Hiking Osceola and East Osceola

Now that the majority of the ice has melted, at least on the more southern 4,000 footers in the White Mountains, we decided to bag two peaks on a sunny Saturday in May. Osceola and East Osceola are two of the easier 4,000 footers at 4,156 and 4,315 feet, respectively. We hiked from the Kancamagus Highway via the Greeley Pond Trail, which is considered the more difficult route to the Mt. Osceola. Round trip, the hike was 7.6 miles, and took a total of 6 hours including a long break at the Osceola Summit.

Trail Summary

Distance: 7.6 miles round-trip

Difficulty: Moderate

Time: ~ 6 hours round-trip

Map: AllTrails







We were on the trail a little before 8 AM and managed to get the last parking spot in the lot at the Greeley Pond trailhead (although people park along the Kancamagus Hwy after the lot fills up). There is a $3 fee for day use parking.

The first 1.3 miles along the Greeley Pond Trail is a mostly flat walk through the woods. When the trails comes to the junction with the Mt. Osceola Trail, many hikers choose to continue along the Greeley Pond Trail to the ponds themselves for a casual day hike.

After this easy stretch of trail, we turned right on the Mount Osceola Trail which ascends a very steep 1.5 miles to the summit of East Osceola. This is the part of the hike people are talking about when they say it is “difficult”. There was a lot of scrambling over rocks but thankfully there were consistent views along the way before reaching the tree-covered summit of East Osceola. Doing East Osceola by itself really doesn’t make much sense, because it is completely below the treeline and there are no views at all. If you’ve ever been to the summit of Mt. Zealand, it’s similar to that except the sign at East Osceola isn’t nearly as cool as Zealand’s. We would highly recommend combining the two peaks as a single day hike.

After reaching the East Osceola summit, the trail descends again before making one final push to the summit of Mt. Osceola. There were some stretches along this part of the trail that had some residual ice, but everything was avoidable and microspikes were definitely not necessary. Spring is a tricky time of year in the White Mountains because, depending on which mountain you’re climbing, you could be faced with muddy trails or thick layers of ice at the higher elevations (and bugs!). Fortunately, the Osceolas are short enough and far enough south that your chances of encountering serious ice in May is lower than it would be on the taller White Mountain peaks farther north.

The most difficult/dangerous part of the trail, affectionately known as “the chimney”, came shortly before reaching the second summit. It is more or less a vertical climb up a pile of rocks. If you take your time and watch your step it is very manageable.

The summit of Mt. Osceola was exactly what we were hoping for, with panoramic views of 41 of the other 4,000 footers in NH. There were several other people at the top, most of whom ascended via Tripoli Road (the easy route).

If you’re looking to bag two 4,000-foot peaks in one day via a very manageable day hike, then Mt. Osceola and East Osceola is the perfect option.

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