How to Hike the Loneliness Mountain in New Hampshire : Mount Isolation

Ouch, Mount Isolation, is quite the peak to accomplish apart of the New Hampshire 48 Hiking Challenge. It is definitely an ankle eater, joint throber, and soul crusher. Just kidding, it’s not that bad, but being in the woods for as long as you will be, is kind of a soul crusher. After hiking this mountain, I can definitely say it lives up to its name. It is probably one of the most “isolated” peaks you will climb apart of the NH48. Owl’s Head is the other most isolated peak apart of the New Hampshire 48.

I will say, when my friend and I hiked Isolation, we did meet quite a bit of other hikers. So, maybe this isn’t quite as “remote” as people say this hike is. However, we did hike this in the summer time, which is the busiest hiking time. There are a couple different ways to hike this mountain, which I will take about later in this article, along with a lot more.

In this article you will read about, Mount Isolation weather, Mount Isolation loop, Mount Isolation trail, Mount Isolation elevation, Mountain Isolation trail map, Mount Isolation trail conditions, Mount Isolation difficulty, Mount Isolation via Davis Path, Mount Isolation parking, and more.

This article is all about Mount Isolation.

Mount Isolation:

Rocky Branch Trailhead

Okay, like I said, there are a couple different ways to hike this mountain, either via the Rocky Branch, Glen Boulder, or a traverse from Glen Boulder to Rocky Branch. My friend and I hiked it via Rocky Branch. Now, from Lincoln, New Hampshire to get to the Rocky Branch Trailhead, you will get on Route 112 or Kancamagus Highway going east. You will stay on Route 112 for 22 miles then take a left onto Bear Notch Road. Then in 8.9 miles you will turn right onto US-302. In 6.1 miles, you will turn left onto NH-16 North. Finally, in 7.7 miles, you will take a left onto Popple Mount Trail, in about 600ft you will arrive at the parking lot. This is about an hour drive from Lincoln, NH.

Glen Boulder Trailhead

Now, to drive to Glen Boulder trail, from Lincoln, it’s pretty similar to the Rocky Branch drive. Only, the Glen Boulder Trail is about 4 minutes longer of a drive. To start, you will get on Route 112 East or the Kancamagus Highway, again for 22 miles you will staty on the Kancamagus. Then you will turn left onto Bear Notch Road. In 8.9 miles, you will turn right onto US-302. In 6.1 miles turn left onto NH-16 North. Stay here for the next 11 miles and in .2 of a mile, your parking lot will be on your right. This will take you a little over an hour to drive too from Lincoln, New Hampshire.

Mount Isolation via Rocky Branch : Which Trailhead is Best for You

Mount Isolation is a difficult hike. Thus, picking which trailhead is best for you, will really make or break this hike for you. This is the exact reason why my friend and I hiked Isolation via the Rocky Branch Trail, we did not want to turn an already annoyingly difficult hike into an aggravatingly difficult hike. Either way this will be a long hike, so I would really consider which trail is better for you. While the elevation on Rocky Branch is still decent, it nothing compared to the Glen Boulder trail.

Simply, because on your way “down,” from Glen Boulder, you will still have to go back “up” the boulder to get back down to your car. I judge a hike by its elevation gain NOT by its mileage. And the Glen Boulder, even though is about 1.5 miles shorter, adds about 1,500ft more feet of elevation gain. You can hike anything for 20 miles as long as it’s flat, but once you start throwing in elevation gain, that’s what will significantly slow you down. Any hike where you gain 1,000ft or more of elevation per mile, is TOUGH. You are huffing and puffing. Because of this, my friend and I decided to hike Isolation via Rocky Branch, to save ourselves from the massive elevation gain.

This being said, the Glen Boulder trail looks absolutely beautiful! And because of this, I did try to convince my friend to hike Isolation this way. But after the hike via Rocky Branch, and talking to people at the summit who had climbed via Glen Boulder, I will say, I was happy with our decision of Rocky Branch. Now, you can hike the Mount Isolation loop hike. You will start at the Glen Boulder Trailhead, hike to the summit, then hike down via the Rocky Branch Trail.

I would recommend this if it’s a beautiful day and you want to save your legs from more elevation gain on the way back. However, you will need two cars to complete this loop. One will have to park at the Glen Boulder Trailhead while the other one will have to park at the Rocky Branch Trailhead. Thus, if it’s a cloudy day, I would just hike Isolation via the Rocky Branch Trail. You could always just hike to the Glen Boulder and back. To get to the Boulder, it’s about 1.5 miles, then to get to another mountain summit (different from summit of Isolation) is about 3.2 miles. Thus, in total to hike to the boulder it’s 3 miles roundtrip and 6.4 miles roundtrip for the mountain viewpoint.

