North Kinsman Via Mt Kinsman Trail is a 7.4 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Woodsville, New Hampshire that offers scenic views and is rated as difficult. The trail is primarily used for hiking, running, and backpacking and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
Parking at the trailhead in winter may be limited, the lot is not regularly plowed.
New Hampshire Division of Travel & Tourism, P.O. Box 1856 , Concord, NH, 03302-1856, Phone: 603-271-2665
You take 34C off of I-93, turn left past Cannon, take a left and keep going another 4 miles down to Easton Road, take a left and go about 2 miles. There’s a small brown trail sign on your left, right after a farm. Trailhead has a small parking area for about 6 vehicles.
April 8, 2021Fantastic freaking day!!! Upper 60s at the base, probably 50 up top, and naught but a light breeze. Any mud along the bottom was easily avoided. Started seeing ice in the middle of the trail at about 2 mi, stuck it out with just hiking shoes until I put spikes on at 2.5 mi. Did the charm the whole way. Actually only got a little slushy at the TOP (and between peaks as well). Brought layers but didn’t touch em - shorts and sleeveless shirt all the way! I also second the advice I saw here about passing the South Peak to get the views at the South Peak Cairn. Definitely worth the few extra minutes but lovely views from different points along the way as well.
April 5, 2021Hiked on Saturday (4/3). Fresh powder in the morning, melted by midday. There were three river crossing before Bald Peak, but were fairly easy to navigate. Overall, beautiful!
March 30, 2021Perfect condition
March 27, 2021well marked trail blue blaze till top then white. muddy at the bottom then the trail is packed snow stay In the middle or you will post hole
March 25, 2021Trail was VERY soft. Ascended at 1030-11am, water crossing were still pretty frozen and there was still a lot of snow after the first mile and a half. Coming down around 5-6pm, most of the snow in the last 2 miles were melted, and the water crossings were completely melted. Lots of post holing, post holing into the streams below the snow, and very wet boots by the end of the hike.
March 21, 2021Excellent packed trail, starting to get warm! Added the Bald Peak and South Kinsman to make it 10.5 miles round trip. Big parking area.
March 20, 2021Lot was down to dirt and patches of ice today. With a few warm days, I suspect it’ll be mostly clear. A little bit of everything today. Don’t be fooled by the bare ground patches on the lower 0.5 mile of the trail - the higher elevations still have multiple feet of snow. After the first 0.5 mile or so, the ice/snow becomes consistent. Once past the junction with Bald Knob, the trail has numerous postholes for at least a mile. A light dusting of snow (~0.25 inches) fell last night at the higher elevations. Some drifting on Kinsman Ridge Trail, but nothing that required snowshoes. Otherwise, trails were well packed and solid. Temps never got above freezing today. Wore spikes out and back. Snowshoes went for a ride. In the afternoon, the trail conditions below the junction with Bald Knob started soften a little, but still nothing that required snowshoes.
March 19, 2021March 14, 2021Good condition. Microspikes the whole way out and back. Icy portions due to daytime melt. Almost bare ground towards a parking lot. Great views. We added South and Bald peak.
January 31, 2021January 27, 2021Did this hike just before New Year's and forgot to write just how perfect the conditions were! Well packed down, gentle snow falling. Some people at the start and a full lot by the end of the day but so serene! Winter hiking at it's best!
January 15, 2021Nice gradual hike for most of the first half then it gets more “uppy” (from Rt. 116 start). Great view from the trail junction at the ridge and just past North summit. South view was socked in. Did this on a Friday, started as 3rd car at trailhead at 8am and I think this was the most people I’ve ever encountered on a hike. They just kept showing up!
January 8, 2021a cold day! temps were around 10 degrees fahrenheit but wind chill once you reached the ridge made it a bit more tough. absolutely gorgeous views. taking this trail north then doing the .8 to south as an out and back took a total of 4 hours.
January 2, 2021January 1, 2021December 30, 2020Great day hiking in the mountains! I always seem to enjoy myself on these peaks especially in the winter. Mt Kinsman Trail is a sweet trail to the ridge with a gentle starting grade that steepens gradually but never extreme or for long. A little icy in spots and otherwise minimal snow depth for late December. Awesome views on the ridge at the trail junction, North Kinsman outlook and from South Kinsman. We added on Bald Peak at the end for a nice little treat. Very nice outlook there that would be a worthy short hike in and of itself.
December 28, 2020Awesome hike. Wish there was more snow but there was good snow up on the ridge trail. A few fun water crossings. The occasional view today because it was mostly overcast. Great hike!!
December 15, 2020Only saw 1 other person on the trail! We started at 9:15, fully prepared for our first winter hike. Turns out we were over prepared. Didn’t need snowshoes, but wore spikes the whole way. The trail was pretty packed and only muddy/icy for the first bit. Easy river crossings. Got a view when we hit the ridge trail but fog set in and the rest of the hike had no visibility. All in all, a great day. Took our time, enjoyed lunch up top and meandered down after dark by headlamp. 8 hours in total.
December 1, 2020It was a beautiful day for hiking this trail- light snow that was still on the branches, very clear for the beautiful views on the summits. It was well marked and a nice steady ascent- not a lot of difficult scrambles. In late November, so it was not surprising that it was muddy and icy. I definitely would recommend traction on your boots as it made a lot of difference once we put ours on. I think this trail is a great one for a winter hike. There are a lot of trees and the snow makes it look like a fairy world. The views are beautiful and it isn’t terribly difficult
November 30, 2020Hiked Mt. Kinsman Trail to Kinsman Ridge on 11/27/20. Spikes required for the Ridge portion of hike and I kept them on until the Bald Peak spur. Mt. Kinsman Trail is a terrific way to approach North and South Kinsman. Gradual and never too steep. To bag both and return to parking lot is 10.0 miles. Not sure why All-Trails lists it as 7.4 round trip to North and back, that is actually 8.2 as it is 4.1 miles to summit North and is an easy .9 to South. Definitely some steep sections on the ridge which can be challenging with ice, but not impossible. No views on the hike as we had hoped for, but the mud and waterfalls kept us busy and provided beautiful scenery.
