A fun hike amidst geological marvels – a must-see when you visit New Hampshire.
The hike will take you through dramatic volcanic and glacial wonders in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with interesting stops and unusual views. It can be a little difficult in places because it involves uphill walking, slopes and a lot of stairs.
You will start the hike at the Flume Gorge Visitor Centre located north of Lincoln in the Franconia Notch State Park of New Hampshire in USA. The visitor centre itself is quite nice with a small movie theatre (playing the history of Flume Gorge), a good cafeteria, washrooms, some historical displays and a gift shop. There is plenty of parking and well-marked signposts throughout this hike.
Follow the flume path that takes you through many points of interest such as giant boulders, two covered bridges, a pool, the Flume gorge and Avalanche waterfalls, Liberty gorge, bear cave and a Wolf den. There are a couple of rain shelters en route with benches which are ideal for taking breaks.
The walk is about 2 miles and would take about an hour and half for fast hikers. We took our time, pausing here and there and taking photographs, and stretched it almost to three hours.
The highlights from the trail as we walked along the Flume path are:
The Glacial Boulder
As you start downhill on the path, you will come across an enormous Glacial Boulder. There are many such boulders in the hiking path – the biggest probably weighing as much as 300 tons.
Some 25,000 years ago during the last Ice age, a huge Ice sheet, a mile or more in thickness, had built up in this area. When it eventually began to move, it ground the underlying rock to create many boulders, big and small. When the weather warmed up and all the ice was finally gone these boulders, called Glacial erratics, were left behind.
We found some unique boulders with roots of huge trees wrapped around them! How that could have happened is beyond our understanding, but it sure looks quite unusual.
The Flume Covered Bridge
A bit further came the colorful and picturesque bridge across the Pemigewasset River. It is said to have been restored many times after it was built in 1886. ‘Pemigewasset’ means ‘rapid current’ in Abenaki Indian language.
A word about covered bridges. No, they were not built with roofs to protect the travellers, but the bridges. In the past bridges were made entirely of wood, and they would rot away in a few years if left exposed to rain and snow. Hence a roof was essential to make the bridge last for up to 20 years.
We stopped here and walked around and through the bridge admiring the views and taking photos.
Boulder Cabin
This cabin has some exhibits and some informative pamphlets and a rest room.
There is a very curious photograph of a huge boulder suspended in the air between two vertical cliff walls. Later in the hike you will see the spot where the photo had been taken, but alas – there is no boulder. It had been washed away in a heavy rainstorm way back in 1883.
Table Rock
As your walk further along the path there is the Table Rock.
Here, the Conway granite is 500 ft long and 75 ft wide. Over many years, the rushing waters of the Flume brook has exposed this large rocky place. Caution: It is slippery to climb on the rocks.
It is a very peaceful place to just stand and admire the water rushing over the rocks.
Flume Gorge
Now comes the uphill path, stairs and a boardwalk to the giant gorge, about 800 ft in length. The Conway granite wall rises to a towering height of 70 feet. The steep stairs and boardwalk make it easier for visitors to look closer at the falls, flora and fauna around.
Some 200 million years ago the area was covered by molten granite which cooled over time, and during this process vertical cracks developed at various places. Later on, molten basalt was forced up into these cracks by the tremendous pressure of molten rock deep below the earth’s crust. These intrusions were called dikes.
After everything had cooled and settled down, water from rain and snow began the slow but inexorable process of entering the myriad cracks and wearing out the rocks. The basalt in the dikes wore out faster than the surrounding granite, and gorges began to be formed, growing steadily over time.
More detailed history can be found at the Flume Gorge website.
Avalanche Falls
The boardwalk to the gorge goes further and takes you to a thundering 45 feet waterfall as the Flume brook enters the gorge.
We found it a spectacular sight – you can look down and see the rushing water below your feet. It is actually very close as if you can reach out and touch the falls at the end of the boardwalk. The views and atmosphere are incredible. It is the perfect place to just stand and watch apart from taking photos but there is usually a queue of people waiting to take your spot and you have to move on.
The great storm of 1883, which washed away the hanging boulder mentioned earlier, also forced aside the surrounding boulders to create the avalanche falls.
.
Bear Cave
There is an interesting Bear cave signposted just after the falls en route to the Liberty Gorge.
Liberty Gorge
Now, you go downhill quite a bit until you reach the Liberty Gorge – a cascading stream flowing through the narrow valley.
Sentinel Pine Bridge and Pool
You will come to a deep basin in the Pemigewasset River – 40 ft deep and 150 ft in diameter – surrounded by giant cliffs. The water in this pool cascades over the granite that fell from the cliffs. You can cross the river on – what else? – a covered bridge!
A gigantic pine tree, named the Sentinel Pine, said to be 16 ft in circumference and about 175 ft high, had stood on the cliffs for many years. This giant pine was uprooted during a hurricane in 1938 and today, the tree trunk bridges the river and forms the base of the Sentinel covered bridge.
We walked through the bridge and took in some lovely views of the pool.
