Presidential Range

Chain of peaks within the Mount Washington Range of the White Mountains, running northeast-southwest between Pinkham Notch and Crawford Notch in New Hampshire. Their highest summit is Mount Washington (1,918 m/6,288 ft).

The Presidential Range was shaped by mammoth continental glaciers, small ravine glaciers, streams, wind, and other natural forces. The Northern Presidentials also include Mount Madison (1,636 m/5,363 ft), Mount Adams (1,768 m/5,798 ft), Mount Jefferson (1,743 m/5,715 ft), and Mount Clay (1,687 m/5,532 ft). In the Southern Presidentials stand Mount Monroe (1,642 m/5,385 ft), Mount Franklin (1,526 m/5,004 ft), Mount Eisenhower (formerly Mount Pleasant, 1,452 m/4,761 ft), Mount Pierce (Mount Clinton until 1913, 1,315 m/4,312 ft), Mount Jackson (1,236 m/4,052 ft), and Mount Webster (1,193 m/3,910 ft). Many of the mountains' names were bestowed by Secretary of State Philip Carrigain in 1820. The Presidential Range is home to important flora. At the timberline, at 1,464-1,586 m/4,800-5,200 ft, stands a band of ‘Krummholz’, or stunted trees. Above this line, the mostly rocky terrain forms the largest zone of alpine plants in the eastern USA; sites called the Alpine Garden and Bigelow Lawn are especially noted for them. Other places of interest here include the Tuckerman and Huntington ravines; the valley known as the Great Gulf; and the two Lakes of the Clouds. The Crawford Path, first cut in 1819, the Appalachian Trail, and many other long-distance footpaths are popular hiking routes.