Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce Hike Guide

Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce is a loop hike that conquers two 4,000+ peaks in one trip. The hike has a variety of trail conditions including packed dirt, stream crossings, rocky terrain and slabs of granite. This is a family friendly hike that does make for a long half day or full day hike. The trail up to Mount Pierce passes by Gibbs Falls which is a fantastic little waterfall to enjoy during your time on the trail.

Mt Eisenhower & Mt Pierce Quick Facts

Virtual Trail Guide: Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce

Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 Stars)

Distance: 10.2 miles RT (5.4 miles to Mount Eisenhower, 1.7 miles to Mount Pierce, 3.1 miles Mount Pierce to TH)

Elevation Start: 1,920 ft

Highest Point: 4,780 ft – Mount Eisenhower, Mount Pierce 4,311 ft

Total Elevation Gain: 4,775 ft

Estimated Time to Complete: 5-7 Hours RT (2-3 Hours to Eisenhower, 1 Hour to Mount Pierce, 2-3 Hours down)

Difficulty: Moderate What does this mean?

Class: Class 2 – What does this mean?

Season: May – December (expect snow outside of this period)

Check the Weather Forecast

Directions to Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce

Trailhead: Mount Clinton Road – Crawford Connector Lot

Getting Here:

From 93: Take US 3 to US 302, continue on US 302 for 8.2 miles to reach the parking lot on your left.

From points South/East: Take US 302 to Crawford Notch State Park. Continue up the notch until you reach the signed trailhead about .3 miles past the AMC Highlands center.

You can enter in Crawford Connector Trailhead into your favorite navigational device.

Fees: $5 – Day pass

Parking: Parking for Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce is easy. There is a large parking lot located on the south side of Mount Clinton Road. This lot is massive and can fit 60-70 cars. There is a non-plumbing bathroom located on the north end of the parking lot. If you want to park elsewhere, that is certainly an option as well, but this hike is based off the Mount Clinton Road TH.

Summary

Camping: There are a variety of options for camping while hiking Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce. If you want to camp near the trailhead, there are a variety of campgrounds to choose from. If you want to take advantage of dispersed of backcountry camping, here is a complete list of rules and locations for dispersed camping. If you want to camp in a hut (enclosed shelter), you can reserve those here as well.

Dogs: The hike up Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce is dog friendly, but bring some water and towels for you car. The trail is muddy in several sections, particularly between Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce in addition to Crawford Path down Mount Pierce. There are no poop bags at the trailhead. 

Make it a Loop: You can make the hike up Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce a loop in both directions. I hiked up Mount Eisenhower first and finished with Mount Pierce. There are a million different possibilities if you are looking to extend your trip. Purchase a map or look at a free one here.

Trail X Factors: Muddy Hiking

Although a lot of the trail up Mount Eisenhower (Edwards Path) is fairly dry, basically all of the Crawford Path between Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce and down Mount Pierce was muddy and wet. It appears that there was some trail improvement efforts in process, but for the most part it was a lot of soggy and muddy sections of trail. Be sure to have waterproof or water resistant shoes/boots or an extra pair of socks if you are not bringing that with you.

Hike Tip(s): During your hike up Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce be sure to stop at Gibbs Falls. This little side trail takes about two minutes out of your standard hike and allows you to enjoy a wonderful little waterfall.

Best Views: While hiking Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce, I was unfortunately in the clouds, so my views were not great. However, based on my research, the best views would be on the summit of Mount Eisenhower and the trail before the summit of Mount Pierce. My personal favorite spot on the hike was Gibbs falls, located about .4 miles from the parking lot.

Mount Eisenhower & Mt Pierce Hike Route

Gear Needed

• Men’s Trail Runners -waterproof is extremely helpful lots of mud/water on this one
• Women’s Trail Runners-waterproof is extremely helpful lots of mud/water on this one
• La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)-waterproof is extremely helpful lots of mud/water on this one
• La Sportiva Trango Hiking Booths (Women’s)-waterproof is extremely helpful lots of mud/water on this one
• Backpack
• Food & Water
• Bug Spray & Bug Net
• Optional: Garmin inReach
• Optional: Hiking Poles
• Optional: Headlamp
• Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
• Optional: Camera and Lens
• Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
• *Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you.

