Mt. Moriah - 4049 Feet

The Northern Presidentials from the Carter-Moriah trail

STATE: New Hampshire
TOWN: Shelburne
DESTINATION: Mt. Moriah
ELEVATION: 4049 feet
SUMMIT COORDINATES: N44 20.424' W71 07.890'
TRAIL: Carter Moriah Trail
DISTANCE: 9 miles
ELEVATION GAIN: 3250 feet
HIKING TIME: 3 - 4 hours
SEASON: Winter
DATE: March 20, 2011
WEATHER: Sunny, clear

PARKING:

From the route 2 and route 16 intersection follow route 2 east for 0.6 miles and turn right onto Bangor Street. Follow Bangor Street to a small parking lot at it's left end. Avoid blocking the nearby driveways.

USGS QUAD: Carter Dome Quad

MAP: (Mt. Moriah)

DESCRIPTION:

From parking walk to the end of Bangor Street and look for the Carter-Moriah trail ascending to the left. The trail ascends steeply up a logging road then the grade eases to a more gradual incline through mostly open hardwoods. At 2.0 miles you'll cross a series of open ledges offering awesome views of the Northern Presidential Range, Tuckerman and Huntington ravines. A short distance later you pass to the right of 2194 foot Mt. Surprise. The open ledges at this lower elevation give you a false sense of elevation and distance giving the illusion that the Moriah Summit is much closer than 2.5 miles and almost 2000 feet elevation gain remaining. The trail descends then ascends gradually soon becoming an intermediate grade as it winds it's way dipping up and down along the ridge. At 4.2 miles you are presented with a view of Mt. Moriah and at 4.5 miles a short spur path leads to the open summit. There is a benchmark disk at the summit along with excellent panoramic views.

TRAIL DISTANCES:

HIKING DISTANCES
DESTINATION	DISTANCE	TOTAL DIST.
Parking - Mt. Surprise	2.1 miles	2.1 miles
Mt. Surprise - Mt. Moriah	2.4 miles	4.5 miles

HIKING TIMES:

HIKING TIMES
DESTINATION	TIME	TOTAL TIME
Parking - Mt. Surprise	1 hour	1 hour
Mt. Surprise - Mt. Moriah	1 hour 15 minutes	2 hours 15 minutes
Mt. Moriah - parking	1 hour	3 hours 15 minutes

NOTES / COMMENTS:

At 4049 feet Mt. Moriah is the 41st highest peak in New Hampshire and the highest point in the town of Shelburne. The open summit offers 360 degree panoramic views of the Carter Range, Northern Presidential range and Mahoosuc Mountain range.

 The Presidential Range from the Mt. Moriah summit

 The Carter Range

Middle Moriah and Shelburne Moriah