Signal Ridge Trail to Mount Carrigain

Great trek as others have stated. Sawyer River Road not open yet so did the 2 mile hike up to the trailhead. Continued up Signal Ridge for 5 miles to summit. A good hike in that when you start from Rt 302 you get another 500' or so gain which puts you at about 3,900' gain to the summit. Not that many 4K footers where you can say you trekked 4K to get to the top (my Garmin actually read 3999' at the fire tower!). Continued down Desolation to the Stilwater area to camp. Wanted to do more than just peak bag this one. Nice camping options in the Pemi there. Read in Steve Smith's book how Brutus the bear (450 lbs) terrorized campers back in the day, when there was a shelter in this area. That was nice to know as we dozed off! Returned via Nancy Pond which is amazing! Try this, you'll like it!

360 views can't be beat

Tough in the winter but still a great hike! We left the lower parking lot (sawyer river rd is un-plowed) at 9am and got up to the trail head at 10:15am. Made it up to the switchbacks right before the ridge around 2:30pm and decided to turn back. Got back down to the parking lot at 6pm. The snow made it very strenuous and we definitely made the right choice to turn back. We will definitely be back in the spring to get to the summit!

In the winter Sawyer River Road is generally closed, adding 2 miles each way to the hike. Pretty challenging ascent in snowshoes, will definitely be feeling it tomorrow.

We went throughout the notch to the Desolation Trail and Ascended the back side, then down the Signal Ridge Trail for 13.4 miles. There was quite a bit of mellow hiking, but you pay for it on the way up the back side!

Signal ridge trail is great; beautiful scenery and clearly visible. The desolation trail is cool because it’s technical toward the top, but once you leave the alpine zone there are trees down, no blazes, and lots of spur trails leading nowhere, so pay close attention if you make a loop of this. Very cool trail, though. 360 panos from top make it worth the push!

Hike up was pretty tiring for me. I was quite sore by the end of the day. But not so much that I couldn't move my arms and legs the next day. Not to many insects trying to eat you thankfully. However I did go fully covered head to toe with insect repellent on me. It wasn't busy at all. For 85% of the hike up my husband and I were the only people hiking. We met a few people on the way (about 10 total up and down). There is a watch tower like construction built all the way to the top where you can see EVERYTHING ! It's so so so quiet. Couldn't even hear birds or insects singing. Weather was amazing so we spent about 20mins soaking up the sun and silence. I expected the view to be better though. Wasn't disappointed but not as amazed as I wanted to be.

One of the best in the whites!

one of the best in the whites!

Decent hike. First two miles are flat and easy and the remaining three miles, while a fair grade, were along a narrow and rocky trail, which was difficult to navigate at times.

I'll start off by saying the sights at the top make everything worth it. Absolutely breathtaking-- 360 degrees of beautiful views of mountains while you gaze on top of a fire watch tower. 5/5 experience once you reach that ridge and up to the summit. However, the path there is a SLOG. The first mile is a stroll through the forest with beautiful views of creeks and waterfalls (we even dipped in at the end of the hike). The next three miles are a long, steep journey mostly on broken rocks with very little to no views because of the thickness of the surrounding forest-- this really detracted from our experience. Despite this, though, we could hardly be angry with how gorgeous the view at the top is.
We also brought a medium sized dog who handled the trail very well.

Breathtaking views !

Completed my last 48 4000 footer on Carrigain. Beautiful hike! There's an awesome ridge prior to the summit and a fire tower at the very top. There is a small creek towards the bottom to cool off in afterwards. Great 360° at the top and an awesome way to finish this epic list!

Amazing view from the top!

Great hike. The observation tower at the summit was amazing.

beautiful hike

I thought we got pretty lucky hearing all the horror stories. Took a little more time but gorgeous hike. Open woods to blow doens to herd path to talus field and more herd path to the open area to have a beer next to the cannister. Great "herd" of people :)

As of Oct 2013, Sawyer River Road is open again, and they have changed the beginning of the trail. The trail now starts on the south side of the bridge, and a new trail sign marks the entrance to the woods. Leaving the North entrance to the parking area, the trail head is about 50 feet up the road to the left now, not to the right where the information kiosk is. We missed the sign at the beginning of our trek, but the trail led us to the right location on the way out. In few places the trail is deceptively erratic, so much so that we thought we weren't on the trail a few times, but it became pretty easy to follow as soon as we crossed the little bridge by the swamp at about 2 miles. The remainder of the hike was great, and the views from Signal Ridge and the summit platform were even better than expected. It was pretty cold at the summit, even warranting winter gloves to keep the chill off. Keep your eyes out for the Gray Jays. They'll eat food right out of your hand if you let them, and even try to steal a granola bar once in a while!

This is an outstanding trail that leads to some of the best views in the White Mountains. The trail is moderately rocky in places, but always easy to moderate in grade and offers no difficulties that cannot be overcome by strong legs alone. The upper portions of the trail offer outstanding views but minimal exposure as trees are always nearby if the weather deteriorates. NOTE: the Sawyer River Road is closed and gated as of 7/12. This means you will need to walk or bike from the parking area at US 302 adding 2mi. and 700 vertical feet each way.

Long trail up where everything is the same for the first few hours. We followed the river and had fun splashing in it. Once you split from the river, you start going up a hill that's steep yet boring because it has the same view for the nest hour... you are on a very narrow path, tall trees and all you with a dozen sharp turns and it seems like it will never end.
Once you get to the top. It has amazing view of all the mountains around you.