My Trip to Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce: June 2018

When I visit New Hampshire, I always try to get in a couple of hikes up in the whites. Growing up in southern New Hampshire, I hiked and camped a lot, but still feel that I didn’t take full advantage of this awesome area. After a long day in Acadia National Park, I decided to sleep in a bit before heading up north. Juno and I left the house around 8:30AM, due to arrive at the trailhead around 10:30AM. The weather was calling for afternoon rain, so I wasn’t expecting much from this hike, just hoped to knock off both peaks before any thunderstorms popped up.

I made the scenic drive through Crawford Notch State Park and arrived to the trailhead. Although it wasn’t raining, the mountains were covered in clouds, so I knew the views were going to be non-existent. There are multiple ways to hike Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce, but I decided to knock out the long 2.3 mile road at the start of the hike, rather than at the end. This meant I would start with the 2.3 mile Clinton Road, ascend via Edmand’s Path to Mount Eisenhower and than traverse over to Mount Pierce. Clinton Road was not in use anymore, but all things considered, it wasn’t a terrible portion of the trip. The road was starting to get overgrown and we were clearly the only hikers who had been on this section for a while. After about an hour of hiking, we reached the old trailhead at the start of Edmand’s Path.

Juno was in full blown psycho mode. She had been cooped up over the last couple of days and was ready to release some energy. I thought it would be “innovative” to attach her leash to my backpack. About 15 minutes later, she broke the chest strap on my bag. I don’t think I am meant to be an inventor. We worked through the lush forest and even though it wasn’t raining, my clothing and bag were getting soaked from the wet leaves that lined the trail. We continued on the winding, narrow trail and reached the first stream crossing of the day. The snow melt of the spring had moved the wooden bridge from its original resting place to the side of the stream. Although it was easy to cross the stream, I hoped that these sort of trail conditions didn’t persist throughout the day.

The first mile or so on Edmand’s Path was mellow, but once we started to gain elevation, it was a steady staircase up above treeline. Did I mention Juno was crazy? She managed to eat a toad and would have kept on her nature buffet if I didn’t shorten her leash. We hiked for about 2.5 hours and finally exited the lush trees and entered the high alpine where we were completely enveloped in a cloud. Although it was disappointing to have 0 views on my second straight trip to the White Mountains, it was kind of cool. We reached a few trail junctions, passed a group who thought it was a good idea to eat their lunch DIRECTLY on the trail and reached the summit of Mount Eisenhower shortly after. Besides the 7 foot tall cairn, the only other views were had were of the grey clouds that surrounded the peak. I wolfed down a banana, gave Juno some water and treats and we continued on our way towards Mount Pierce.

What we found out very quickly: the Crawford Path trail to Mount Pierce was muddy, very muddy. At first it was just a couple of puddles and portions of mud, but by the end of the 1.5 mile traverse, Juno’s white legs were now black and my legs were covered in mud as well. When we reached our next trail junction, I got a little confused, so we had to re-trace our steps back to the same junction to gain the summit of Mount Pierce shortly after. It’s been a while since I have hiked the massive network of trails that is the White Mountains, what I quickly learned: having maps that are not outdated is a very good thing.

Mount Pierce was extremely anticlimactic. Its “summit” was a small pile of rocks with trees surrounding about ¾ of the top. On a clear day, I could imagine having pretty good views from the northern side of it, but clouds still covered the area. We stopped on Mount Pierce for about 60 seconds before starting our descent of the Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce loop. The hike seemed like double the distance it actually was. Although Juno had calmed down a bit, she always pulls going down hill and when the terrain is wet rocks, mossy slabs of granite and puddles of mud, moving at her speed isn’t always easy. Luckily though, the rains held off and it was not buggy at all which was a major win.

We slogged down the mountain and after another couple of hours of hiking, reached the trail junction with Gibbs Falls. I was looking forward to this for the entire hike and the small waterfall lived up to my expectations. We descended the muddy creek bank and enjoyed the falls by ourselves for several minutes. I took a bunch of photos, shot some video and gave Juno some more treats. I usually try to keep her away from drinking water in nature, but it was a lost cause at this point because there was nowhere to sit near the falls besides on rocks that were at the base of it.

After our photo session at Gibbs Falls, we hit the trail again and finished our hike of Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce. Even though conditions were not ideal, I enjoyed our hike. What I love about hiking in New Hampshire is the massive network of trails that connect miles and miles of terrain. If I had more time or nicer weather, we could have easily added additional peaks to this trip. I do recommend hiking Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce in the way that I did (Eisenhower first, than Pierce) so that you avoid the long Mount Clinton Road after 5+ hours of hiking. Check out my video below for a complete look at our trip and more information!

Mount Eisenhower & Mount Pierce Virtual Trail Guide