The White Mountains in New Hampshire are a hiker’s paradise. While tourists love to flock to iconic peaks such as Mt Washington or Lafayette, there’s hundreds of additional hikes at your disposal.

One such hike is Mt Parker, which on the New Hampshire 52 With a View list. This is a list of 52 mountains under 4000 feet that offer stellar views despite their lower stature.

Join us as we hike Mt Parker in the Presidential Range of the White Mountain National Forest.

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The Mt Parker trail head can be found near Barlett, New Hampshire near Attitash Ski Resort right on the banks of the Saco River.

Overall, the hike is 7.3 miles round trip with 2,700 feet of elevation gain. Overall, this was a pretty easy hike. Unlike most New England trails, the trail was almost void of rocks and roots for its entirety and there were no technical sections that required scrambling up rocks.

There were even some switchbacks. Am I in Colorado, or am I in New Hampshire?!

In terms of grade and technicality, there’s not many trails easier than this one in the White Mountains.

I just recommend bringing a bug net and an ample amount of bug spray if you’re doing this hike in the summer.

Hiking Mt Parker

You start out on the trail following an old logging road which quickly turns into a proper trail with two minor creek crossings.

This was where the bugs were the worst which motivated us to go faster.

The trail never got too steep and was mostly a gradual ramp the entire way up with a handful of rooty sections.

In order to get to the peak, you must first hike over a ridge which means you’ll descend by ~500 feet until you start to go uphill again.

Eventually, you’ll get higher in elevation, the tree types will change and the bugs almost completely disappear for the last mile and a half or so.

At the Peak of Mt Parker

At the peak, you’ll be met with a grand view of the Presidentials, including Mt Washington, its boot spur as well as nearby mountains such as Webster, Stairs and Resolution.

This is a very unique viewpoint, especially if you don’t want to hike a mountain like Mt Isolation which is a much much longer day.

The skies were a little hazy due to wildfires out West and in Canada but was still a beautiful day nonetheless.

When we got back to the car we dipped our feet into the Saco River. This is also a popular swimming spot so don’t be surprised if the parking lot is full of swimmers.

Moat Mountain Brewing

Afterwards, we went to one of our favorite places in the White Mountains, Moat Mountain in North Conway. This brewpub not only has a great selection of brews such as the blueberry ale shown here, but has an extensive menu of great food to choose from. We ordered the Spicy Chicken Sandwich and a Cajun Burger, but pretty much everything on the menu is above average. I’ve been to Moat Mountain at least a dozen times now and have never been disappointed.