Mount Crawford, Stairs Mountain, and Mount Resolution NH via Davis Path
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Mount Crawford, Stairs Mountain, and Mount Resolution NH Hike Details
Trail: Davis Path
Miles: 10.5 miles
Hours: 6 hours hiking; 7 hours total
Level: Moderate/Difficult
Mount Crawford, Stairs Mountain, and Mount Resolution NH via Davis Path Overview
Mount Crawford (3,128’), Stairs Mountain (3,469’), and Mount Resolution (3,426’) are in Crawford Notch just south of the Presidential Range. Each mountain is on the 52 With a View List, and the views do not disappoint! Although you can hike each of these mountains separately, I highly recommend hiking them together since Stairs Mountain and Mount Resolution are pretty remote, and the easiest way to get to them is via Davis Path to Mount Crawford.
Note: This hike gains about 3,400 feet of elevation total, and 2,000 of it is in the first two miles. This section of the trail is steep and relentless, but the rest is not as steep until you get closer to Stairs Mountain and Mount Resolution.
Mount Crawford, Stairs Mountain, and Mount Resolution NH via Davis Path
October 28, 2023
**Always remember to leave no trace. It is crucial to pack out what you pack in and throw away your trash properly.
I have had my eye on the hike to Mount Crawford, Stairs Mountain, and Mount Resolution for the last year and was excited to finally hike it on a beautiful fall day! I wanted to make sure the weather would be perfect for the hike since Mount Crawford is said to have some of the best views in the area.
We started the hike on Davis Path on a beautiful Saturday morning and were surprised when the parking lot was not full. The weather was uncharacteristically warm for late October (70 degrees), and I assumed everyone would be hiking, but I will not complain about having a quiet trail!
The first section of Davis Path travels over a suspension bridge and past a few houses before turning onto the trail and beginning the ascent. The first two miles on Davis Path were relentless! We gained about 2,000 feet of elevation in 2 miles, which is pretty average for the White Mountains. But Davis Path was well maintained and had many stone steps, which helped with the elevation gain.
After about a mile of climbing, the trail had a few stunning viewpoints overlooking Crawford Notch. We found a short spur trail just before the trail junction to Mount Crawford that offered beautiful views. Although the Presidentials were in the clouds, we had views of every other surrounding mountain.
At the 2-mile mark, we came to the Mount Crawford trail junction. If there were not any rock cairns, I might have missed it! There is a small sign to the left pointing to Mount Crawford, but it can be easily missed. Just know that when you see the rock slabs at the trail junction, you want to climb the slabs to Mount Crawford.
Luckily, the trail was pretty dry, so the rock slabs were easy to climb, and before we knew it, we were at the summit of Mount Crawford. And the 360-degree views were breathtaking! Mount Crawford also had a lot of areas to find a secluded spot, even if the trail was busy. We enjoyed a snack while looking west towards Stairs Mountain and Mount Resolution. From the summit, the two mountains looked pretty far away, but we were excited to begin the journey over there.
We climbed back down the Mount Crawford Spur Trail to the trail junction and turned left to continue on Davis Path. The next 1.8 miles on Davis Path were relatively flat, which was a nice change of pace. This section of the trail flew by, and before we knew it, we were at the Mount Parker Trail Junction.
We could have gone to either mountain first, but we decided to head left on Davis Path towards Stairs Mountain since rain clouds were quickly approaching from that direction. About 0.2 miles later, we arrived at another trail junction with Rocky Branch Trail. We turned left to continue on Davis Path, which began to ascend steeply for another 0.3 miles before arriving at another trail junction. We turned right on the Stairs Mountain Spur Trail and continued the last bit to the summit.
Stairs Mountain has a small ledge with beautiful views looking west towards the surrounding mountains. We could see Mount Resolution to the south and Mount Crawford to the west. The ledge was relatively small, but we had the summit to ourselves for a few minutes to enjoy another snack break.
The wind started to pick up, and we could see the rain clouds quickly approaching, so we decided to cut our time on Stairs Mountain short to head over to Mount Resolution.
We missed the left-hand turn to Davis Path because it was easy to miss. We caught ourselves before we went too far and backtracked before heading down towards the Mount Parker Trail Junction.
Although the trail to Mount Resolution was not overly steep, it had slick rock slabs that made for a tricky ascent. Even my hiking boots with good traction were slipping, and it had not started to rain yet! We took our time on the final 0.4 miles to Mount Resolution, and before we knew it, we were at the viewpoint!
The summit of Mount Resolution is on a short spur off Mount Parker Trail and does not have any views, but the views from the nearby ledges make up for it. We unfortunately could not spend much time here because it started raining, so we quickly had a snack before beginning our descent. Although the views were not as open as Mount Crawford, they were beautiful!
Our descent on the rock slabs was tricky as it started to rain. I was essentially crab walking down the trail, haha! But soon enough, we arrived at Davis Path and began making our way towards Mount Crawford.
The final 2 miles on Davis Path were exhausting and relentless but went by quickly. The sun came back out to warm us up, which also helped! The high winds blew many leaves onto the trail, which is never fun on steep trails, so the descent took us a bit longer than we expected. But before we knew it, we were back at the trailhead.
The hike to Mount Crawford, Stairs Mountain, and Mount Resolution is, honestly, a new favorite of mine! I will definitely hike it again.
Have you hiked to Mount Crawford, Stairs Mountain, and Mount Resolution?
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.
I created this blog to share my travels, show how beautiful the world is, provide tips and tricks for traveling, and encourage you to explore. Whether you want to travel across the world or explore what’s in your backyard, I hope this blog inspires you to get outside and find your adventure!