Wolf Den
This is a tunnel of sorts which, quite possibly, was the abode of wolves at some point of time. You can enter from below and exit at the top, crawling all the way. Definitely not for us, though!
Beyond this point, it is a long wildwood path finally leading to the Visitor centre. There are many boulders in this path, one with tree roots all around it.
After this great hike and views, we had some coffee at the visitor centre cafeteria. I must mention here that the cafeteria – called Lafayette Food Court – offers a number of ‘healthy’ options including bananas and vegan snacks in addition to burgers, sandwiches and soups.
If you happen to be driving around in New Hampshire, do take time out to take in the Flume Gorge hike. You will love it!
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This looks like the type of hike that I would love to go on – thanks for sharing!
Being from New England, I definitely think I’ll have to make the trip to Flume Gorge! The hiking looks beautiful and I love checking out glacial boulders like the ones you mentioned. There’s a huge boulder in the Cape Cod National Seashore that really is spectacular to see.
Looks like a beautiful and peaceful hike!
Who knew this existed in New Hampshire! Flume Gorge looks amazing – bucket list!
I would really love to follow those wooden pathways through Flume Gorge! I did something similar when I was in Slovenia, it was really nice. By the way, that huge boulder with the roots around it looks pretty crazy, I’ve never seen anything like it!
We have not spent any time exploring New Hamshire but want to. We will definitely put the hike at the Flume Gorge on our itinerary. We would not want to miss the volcanic and glacial views of the White Mountains. I love all the views of flowing waters along the way. And that the path is easily navigable. Thanks for introducing me to this spot.
wow! Flume gorge looks beautiful! I would love to visit one day! I’m also curious about Avalanche Falls, it really looks impressive as you said!
Ever since I broke my leg in a deserted gorge I’m a bit wary of gorges, however, this one looks very beautiful and not scary at all yet still interesting and worth the hike. I would definitely love to follow your foot steps there 😉
Wow! From the initial picture, I thought you were visiting a rainforest! I had no idea that was in New Hampshire until I started reading. The mossy stones give it that jungle look.
I want to do a Flume Gorge hike, as the scenery is lovely. And I’m a massive fan of covered bridges and waterfalls. I add this place to my bucket list when visiting New Hampshire.
New Hampshire was not a place I associated with good hiking before I read your post. But I must say Flume Gorge looks really amazing. I am a climber too and I always enjoy interestingly shaped rocks (even if I cannot climb them).
Flume Gorge is one of my highlights during our summer trip to the New England states back in 2021. I think it is very beautiful nature! In fact, the whole hike is beautiful from the beginning to the end. You are right though, it is a little difficult in some places because of the uphill walking, slopes, and stairs. But you don’t walk on rocky terrain like in Texas and it’s shaded. So, it’s really enjoyable. I want to check it out during the fall season. I read that the Flume Covered Bridge is one of the best places to visit during Fall.
I have driven past the sign for Flume Gorge many a time on my way through Franconia Notch – but never stopped! I can see what a mistake that has been… This is such a quintessential New Hampshire scene, with rock-filled rivers and waterfalls, and of course, a covered bridge. I’ve taken these types of big boulders for granted and I’m so surprised to hear the one pictured in Flume Gorge is glacial! That really puts the history of this beautiful place in perspective. Next time, I’m going to stop!!
My 5yr old just learnt about volcanos and we were just looking at the possible volcanoes that can be visited and I come across your blog. Good to know that it is only 2 miles. That’s something my little one would be able to easily manage. The concept of Glacial boulders is interesting & the tree wrapped around it is awesome. The boardwalk is definitely a great way to see the whole place in a comfortable way.
This is timely! We are actually spending the holiday in New Hampshire and will see if we can include this in our itinerary.
Interesting fact on covered bridges. I really thought it was for travelers. Thank you for sharing this. Learned something new today.
Flume Gorge hike seems quite interesting. I have always liked short hikes in nature. It seems I would love this one as well. I really like the way you have described the place along with a few historicala nd geographical facts. Sentinel Pine Bridge looks amazing as well and the fact on how it was formed is pretty interesting. The view from the Avalanche Falls is quite spectacular. This hike just looks perfect for a day trip.
I haven’t been to New Hampshire yet but am planning a road trip, so I add a hike to Flume Gorge to my itinerary. The scenery is breathtaking, especially as I love waterfalls. I want to hike the boardwalk to the giant gorge and take photos of the water and the granite wall. Also, covered bridges are unique, especially the Sentinel-covered bridge from 1939. Glacial Boulder, with its weight, is an impressive formation.
What a beautiful place! It sounds like it might be too difficult to do with our 5 year old but maybe we head over when she is a little but bigger. All though, she does really well in stairs. I love seeing the glacial boulders. I’m originally from Finland and we have a lot of those there. It reminds me of home. But the main site is of course the falls. They are amazing!
My mom is from New Hampshire, but I have never been. I’d love to go check these places out. Certainly on my list of places I want to visit.