Five Miles to Amazing: Mt. Garfield

The panoramic majesty of the Garfield summit view

What a hike. I don't know if I can really say more, but I'll try...

The reward at the end of my 5-mile trek to the summit of Mt. Garfield still takes my breath away. The trail up to the summit was nothing too spectacular to write home about, but that summit view was something else. It was as if all of the White Mountain National Forest was sprawling out before me, and it basically was!

I brought my dog along for his 5th 4000-foot summit, and we started our journey at the most popular trailhead for Mt. Garfield, the aptly named Garfield Trail. It was a 4.8 mile hike up this trail to the final 0.2 miles on the Garfield Ridge Trail/Appalachian Trail for the quick, steep ascent to the summit.

From one of the beautiful brook crossings around 1 mile in on the Garfield Trail

The climb up the Garfield Trail is a slow, steady elevation gain that is much different from the treks I was used to up my previous 4000-footers. Never during the whole 4.8-mile trail did I feel I was really digging in and making a steep ascent. Most of the trail was just a steady pace through differing forests as the elevation got higher and higher. There were no real views along the way until some partial ones popped through the trees around 4 miles in. The most memorable part of the Garfield Trail were the lovely brook crossings around a mile in. In the span of 0.2 miles, we had 4 delightful water crossings, with the little cascades rushing by providing a wonderful soundtrack to the early portion of our hike.

The Garfield Ridge Trail: Where Things Got Steep

The toughest part of the hike was the final 0.2 miles to the summit on the Garfield Ridge Trail. As the books described, it was certainly a steep ascent, gaining nearly 400 ft. of elevation in that short distance. It made from some major strain on the knees up and down, and my dog having to make a few small jumps here and there that I'm sure didn't feel good on his knees either. However, as I described at the beginning, this momentary strain was worth the remarkable reward at the summit.

Owl's Head and the Franconia Ridge from just below the Garfield Summit

With Mt. Garfield being up in the northwest corner of the White Mountains, virtually all of the big mountains of New Hampshire sprawled out before us in a panorama that was tough to beat. I was blown away by how many ridges I could see and summits I could identify. I loved how the sprawling blue peaks fading into the distance reminded me of the Smokies from my time living in East Tennessee.

Smoky summit views

After this hike, I can't believe this mountain isn't mentioned more with the likes of hiking the Presidentials or the Franconia Ridge here in New Hampshire. Sure, it doesn't come with the epic ridge walks above treeline, but the view from the summit certainly rivals its bigger counterparts. Moreover, i's slow and easy elevation gain makes it the easiest 4000-footer I've tackled so far, and much easier than the Presidential or Franconia summits. As long as you're good with the long mileage, I highly recommend it as one the first 4000-footers to tackle when you want to start tackling all 48.

It was one heck of a bang-for-your-buck hike, and one I will definitely be going back to. My wife and I have already talked about returning in the fall if the weather is in our favor. Garfield, you won me over!

Here are the timing breakdowns from this hike:

• Start at trailhead for Garfield Trail - 8:26 a.m.
• Brook crossings along Garfield Trail - 8:52 a.m. (26 min., 1.0 mi.)
• Junction with Garfield Ridge Trail/AT - 10:58 a.m. (2 hr. 6 min., 3.8 mi.)
• Mt. Garfield Summit - 11:12 a.m. (14 min., 0.2 mi.)
• Left Garfield Summit - 11:58 a.m
• Junction with Garfield Trail - 12:06 a.m. (8 min., 0.2 mi.)
• Brook crossings along Garfield Trail - 1:55 p.m. (1 hr. 49 min., 3.8 mi.)
• Return to trailhead - 2:15 p.m. (20 min., 1.0 mi.)