Mt. Flume & Mt. Liberty via Flume Slide & Liberty Springs Trails (White Mountain National Forest)

Mt. Flume & Mt. Liberty via Flume Slide & Liberty Springs Trails (White Mountain National Forest)

Hike Type: Figure-8ish Loop

Distance: 10.18 miles

Elevation: 3,771 feet

Time: 7 hours, 15 minutes (5 hours, 50 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: Terrifying 25, New Hampshire Appalachian Trail

The Hike 

It was FINALLY time to get back into the Whites after a few-weeks hiatus! Sarah and I were out at UMass for a marching band competition yesterday and naturally planned a hike for today. We went back and forth about what time to start - I was staunch about 4:00am up and out because of 1) foliage crowds and 2) it was a Sunday (I got my way hehe). I picked Sarah up on the way up, we stopped at Hooksett for bathroom and food, and made our way to the Flume Visitor Center parking lot (I did not know about the Whitehouse Trail parking...). We met a guy who had hiked the grid and 100 Highest in the parking lot who asked where we were from and said "welcome!" when we told him we were from Boston. He assumed we were hiking Mt. Pemigewasset, which I took offense to since we're clearly so strong and obviously tackling Flume Slide!

[7:06am - Franconia Notch Bike Path]

Our adventure started on the Franconia Notch Bike Path, passing the trailhead to Mt. Pemigewasset, and soon turning onto a spur to the Whitehouse Trail trailhead. We started in mostly full layers since it was chilly out, but they soon came off (as per usual - I do not like being bold and starting cold!). We caught a tree view over to possibly a shoulder of Mt. Pemigewasset where the sun just began to hit the top.

[7:09am - Spur to Whitehouse Trail Trailhead]

[7:11am - Whitehouse Trail]

[7:25am - Whitehouse Trail/Franconia Notch Bike Path jct.]

We passed the excrutiatingly stinky privy at the Whitehouse Trail trailhead and were now on a trail that slightly rose and fell over a hump in the woods, following blue blazes. Footing was good, yet a little rooty. Eventually, the trail descended back to the paved Franconia Notch Bike Path, where we finished removing our layers for the climb (we had barely gained any elevation at this point)!

[7:30am - Whitehouse Trail/Cascade Brook Trail jct.]

A few minutes later, we passed the the start/end of the Cascade Brook Trail, where the Appalachian Trail joined the Whitehouse Trail (I still needed the stretch of Cascade Brook Trail from here to the Pemi Trail, but that will come another day). Just after, we crossed the Pemigewasset River on a scenic bridge and came to the terminus of the Whitehouse Trail at the Liberty Spring Trail.

[7:31am - Liberty Spring Trail]

The Liberty Spring Trail started off wonderfully - a gentle walk through teh woods with some changing colors. We passed some nice boulders as the forest gradually grew brighter. The trail gradually became more moderate, but nothing every ridiculous. We turned sharply right at a point where there were "REVEGATION AREA" signs - the guidebook says this is the old main logging road that led to the former Whitehouse Mill - maybe the road used to be used as a trail down to the mill site, too? We had a nice walking break and then came to the junction with the infamous Flume Slide Trail!

[7:49am - Flume Slide Trail]

The Flume Slide Trail started by easily descending along and old road, with a few ups and downs along the way. The walking was generally lovely and we crossed the remnants of many brooks and streams (by remnants, I'm referring to how little water was flowing due to the drought). We continued on for quite some time, eventually stopping at what we believe was the Flume Brook for a sit and snack. The map made it look like after this crossing, we would start climbing again, so it was a perfect break spot. A few people passed us during our break here - first people of the day!

[9:15am - Flume Slide Trail/Base of Slide]

We recrossed the brook as the treetops began to turn gold and later turned a corner, indicating the beginning of the slide! It was time for the BIG climb! We were both cautiously excited, and I was feeling confident after my jaunt up North Tripyramid. The lower slide was mostly wooded gravel that was steep, but not ridiculous. Also, the air smelled wonderfully floral? We couldn't figure out what exactly it was, as nothing was visibly in bloom, but we were not upset! We also had a super obstructed tree view up to Liberty, which was neat. 

