Mount Moriah is a hike located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It is a part of the infamous 48 4,000 footer peaks hiking challenge in the state. It’s a beautiful mountain that is typically hiked as a solo peak. It has a couple different ways to hike it. My friend and I hiked it via the Stony Brook Trail, further in this article I will talk about trail conditions, stats, and more.

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This post is all about Mount Moriah.

Mount Moriah:

Mount Moriah Stats

Moriah is one of the smaller 4,000 footers. It stands at 4,049 feet. It is New Hampshire’s 41st tallest peak. I hiked it via Stony Brook, however, there are a couple different ways to hike it. You can hike it via the Carter Moriah Trail, the Rattle River, and the 19 Mile Brook Trail which you can hike the Carters in addition to Moriah.

Via the Stony Brook Trail it’s a solid 5 miles to the top, making it 10 miles round trip with an elevation gain of about 3,000 feet. This trail is VERY rocky, the first 3.5 miles is annoying because of all the rocks you have to avoid while climbing to the summit. The first mile to mile and a half is relatively flat, so you will get a break there. Then, the middle miles are just rough. However, the last mile to mile and a half is on a beautiful ridge line.

My friend and I hiked Moriah on a Thursday in early July. We got there around 9am and there were 3 available parking spots left. If you hike this one in season (end of June through mid October), I would get here early. If it’s a weekday no later than 9am and on a weekend no later than 6:30-7am.

Mount Moriah Directions

To get to Mount Moriah, from Lincoln, NH, it will be about an hour drive. First, you will merge onto I-93 North. You will stay here for 12 miles then get off on Exit 36 to NH-141 towards Twin Mountain. After the exit, turn right onto NH-141 towards Twin Mountain and US-3. In about .4 of a mile you will take a left onto US-3. In 11 miles turn right onto NH-115. Then in about 9.7 miles, turn right onto Presidential Highway. Stay here for 12 miles then turn right onto Main Street. In 1.4 miles turn right onto Glen Road. In about 1.8 miles turn left into the parking lot. 

Mount Moriah via Stony Brook

Once we parked, we followed the signs up the road to the Stony Brook Trail. The first 1.5 miles or so are relatively flat. Then the elevation gain really starts to pick up. Most of the elevation gain is between mile 2 through 4.5. Also, there are a TON of medium sized rocks to climb over and avoid, which makes the up even more annoying and the way down. However, the last 1-1.5 miles are beautiful. You hike on a ridge line with awesome views of the presidential range. 

I will say although this is a beautiful ridge line, it does feel like the trail never ends. When my friend and I were approaching 1.5 miles on the ridge line, we were starting to think the summit was a mirage. However, if you keep following the signs (they are there if you keep hiking) they will lead you to the summit. You will know you’re at the summit with the summit markers.

Mount Moriah Summit

The summit of Moriah is small but beautiful. Because of this, I would eat lunch somewhere on one of the ridge line lookouts. It will probably be crowded with people especially on a weekend or in the summer time. When we were there it worked out. A group had just left. Then, there was one other group on the top and then when we were about to leave another group came. So, it will be a busy summit and if you don’t like that, then I would quickly go to the summit and then hike back down to one of the other many lookouts for lunch/relaxation.

Hiking Back to Your Car

To get back to your car, you will retrace your steps the same way you came up. This hike with breaks took us about 6 hours. Apart from the awful, many rocks, this trail was not bad, especially the end with the ridge line. Overall, it was a really nice day. Lastly, because of all the rocks on this trail, I would try to hike this after a couple days of no rain, so the rocks will be dry.

Other Ways to Hike Mount Moriah : Carter Moriah Trail

You can also hike Moraih via the Carter Moriah Trail. It’s also about an hour from Lincoln, New Hampshire. You will follow the same directions from Lincoln and get on NH – 141 and US – 3 then NH – 115. Then get on the Presidential Highway and Main Street. After taking a right onto Main Street, in about 1.9 miles you will take a right onto Bangor Street. Lastly, in half a mile the parking lot will be on your right. This trail is a little shorter, being closer to 9 miles with a little more than 3,000ft of elevation gain. I’ve heard the parking lot doesn’t have many spots, so I would recommend arriving early to this trailhead. Also, it’s best to hike this trail after a couple days of no rain, so the rock slabs will be dry. Otherwise, this doesn’t seem like a bad way to hike Moriah.

Other Ways to Hike Mount Moriah : Shelburne – Moriah via Rattle River

To get here from Lincoln, NH, you will follow the same directions as listed above until you get to Main Street. You will still take a right onto Main Street then in about 4.9 miles, you will park your car at the Rattle River Trail. This hike is about 13 miles with almost 4,000 feet of elevation gain. You can also hike Shelburne Mountain as well if you want to. Unless you want to hike Shelburne, I wouldn’t recommend hiking Moriah this way solely because it adds about 3 miles to your hike and about 1,000 feet of elevation gain. Thus, it seems like a lot more work to hike Moriah this way unless you want to see Shelburne. Also, I’ve heard this trail is not kept up the best, there’s a lot of blowdown and bugs.

Other Ways to Hike Mount Moriah : 19 Mile Brook

In this loop hike, you will climb all the Carters and Mount Moriah. This is a LONG hike. I recommend backpacking at the Carter Notch Hut because this is about a 25 mile hike. The hike will also have over 7,000 feet of elevation gain. This article will give you much more information on how to complete this hike and how to make it a backpacking/thru-hike.

Overall Thoughts About Mount Moriah

I liked Moriah. I think this would be a much more enjoyable winter hike. The rocks on the Stony Brook trail are awful and the trail feels like it never ends. However, the ridge line is BEAUTIFUL. The ridge line is worth seeing and I do recommend hiking Moriah via the Stony Brook Trail. Unless you enjoy backpacking then the Carter and Moriah loop might be the way for you. Thank you so much for reading and I hope this was helpful.