Mount Chocorua ( Champney Falls Trail )

We will be hiking MT Chocorua via the Champney Falls Trail . 11.5 miles on the Kancamagas Highway from Conway, NH... Please read the hike description below before deciding to sign up . While Mount Chocorua is only about the 100th highest mountain in New Hampshire, its large bare summit readily visible from all directions gives it a much larger stature among hikers than its elevation would suggest. From the S over Chocorua Lake it appears as a rock pyramid, from the E it is more like a camel's hump, and from the N more of a shark's fin. Easy access makes it one of the most popular mountain hikes in New Hampshire. The National Geodetic Survey gives the elevation of the summit marker as 3474 feet while the USGS map shows a 3480-foot contour. Purists can argue over the exact elevation but hikers can just go to the top however high it is. Mount Chocorua had one of the early fire lookouts in the area, and an exposed fire stand from this era stood on the summit until recently. When the Forest Service wanted to build an enclosed fire tower, public pressure to leave the skyline alone resulted in the now-abandoned lookout being built on Middle Sister instead. There are many versions of the Chocorua legend, one of which is displayed on a historical marker near Chocorua Lake. The common feature seems to be that an Indian named Chocorua plunged from the summit to his death, uttering a curse upon white men. The curse originally applied to farmers whose crops died, but has apparently now been extended to backpackers unable to find a convenient legal camping spot. All trails join before climbing to the summit up a single path, and all trails involve some rock scrambling with probable use of hands. Remember what happened to Chocorua and stay off the mountain when it is slippery. Maps This is a moderate hike with an occasional scramble near the top .. Elevation Gain : 2212 feet Features : Summit , cascades , brooks , waterfall Distance : 7.8 miles Hiking Time : 7 hours Summit Elevation : 3490