Middle Carter Mountain is a 4,610 foot mountain located in the Carter-Moriah Range in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The summit of Middle Carter is wooded, so there are no views. There are several view points along the Carter-Moriah Trail, which is also part of the Appalachian Trail.
Elevation: 4,610 feet (1,402 meters)
Elevation gain:Â 4,698 feet
Distance: 10.9 miles roundtrip, with an extra 1.5 miles on the road when paired with South Carter Mountain. Or, hike just Middle Carter Mountain at 10.2 miles.
Duration (book time): 6-7 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
Trails
Carter-Moriah Trail, Nineteen Mile Brook Trail – 10.9 miles round trip
Start your hike at the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail Parking lot. Follow the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail for 1.9 miles until you reach a junction with the Carter Dome Trail. Here, you will stay left to follow the Carter Dome Trail for another 1.9 miles. You will reach a junction with the Zeta Pass to your right, and the Carter-Moriah Trail (Appalachian Trail) to your left. Here, you will stay left and continue along the Carter-Moriah Trail for roughly 0.8 miles until you reach the summit of South Carter Mountain. To continue over to Middle Carter Mountain, stay on the Carter-Moriah Trail for 1.3 miles until reaching the summit of Middle Carter Mountain. To descend, you have the option of retracing your steps, or continuing along the Carter-Moriah Trail for 0.6 miles until you reach a junction with the North Carter Trail to your right. Here, you will follow the North Carter Trail for roughly 1.2 miles until you reach the Imp Trail junction. Here, take the Imp Trail for 3.3 miles down to Route 16. You will walk along the road for about 1.5 miles until you reach the  Nineteen Mile Brook parking area where you started.
Trail Map
Loop Hike Option
Hiking both mountains together works best with a car spot. You will start on the Imp Trail and follow along until reaching the junction with North Carter Trail. You will traverse Middle Carter and South Carter, and begin your descent on the Carter Dome Trail to Nineteen Mile Brook Trail back to Route 16. The Imp trailhead is about 1.5 miles to the north.
When hiking this loop, you may notice a trial that connects the IMP trail to Camp Dodge. This trail will save you around .5 miles of hiking if you choose to take this cutoff.
Elevation gain: 3700 feet
Distance: 10.8 miles roundtrip
Duration: 6.5 hours
Parking
The trailhead parking area for the Nineteen Mile Brook trail is located off of Route 16 in Gorham, New Hampshire. There is free roadside parking for the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, the South and North Imp Trails.
Directions
To get to the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail parking area
Take exit 35 off I-93 where you will end up on US-3 / N towards Twin Mountain / Lancaster. Continue 12.3 miles and turn right onto NH 115 N. Drive 9.6 miles and turn right onto US-2 E / Presidential Hwy. Drive 12.5 miles and turn right onto Main Street. Drive 1.4 miles and turn NH-16 S / Glen Road. Drive roughly 6.8 miles until you see the Nineteen Mile Brook Parking Lot on the left side.
The IMP trailhead is located only another mile or so north of this trailhead.
Weather
Check a detailed forecast before heading out. Here is the forecast for the next four days
Gorham, NH
Today
Partly sunny, with a high near 2. Wind chill values as low as -25. West wind around 30 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph.
Tonight
Partly cloudy, with a low around -5. Wind chill values as low as -30. West wind 15 to 30 mph.
Wednesday
A chance of snow showers after 3pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 14. Wind chill values as low as -24. Southwest wind 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Wednesday Night
A chance of snow showers before 7pm, then snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 10. Wind chill values as low as -13. Southwest wind 20 to 40 mph, with gusts as high as 50 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Thursday
A chance of snow. Partly sunny, with a high near 23. West wind 35 to 50 mph, with gusts as high as 65 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.
Thursday Night
A chance of snow before 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 6. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Friday
A slight chance of snow after 7am. Partly sunny, with a high near 9.
Additional photos
Photo credit – Wikipedia