Rocky Branch Trailhead

Okay, if you want to hike Mount Isolation via the Rocky Branch trail, start by following the directions above to get to the parking lot and trailhead. Once you are parked, you can continue to the trailhead and follow the trail to the summit of Mount Isolation. The trail is pretty well marked/worn in, thus, just follow what looks like a trail and you will make it to the summit. That being said, I did follow the AllTrails offline downloadable map for this hike. You can also find directions here for this trailhead if you are not driving from Lincoln, NH.

For the first 3.5 miles you will follow signs for the Rocky Branch Trail. Then you will see a trail intersection with Mount Isolation sign on one of the trees. This will be your signal to turn right onto the Isolation Trail, which you will follow for about 2.3 miles. Here, you will come across another trail intersection, where you will want to turn left onto the infamous Davis Path. You will follow this path for about a mile, then be at the summit of Mount Isolation!

You are in the woods the whole time, which really discouraged me. My favorite part about hiking are ridge lines, so this was a rough trail for me. That being said, elevation gain on this trail is extremely bearable, and the summit is AWESOME. It has 360 views and a nice big summit area. However, it was a cloudy day when we hiked it. So, we had some views but nothing spectacular, as the pictures shows. We did see lots of Gray Jays which was a lot of fun to interact with. Apparently, a lot of people see moose on this trail and some people at the summit said they had that day. However, we did not see the moose. Lastly, to get back down, you will just retrace your steps.

Glen Boulder Trailhead

Now, for the Glen Boulder Trail, you can follow the directions in the fourth paragraph to get to the parking lot/trailhead. Or you can go to AllTrails and get directions there if you are not driving from Lincoln, New Hampshire. Once you walk to the trailhead, you will continue on the Glen Boulder Trail for the first 3ish miles. Then there will be a trail intersection where you want to take a left onto the Davis path. Then you will continue on the Davis Path for the next again, 3ish miles until you reach the summit of Mount Isolation!

To get back down, you can either retrace your steps, or continue straight onto the Rocky Branch Trail, if you want to complete the Mount Isolation Loop. However, keep in mind, if you hike the loop, you will need two cars, one at the Glen Boulder parking lot and the other at the Rocky Branch parking lot. I would follow the AllTrails offline downloadable map for the Glen Boulder Trail. Now if you want to hike the Mount Isolation Loop, I would download both AllTrails offline versions of the Glen Boulder and Rocky Branch Trails and use the Glen Boulder to start. Then, once you get to the summit follow the Rocky Branch offline trail map to get back down.

Mount Isolation Trail Conditions

If you are going to hike Isolation via Rocky Branch be ready for lots of rocks. It very much lives up to it’s name. Also, there are no ridge lines, you are in the trees/woods the entire hike until you get to the summit. Because of all the rocks, this is a very technical trail and puts a lot of pressure on your knees and ankles, especially, going down. If you enjoy looking down, then this is the trail for you. You will definitely have to keep looking down, the entire time, so you don’t trip on any of the rocks.

The topography does change in different areas with having some rivers/little bogs. Also, there’s a lot of rivers to cross, but all are doable without taking your shoes off. The first 1.8-2 miles has a lot of elevation gain, then, after that, it chills out a lot. You really don’t get any more elevation gain until the last 300ft of the trail. In total, this trail took us about 9 hours to hike and we’re moderate to fast hikers. I would allow yourself at least 8-10 hours to complete this hike. My phone said we walked a total of 14.5 miles and about climbed 3,500ft of elevation gain.

Now, for the Glen Boulder trail conditions, I’ve heard it is elevation gain the entire time. You will have to hike up to the boulder, then DOWN it, then BACK up, just to get to the summit of Isolation. This is the main reason why we didn’t hike the Glen Boulder trail. We didn’t want to have to go up and down and up again.

Mount Isolation Difficulty & Overall Thoughts

We hiked this trail on a Wednesday in August and got to the Rocky Branch Trailhead around 7:15am. At this time, the lot was about halfway full. I think this trail is pretty easy to follow, however, I was following my AllTrails downloadable map. But, I think the trail was still straight forward enough that if you didn’t have a map (NOT suggesting this) you would be okay. Elevation gain wise, this is definitely the easier way to hike Isolation. However, I found the rocks and being in the woods the entire time, super annoying. On the other hand, I am VERY happy we didn’t have the elevation gain like we would have had hiking the Glen Boulder Trail.

Some other thoughts I had about this hike were on the way down, you can “slowly” run if you’re knees and ankles are up to it. My friend and I did this because the elevation gain was nice enough that we could lightly run down, once we got to the last 2 miles of the trail. Ironically, the running saved my knees because it was worst to go slow and be against gravity. Thus, it felt better to go with gravity and just let my knees run. Also, if you like paper maps, I HIGHLY recommend getting the White Mountains waterproof version from mapadventures.com.

And that wraps up our article about Mount Isolation. I hope this article was helpful for you, especially, if you’re unsure about what trail to hike. This was a strenuous hike but on a nice day would have been totally worth it for the view. Overall, I’m happy with the decision my friend and I made by hiking the Rocky Branch Trail, and can’t wait to ONLY hike to the boulder on the Glen Boulder Trail one day.