The gravelley section was relatively unpleasant, but we soon reached the first (of many) scrambles, and that's where Sarah and I both got excited! The scrambling was fun but occasionally challenging with occasional views out towards Mt. Moosilauke, which was wonderful. The climb took care and we were grateful, yet again, for the drought, as this climb would have been much more challenging with wet slabs (and many spots were wet, even with the drought). There were a couple of tricky spots that required time and care - one in particular took us a while. A guy came up behind us and we offered to let him go and he was happy to let us continue. We chatted with him a bit as we suffered up. I mentioned this trail being more challenging in terms of hand-holds and sliding than North Tripyramid, which he and Sarah both disagreed with. I was able to cruise up North Tripyramid without TOO much thinking, while this climb took serious care and thought. 

We passed and were passed by a few other folks, all of whom were super kind and fun to talk to, which tends to be the case with other crazy people who tackle the lesser-known/more difficult trails and peaks. After struggling our way up we caught one last restricted view out towards the Kinsmans, and then had a final push up a rocky, steep trail to the terminus of the Flume Slide Trail! I got ahead of Sarah here, just wanting to get it done (she is MUCH better at pacing herself). 

[10:31am - Franconia Ridge Trail]

[10:35am - Franconia Ridge Trail/Mt. Flume Summit]

Now, we were back in familiar territory. The final push to the summit of Mt. Flume was comparatively a walk in the park, and we immediately went into a series of "oh my god"s once we made it to the view! We stopped for a break just before the summit, as the true summit had ~20 or so people. It was chilly in the open, but the sun felt amazing. The lower elevations had wonderful yellow trees with hints of oranges and reds, especially looking into the Pemi beneath Lincoln and Lafayette. The craggy summit of Mt. Flume was a spectacle in itself, and we enjoyed watching a crow and a smaller bird fight mid-air over someone's snack wrapper with Mt. Liberty as their backdrop (acklowedging that it stinks they had plastic - it was still an entertaining show to watch). We chatted about the slide and how insane the other slides on Mt. Flume appear, too. We even caught a glimpse over to the Bonds!

[11:03am - Franconia Ridge Trail]

After a lovely 30ish minutes, it was time to continue on! We followed the narrow summit ridgeline up and over the true summit, gawked at views for a bit longer, and steeply descend back into the wood. The trail got easier and easier and closer we got to the col, where we stopped for a bathroom break (which was fun, because I remember Gen and I stopping in this col for a bathroom break in June of 2024 when we did the traverse - fun!). On our way down a woman ran past us and said she was going for the record - no idea of she achieved it or not!

The climb up to Liberty was basically a mirror of the descent off of Flume. It started so gently that we hardly noticed we were climbing, and slowly becamame steeper and more rugged until we were out of breath and scrambling. We met a trio of hikers who were asking about descending Flume Slide, and Sarah and I were both like "yeah don't do that you'll meet God" - we think they understood! 

[11:49am - Franconia Ridge Trail/Mt. Liberty Summit]

We soon made it to Mt. Liberty, which was just spectacular. Well-populated, for sure, but the 360-degree view was to die for. The yellow sprinkle of trees in the Pemi provided a wonderful floor for Mts. Lincoln, Lafayette, Garfield, and Owl's Head to rise from, the slides on Mt. Flume looked dramatic as ever, and of course the Bonds were just spectacular. Cannon, the Cannon Balls, and the Kinsmans stood proudly on the other side of the notch. Views didn't go TOO far out, since it was a little hazy, but boy, was it pretty. Colors in the notch were more of a muted orange, but still just incredible. Sarah wanted another break here, but I wanted to keep moving. We compromised on a short break, but I had to get out of the sun because my skin was burning.

