New Hampshire trails · Carter-Moriah Trail
Carter-Moriah Trail
A 8.3-mile out-and-back in New Hampshire, with 1,715 ft of climbing. Reaches North Carter Mountain and other pass/summit destinations. Managed by Appalachian Trail.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the first third: 53% of the ascent falls between mile 0.0 and mile 2.8. It gives back about 2,801 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- North Carter Mountain (summit)
- Middle Carter Mountain (summit)
- Mount Hight (summit)
- Carter Dome (summit)
- Zeta Pass (pass)
- South Carter Mountain (summit)
- Mount Moriah (summit)
- Carter Notch (pass)
Heads up
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:36 a.m., the sun rises at 6:06 a.m. and sets at 7:23 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:53 p.m. (EDT) — 13 h 17 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 16.5-mile round trip takes roughly 7 h 50 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 1:56 p.m. — 5 h 27 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Wild River Trail + Wildcat River Trail + Carter-Moriah Trail — 17.8 mi loop, 4,001 ft gain
- CARTER DOME + CARTER-MORIAH + Carter-Moriah Trail — 9.5 mi loop, 2,784 ft gain
- CARTER-MORIAH + Carter-Moriah Trail — 8.8 mi loop, 3,555 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Tuckerman Ravine — 2.9 mi
- Tuckerman Ravine Trail — 2.9 mi
- Wildcat Ridge — 3.1 mi
- Nelson Crag — 5.4 mi