Owls Head
Owls Head rises to 1,227 m in New Hampshire. Mount Lafayette stands 1,600 m to the west-northwest, 2.3 miles off. White Mountain Trail passes 3.7 miles off.
The story
Owl's Head is a 4,025-foot (1,227 m) mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire. It lies between the Franconia Branch of the Pemigewasset River (to its east) and Lincoln Brook (to its west and south), in the Pemigewasset Wilderness of the White Mountain National Forest. It is best known as one of the 48 White Mountains "four-thousand footers", and stands out among them mostly for what it lacks:
In height, it is 43rd of the 48. It is the only one of the 48 without an officially maintained path to the summit, although an unofficial, unmaintained herd path comes within 0.2 miles (300 m). The trees at its summit block (except when deep snow has fallen) any view beyond themselves. (There are, however, nice views from the Owls Head Slide while climbing up the unmaintained path to the summit.) It is remote from approaches by road, due to the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River, between it and the Kancamagus Highway to the south, Franconia Ridge (and its steep and tall east face), between it and Interstate 93 to the west, Garfield Ridge, between it and U.S. Route 3 to the north, and the Twin Range and Willey Range, between it and U.S. Route 302 to the east. Probably for these reasons, it receives (as does Mount Isolation) a disproportionately frequent role as the last 4000-footer waiting to be climbed by those about to complete the list of 48. In the fall of 2005, it was discovered that the traditional summit of Owl's Head (reached by the unmaintained beaten path) is actually a lower peak, and the true summit is approximately 0.2 mi north along the ridgeline. For now, the 4,000-footer committee is accepting climbs to the false summit.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q7114830, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 1227 m
How to reach it
- 3.7 mi off the White Mountain Trail, National
- 5.4 mi off the Kancamagus Scenic Byway, National
- 8.8 mi off the River Heritage Tour
- 8.5 mi off the Presidential Range Tour
Overlooks nearby
- Profiler Plaza · 4 mi
- Pemigewasset Overlook · 10 mi
- CL Graham Wangan Overlook · 10 mi
- Willey Brook Bridge Overlook · 10 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Owls Head: 0.9 mi
- Mount Lincoln: 2.0 mi
- Little Haystack Mountain: 2.0 mi
- North Lincoln: 2.1 mi
- Mount Lafayette: 2.3 mi
- Shining Rock Cliff: 2.4 mi
- Eagle Cliff: 3.6 mi
- Moby Grape: 4.1 mi
- Cannon Cliff: 4.2 mi
- Cannon Cliff: 4.2 mi
- Lafayette Brook Scenic Area: 3.0 mi
- Profile Recreational Trail: 7.0 mi
- Rachel Adams Memorial Forest: 7.1 mi
- Second Presidential State Forest: 7.3 mi
- Wells Road Property: 7.5 mi
- Thirteen Falls: 1.5 mi
- Cloudland Falls: 3.0 mi
- Franconia Falls: 3.0 mi
- Swiftwater Falls: 3.4 mi
- Stairs Falls: 3.4 mi
- Franconia Notch State Park: 4.8 mi
- Kanc Recreation Area: 7.0 mi
- Fox Hill Park: 8.6 mi
- Cascade Park: 8.7 mi
- Soldiers Park: 8.9 mi
- Boise Rock: 3.7 mi
- The Basin: 4.2 mi
- Flume Gorge: 4.4 mi
- Liberty Gorge: 4.5 mi
- Table Rock Flume Brook: 4.6 mi
- Old Man of the Mountain Museum: 4.2 mi
- New England Ski Museum: 4.6 mi
- Avery's Garage: 7.7 mi
- Clark History Museum: 7.7 mi
- Americana Museum: 7.7 mi
- Governor Gallen Memorial: 4.8 mi
- Caddy Camp Alumni Memorial: 9.9 mi
- Willey House: 10.5 mi
- Nancy Pfannenstiehl: 14.3 mi
- Chase cellar hole: 17.5 mi
- Beaver Brook Recreation Area: 7.1 mi
- Mount Cleveland Picnic Area: 7.1 mi
- Fay Waside Picnic Area: 8.1 mi
- Zealand Picnic Area: 9.9 mi
- Eisenhower Memorial Area: 11.1 mi
- Liberty Spring: 2.8 mi
- Lac Littleton: 17.4 mi
- Gulfside Spring: 18.5 mi
- Spaulding Spring: 18.5 mi
- Peabody Spring: 19.2 mi
- Boise Rock: 3.7 mi
- The Basin, West: 4.1 mi
- The Basin, East: 4.1 mi
- Littleton Rest Area: 18.3 mi
- Vermont Welcome Center: 20.8 mi
- Tree Harp: 14.0 mi
- Pollyanna Statue: 14.0 mi
- Sunflowers: 14.0 mi
- Mary Bierbrier Community Garden: 14.6 mi
- Lancaster Community Garden: 23.7 mi
- Echo Lake Beach: 5.0 mi
- Livermore: 12.3 mi
- Mount Orne Covered Bridge: 22.0 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 8.2 miles of Owls Head. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Lafayette | WNW 300° | 1,600 m | 2.3 mi |
| Mount Lincoln | W 279° | 1,551.12 m | 2.0 mi |
| North Lincoln | WNW 291° | 1,524 m | 2.1 mi |
| North Lafayette | NW 308° | 1,519 m | 2.5 mi |
| South Twin Mountain | NE 40° | 1,491 m | 3.9 mi |
| North Twin Mountain | NNE 30° | 1,452 m | 4.7 mi |
| Little Haystack Mountain | W 263° | 1,440 m | 2.0 mi |
| Mount Bond | E 81° | 1,432 m | 3.7 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 06:51 | 18:21 | 18:59 |
| June solstice | 05:04 | 19:50 | 20:34 |
| September equinox | 06:34 | 18:08 | 18:46 |
| December solstice | 07:19 | 15:24 | 16:11 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Sep.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 18 | 20 | 29 | 42 | 54 | 63 | 68 | 66 | 59 | 47 | 36 | 26 |
| Precip in | 3.4 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 5.2 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 6.0 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 5.4 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Lincoln Nepp, 8 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/357730524
Day trips start here
- Wentworth · 24 mi
Take the scenic way to Owls Head.
Byway plans around your taste, verified places, real weather and opening hours — then opens every leg in Google Maps with one tap.