[12:15pm - Franconia Ridge Trail/Liberty Spring Tentside FPA]

[12:20pm - Liberty Spring Trail]

The descent off Liberty was the same as Flume - steep at first and then calmed down. We soon entered the Liberty Springs Tentside Forest Protection Area, and just after made it to the Liberty Spring Trail - which was donning numerous signs about the infamous Liberty Spring Bear:

"BEAR ALERT! There have been a number of bear-related incidents at Liberty Springs Tentsite this summer. Your help is needed to keep both humans and wildlife safe. If bears receive food rewards, it may be necessary to have them relocated or even killed. Please prevent this by storing all food coolers, toiletries, trash, and food containers inside a bear resistent container at all times."

Just below, a duct-tape addition read:

"PLEASE don't leave your pack unattended!!! It has taken numerous packs this summer!"

Another sign ~5 feet away in a ziplock read:

"Bears have been stealing unattended packs frequently this season. This includes incidents at this exact location. Please don't leave your pack here, take it with you - even if you are just getting water!!!"

[12:32pm - Liberty Spring Trail/Liberty Spring Tentside]

Message received! The initial descent was steep but footing was... fine. We didn't noticed how steep it was, which we were grateful for. We were soon at our next round of bear signage, at the Liberty Springs Tentsite (I have no idea if it's Liberty Spring or Liberty Springs - there's conflicting names everywhere!). 

"PLEASE don't eat here!"

"Days since last bear incident: 1 Day. 9/27, 1:00am. Record: 16. Average: 4."

We admired a camper's genius idea of putting his camp beers at the spring to cool off, but we did not need water so we continued on.

[12:48pm - Liberty Spring Trail/Liberty Spring Trail FPA]

A bit further down the trail, we left the Liberty Spring Tentside FPA and entered the Liberty Spring Trail FPA - all to say, don't camp outside the tentside! The descent continued to be steep, but slowly relenting as we lost elevation over the next mile. Our feet were hurting from the constant rocks, but they were pretty stable and step-able. 

[1:38pm - Liberty Spring Trail/Departing FPA]

[1:44pm - Liberty Spring Trail/Flume Slide Trail jct.]

Things settled down once we left the FPA and then hit the junction with the Flume Slide Trail again. Naturally, we joked about heading back up for a victory lap, but we called each other's bluffs! The fall colors were back to being abundant, but less-so from the forest floor. We continued a moderate descent that soon became easy. This stretch felt long, but in reality it was only 15 minutes. 

[2:00pm - Whitehouse Trail]

[2:02pm - Whitehouse Trail/Cascade Brook Trail jct.]

[2:06pm - Franconia Notch Bike Path]

There was much rejoycing when we hit the Whitehouse Trail/Franconia Notch Bike Path. We opted to mix things up and follow the bike path all the way back to the car, which was really lovely, minus one uphill! We got very close to the tourist paths around the Flume Gorge area, and we took a menal note for a future day... The bike path wrapped around the landmass we climbed up and down on the Whitehouse Trail, and soon we were back at the parking lot!

[2:22pm - End of Hike]

We kept commenting on how much fun that hike was - truly an excellent loop! We went back and forth on what we wanted to do after the hike - I was very much having the Sunday scaries at that point, so we agreed to get some McFlurries in Lincoln, check out the ski sale at Roger's, and then do a quick grocery run at Hannafords in Plymouth before blasting down I-93 to Hooksett and then to home! 

Step-by-Step

- Park at Flume Gorge Visitor Center.

- Start hike on Franconia Notch Bike Path.

- Cross paved path, veer left onto unmarked trail to Whitehouse Trail trailhead.

- Follow Whitehouse Trail.

- At junction, continue onto Franconia Notch Bike Path.

- At sign, turn right onto Liberty Spring Trail.

- At jct., turn right onto Flume Slide Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto Franconia Ridge Trail.

- Summit Mt. Flume and then Mt. Liberty.

- Descend Mt. Liberty to jct., then turn left onto Liberty Spring Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto Franconia Notch Bike Path.

- Follow Franconia Notch Bike Path back to car.

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