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.