North Twin Mountain and South Twin Mountain via North Twin Trail
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North and South Twin Mountain Hike Overview
North Twin Mountain (4,760’) and South Twin Mountain (4,902’) sit in the Northern White Mountains and offer some of the best views, in my opinion. When you sit on the summits, you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere in the best way.
Trail Details
Trail: North Twin Trail
Length: 11.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 3,660 feet
My Trail Time: 6:00 hours hiking; 7:30 hours total
Hike Overview
North Twin and South Twin are usually hiked together since it is a long hike, and South Twin is only 1.3 miles from North Twin. The trail gains most of its elevation the two miles before North Twin, so it is a consistently steep hike. But I promise, the views are worth it!
There are three river crossings within the first two miles of this hike, and I would not recommend hiking this trail in early spring as the snow starts to melt because it will make crossing the river very difficult. I believe there is also a bushwhack to miss most of the river crossings.
North and South Twin Mountain Hike via North Twin Trail Guide
September 10, 2018
**Always remember to leave no trace. It is crucial to pack out what you pack in and throw away your trash properly.
My friend Mackenzie decided to take a leap of faith and hike with me! Alex was thankful he didn’t go on this hike lol. We got to North Twin Trail at 9:00 AM on a cool September day and began our hike. North Twin trailhead was at the end of Haystack Rd, which was off of Rt. 3 and easy to find. The parking lot wasn’t huge, but we didn’t have too much of an issue parking.
The first half of North Twin Trail was pretty uneventful besides the river crossings. There was no elevation gain, which made this portion of the trail a nice warm-up for what was to come. Around 0.8 miles, we reached the first river crossing. We knew we reached it because across the river was a hiker sign on a tree. It wasn’t difficult to rock hop once we found the right path. It took us a bit to cross the first one, but we managed just fine!
The second river crossing wasn’t so easily noticeable. North Twin Trail looked as if it continued on the side of the river, but when we followed it, we quickly realized it didn’t lol. The second crossing required us to climb down a little hill to reach the river. This river crossing was the most difficult for us to navigate across, but other hikers easily found a path, so we followed them across!
The last river crossing on North Twin Trail was at 1.9 miles and was the easiest! And by the time we got there, we felt like a river crossing pro! Once we rock hopped our way across, the ascent truly began! Because the first half of the hike gained minimal elevation, we were prepared for what was to come. We gained about 2,900 feet of elevation in 2.4 miles, so get our glutes were burning!! There were also many small, loose rocks on the steep sections of North Twin Trail, so we had to watch our step.
It’s funny - I read reviews about North Twin Trail that said it was a long trail, and in my head, I’m like, yeah it’s 11 miles round trip, so it is a long trail. But now I understand what they meant. The hike to the summit of North Twin Mountain seemed to continue forever and felt SO much longer than it actually was. If you hike North Twin Trail, know that the views are worth it, I promise.
After what felt like an eternity, we finally reached North Twin’s summit at 11:30 AM. We knew we were close when the trail began to even out and became a leisurely walk. We scrambled the tiniest bit and then made it to the summit! North Twin Mountain didn’t have complete 360° views, but they were breathtaking! We stayed on North Twin for about a half-hour eating protein bars and playing with dogs before heading off to South Twin Mountain! There was a lookout area to the left a short way into the hike that offered some views we didn’t get from North Twin’s summit.
The hike from North Twin to South Twin was not difficult. We descended once we were back on North Twin Trail which required us to use our hands and feet, but after that, it was smooth sailing! Minus the mud. There was a lot of mud. Also, part of the trail went through a ridge with dead trees, which was eerie, but offered some pretty views past that! We knew we were close to the summit because well… we saw the path leading directly there lol. Once we reached South Twin’s summit, VIOLA! Beautiful 360° views.
The best thing about the hike was South Twin and North Twin are in the top, middle of the White Mountains, so we got views of almost everything! We saw the Presidentials to our left, Franconia’s mountains to our right, and everything else in the middle. South Twin’s summit had incredible views!
We reached South Twin’s summit around 12:45 PM and stayed for an hour to eat lunch, enjoy the views, and chat with other hikers. There were surprisingly a lot of people on the summit who were BEYOND nice. They even had cookies they were giving out. Can you beat that? Nope. And there was a huge American flag with them all. They explained that they were part of the Flags on 48, who every year have volunteer hikers who put a flag on each 4,000-footer summit in remembrance of 9/11. It was really cool, and like I said they were so nice. It’s always fun meeting people on summits and hearing their stories!
At 1:45 PM, we began our trek back to North Twin Mountain. Remember those scrambles we went down? Well, they were back in full force for us to climb back up! Soon enough, we were back on North Twin’s summit and decided to keep the trek going down North Twin Trail to the car instead of spending more time on the summit.
The hike down was nothing special. As I said before, we had to be careful with the small, loose rocks especially while descending! Once we reached the rivers, we hopscotched our way across no problem because we were river crossing pros!! There were a few flat sections without roots or rocks after the crossings, so we took this chance to do a little jog. We just wanted to reach the car haha. This hike went on FOREVER. But we felt super accomplished after conquering these 11.2 miles!
Overall, I didn’t love the actual hike to North Twin Mountain and South Twin Mountain, but the summits were beautiful! I’m surprised I don’t hear more people talking about North Twin and South Twin because, but I’m not complaining. It’s nice to have the summit less crowded!
Have you hiked North Twin and South Twin? Did you also think the trail was uneventful overall?
Hey, I’m Nichole!
I am the creator behind Nichole the Nomad, the home of my explorations around the world, mountain hikes, and beautiful pictures taken along the way. I have a deep passion for capturing the world in a beautiful light and sharing my experiences.
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