Crawford Path

The Crawford Path is an 8.5-mile-long (13.7 km) hiking trail in the White Mountains of New Hampshire that is considered to be the United States' oldest continuously maintained hiking trail.^[1] It travels from Crawford Notch to the summit of Mount Washington (Agiocochook). The first iteration of the Crawford Path was cut in 1819 by Ethan Allen Crawford and his father, Abel Crawford. The trail ascends a cumulative 4,900 feet (1,500 m), first through densely wooded forest for about 3.1 miles (5.0 km), then following the exposed southern ridge of the Presidential Range mostly above the treeline.

The Crawford Path is a popular hiking trail. The primary parking lot for hikers is off Mt. Clinton Road, 0.1 miles from U.S. Route 302. Using short loop trails, either off of or paralleling Crawford Path, the summits of Mt. Pierce, Mt. Eisenhower, and Mt. Monroe can be reached. The Crawford Path also passes the Appalachian Mountain Club's Lakes of the Clouds hut, one of their High Huts of the White Mountains. The Crawford Path is part of the Appalachian Trail from their junction north of Mt. Pierce to the summit of Mt. Washington.^[2]