways, which makes it very slow going coming from New York, because you have to go through Vermont to get to New Hampshire.

Okay, if you’re coming from the Boston, Massachusetts, area, like I said this is a pretty straight forward drive. You will get on interstate 93 North for about 57 miles, then you will get off on Exit 32 onto NH Route 112. You will stay on Route 112 for about 72 miles. Then you will turn left onto Kancamagus Highway and take this all the way into Lincoln, New Hampshire. I think the town of Lincoln is the best place to stay overnight, if you plan on staying in a hotel room, because it is the most central location. However, there is plenty of camping in the White Mountain National Forest, that you can find here.

If you’re coming from the Burlington, Vermont, area going to Lincoln, New Hampshire, you can find directions here. Again, the directions aren’t nearly as straight forward, as compared to Boston. There are a lot of back roads instead of highways you’ll take in Vermont. Okay, again, coming from New York, this is not a fun drive because of good ole Vermont. Here are the directions if coming from New York, again LOT’S of back roads. Now, if you are coming from the Portland, Maine area, it’s not too far of a drive, but you will have to follow a lot of back roads, you can find directions here.

Cannon Mountain Hike

There are a couple different ways to hike Cannon. I hiked it via the Kinsman Ridge Trail, which is a TOUGH route. This is definitely the most straight forward and easiest to get to (at Cannon ski mountain, so there’s TONS of parking), but it’s the most DIFFICULT. You will gain almost 2,500ft of elevation gain in about 2 miles. Even though this is only about a 4 mile hike (round trip), PLEASE DO NOT hike this trail if you are a beginner, this elevation gain is VERY difficult, even for experienced hikers. I am a very experienced hiker and this was a tough hike for me.

A good rule of thumb to follow when hiking, is looking for elevation gain that is UNDER 1,000ft per mile, unless you are an experienced hiker. Any elevation gain that is or above 1,000ft per mile is TOUGH. It’s comparable to climbing the entire Eiffel Tower. So, yes, PLEASE do your research before trying different hikes. The Cannon Mountain elevation is 4,081ft. There is also a tram you can take up if you don’t feel like hiking.

You can also hike Cannon via the Lonesome Lake Trail, which does have around the same elevation gain and is almost 2 miles longer. If you want to pair some other New Hampshire 48 hikes together, you could hike Cannon with North Kinsman and South Kinsman again, via the Kinsman Trail. If you continue past Cannon summit, and follow the rest of the Kinsman Ridge Trail, in about 2.8 miles you will arrive at North Kinsman. Then again, if you continue on the Kinsman Trail for about .8 more of a mile, you will get to the summit of South Kinsman. From here you will hike back the way you came, totaling about 11.5 miles with an elevation gain of about 5,600ft.

Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway Reviews & The Mount Washington Cog Railway

Now, if you don’t want to hike Cannon, you can take the Aerial Tram, as it is open from late May to late October, then obviously for the ski season when it starts. You can make reservations for the Aerial Tramway here. Similarly, Mount Washington also has an alternative method of getting to the summit if you don’t want to hike it, via the Mount Washington Cog Railway. This train is open year round from 7am to 4pm. You can purchase your tickets here.

Other Places to Hike in New Hampshire & Other Fun Summer Activities

If you are an avid hiker like myself, then you will LOVE New Hampshire. It is FILLED with TONS of hiking. They have the whole 48 High Peaks that you can hike and all of the White Mountains if you want some “easier” hikes. In addition, the White Mountains offer many different fun activities, such as mountain biking, RV parks, and more.

Flume Gorge
Franconia Notch State Park
Crawford Notch State Park
Presidential Range (here are some more awesome state parks to hike at in NH)
Lincoln & Gorham, NH
Lake Winnipesaukee, NH
Cannon Mountain Bike
Cannon Mountain RV Park
Cannon Mountain Bike Rentals

Cannon Mountain Ski

Okay, switching to another season, the ski season. Yes, you can also ski/snowboard at Cannon Mountain. To get here, just follow the directions above to the Kinsman Trail (they are in the same area/parking lot, Kinsman Trail is just a little to your left). Cannon offers 97 trails, mostly blue runs, a 2,180ft vertical, 160 inches of annual snowfall, and more that you can find here. Cannon Mountain lift tickets run about $99 if purchased in advanced, online, and not on peak times. In peak times, tickets will run you about $130 per adult.

{Related Article : The Best Ski Resorts in New Hampshire}

Other Nearby Ski Mountain in New Hampshire

New Hampshire is filled with MANY MORE ski mountains and resorts. Here are some more great mountains in New Hampshire to ski/snowboard.

Loon Mountain Resort
Waterville Valley
Cranmore Mountain Resort
Gunstock
Wildcat
Bretton Woods & Attitish Ski Resorts
Wolfeboro Abenaki Ski Area

And that wraps up our article about everything you need to know about Cannon Mountain NH. As you can see, Cannon Mountain and all of New Hampshire plus the White Mountains offer SO MANY outdoor activities and so much fun during every season. Thank you so much for reading and I hope this article was helpful.