The trail enters NH across the Ledyard Bridge in Hanover. For the previous twenty miles in Vermont and the next 50 miles in New Hampshire the trail is maintained by the Dartmouth Outing Club. From downtown Hanover the trail heads up Velvet Rocks to the Velvet Rocks shelter. Crossing through Etna, the trail goes over South Moose Mountain passing a side trail to the Moose Mountain shelter, North Moose and up the back side of Holts Ledge which is home to the Dartmouth Skiway. On the far side of Holts Ledge is the Trapper John shelter, named after Trapper John McKintire of MASH fame, a Dartmouth alum.
The next ascent is Smarts Mountain via the Lambert Ridge trail. The summit has a firetower, tent platform, and old firewardens cabin. The trail descend Smarts via the J trail and heads up the Kodak trail to the summit of Mt Cube. On the way, it passes the Hexacuba shelter, home of the Penta Privy, likely the only 5 sided privy on the AT. The descent of Cube brings you to NH Rt 25A and then through the Atwell Hill and Ore Hill sections. Here the trail crosses NH Rt 25C and enters the Wachipauka Pond trail, passing the north end of the pond and the side trail to Webster Slide Mountain.
After Wachipauka Pond the trail crosses NH Rt 25 and enters the Moosilauke area. The first trail is the Town Line trail which leads to the Jeffers Brook shelter on the west side of Moosilauke. The trail passes close to the Glencliff Home for the Elderly and ascends by the Glencliff trail, reaching the exposed ridge of Moosilauke near the South Peak. From the main summit it descends the Beaver Brook trail passing the new Beaver Brook Shelter high on the east shoulder of Mt Blue. Then follows a steep descent of the Beaver Brook Cascades on wooden steps hammered onto the wet rock face until NH Rt 112. This is the end of the DOC maintained trail.
The AMC picks up trail maintainance for the rest of NH from this point. Crossing the road the Kinsman Ridge trail heads up the many summits of Mt Wolf and crosses Eliza Brook near the Eliza Brook shelter. After a very rough section the trail reaches the summit of South Kinsman and then North Kinsman a mile and a half later. The Kinsman Ridge trail drops down to the Kinsman Pond Shelter and the AT continues on the Fishin' Jimmy trail to Lonesome Lake and the AMC's Lonesome Lake hut, the first of eight mountain huts along the AT in New Hampshire. From the hut it takes the Cascade Brook trail to the old Whitehouse Bridge site in Franconia Notch and crosses the Franconia Notch Parkway.
The AT then ascends to Franconia Ridge on the Liberty Springs trail, passing the Liberty Springs campsite and hitting the ridge just north of Liberty. The Franconia Ridge trail runs along the ridgetop, hitting treeline at Little Haystack and continuing through the spectacular section crossing Mt Lincoln and Mt Lafayette. The Greenleaf Hut is visable to the west, a mile and a half down the Greenleaf trail. The Garfield Ridge trail continues north descending to a col and climbing to Mt Garfield. Past the summit the Garfield Ridge shelter is on the west off a small spur trail. The trail descends again to a major col before rising slighly at Galehead Hut.
From Galehead Hut the trail ascends sharply to the summit of South Twin along the Twinway trail. It continues down towards Mt Guyot and a junction with the Bondcliff trail which heads east. From the junction, the Twinway climbs gently to the summit of Guyot and drops down again for a mile before climbing steeply to a high point on the shoulder of Mt Zealand. A small spur trail leads off to the true summit. Now the trail drops to Zealcliff Pond and then to the cliffs themselves which have spectacular views of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. After desending around the cliffs the Twinway reaches the Zealand Falls Hut and crosses the outlet of Zealand Pond.
Here, the Ethan Pond trail climbs a bit and goes through the stark terrain of Zealand Notch along the rugged slope of Whitewall Mtn. on the old logging railroad bed. The trail heads towards Ethan Pond and the Ethan Pond campsite, climbs a bit, and crosses into the Crawford Notch State Park. It then drops, crosses the railroad tracks and hits the parking area off of NH Rt 302.
On the west side of the notch the trail passes the Willey House site and crosses the Saco River. It climbs the Webster Cliff trail reaching some fine views of the notch and starts heading in a more northerly direction. After the summit of Mt Webster, the trail drops a bit and heads up the the summit of Jackson. The trail descends for a ways before begining a climb towards Mt Pierce. Along the way it passes the Mizpah Springs Hut and Nauman campsite and then climbs steeply to the Pierce summit. Just past the summit, the trail drops and hits the Crawford Path.
The Crawford path runs the length of the southern Presidential Ridge from Crawford Notch to Mt Washington, and is the oldest continually maintained foot trail in America (1819). From Pierce the trail drops to the col and starts a big climb to the broad open summit of Eisenhower which can be reached on the Mount Eisenhower Loop trail. Then Crawford Path goes the to east of the summit and is rejoined by the Mount Eisenhower Loop and the Edmands Path on the north side. The trail climbs again, crossing by the minor peak of Mt Franklin and hits the Mount Monroe Loop trail. Again, the Crawford Path travels to the east of the summit of Monroe and is rejoined by the Mount Monroe Loop on the north side, just before reaching the Lakes of the Clouds Hut.
From the hut the trail winds between the two Lakes of the Clouds and starts the ascent of the Mt Washington summit cone, where the Crawford Path ends. The AT continues on the Trinity Heights Connector for .1 mile, meeting the Gulfside trail which it will follow for the rest of the Presidential Range. Dropping steadily the trail crosses the Cog Railroad tracks and skirts the Great Gulf on the way to the Washington-Clay col. The Mount Clay Loop trail leaves here as the Gulfside trail goes around the west of the summit. At Sphinx Col the Mount Clay Loop returns and the trail begins the climb to Mt Jefferson.
The Mount Jefferson Loop leaves here and the AT now passes to the east of the summit and drops steadily towards Edmands Col. Several trails meet at Edmands Col including the Edmands Col Cutoff, the Randolph Path, the Castle Ravine trail and the Mount Jefferson Loop. A moderate climb takes the trail out of the col, past Storm Lake and on to Thunderstorm Junction. From here the Lowe's Path goes up to Mt Adams to the south. The AT descends to Madison Springs Hut in the col between Mt Adams and Mt Madison.
From the hut, the Osgood Ridge trail climbs to the summit and then starts a major descent along the ridge. The AT follows the Osgood Cutoff down to the Madison Gulf trail, passing the Osgood Campsite along the way. The Madison Gulf trail leads to the Mount Washington Auto Road and the AT picks up the Old Jackson Rd trail which leads to the Pinkham Notch Visitor's Center.
Continuing south parallel to NH Rt 16, the Lost Pond trail hits the Wildcat Ridge trail which climbs out of Pinkham Notch, giving nice views of Mt Washington from the ledges. It reaches the top of the Wildcat Ridge, and hits the many small summits including Wildcats D and A before dropping steeply down the the Carter Notch Hut.
The final stage of the AT in NH heads steeply up the side of Carter Dome, then along the Carter ridge. The Imp Shelter is west of the trail. The last peak on the ridge is Mt Moriah, and the trail drops down to Gorham on the Rattle River trail, passing the Rattle River Shelter. After crossing Rt 2 and the Androscoggin River, the AT heads up Peabody Brook, past Bald Cap, before hitting the Maine border just before Gentian Pond.
