The Desolation Loop is a 41-mile route through the eastern half of the White Mountain’s Pemigewasset Wilderness, bounded by the Bonds, Ethan Ridge, Carrigain Notch, and Hancock Notch. There are three 4000-footers on this route (North and South Hancock and Carrigain).
The east side of the Pemigewasset Wilderness is called “Desolation” because loggers clear-cut the forest between 1890 and 1940, leaving behind huge quantities of slash. This wood caught fire and burned uncontrollably for years, casting black smoke clouds over the entire White Mountain region and polluting the watersheds. The fires and smoke are vividly described in early versions of the AMC White Mountain Guide and other regional guidebooks.
The route follows the following trails in sequence.
- Park at the Hancock Trail Head Lot (hairpin turn on the Kancamagus Highway)
- Hancock Notch Trail: 1.8 miles
- Cedar Brook Trail: 0.7 miles
- Hancock Loop: 4.8 miles
- Cedar Brook Trail: 4.8 miles
- Wilderness Trail: 1.5 miles
- Thoreau Falls Trail: 5.1 miles
- Ethan Pond Trail 0.5 miles
- Shoal Pond Trail 4.0 miles
- Carrigain Notch Trail 0.8 miles
- Desolation Trail 1.9 miles
- Signal Ridge Trail 5.0 miles
- Sawyer Pond Road 2 .0 miles
- Sawyer River Trail 1.2 miles
- Hancock Notch Trail 5.1 miles
- Hancock Notch Trail 1.8 miles
The following list provides cumulate distances on the route to each view or landmark
- South Hancock Summit – 4.1 miles
- North Hancock Summit – 5.5 miles
- Thoreau Falls Bridge Abutments (this is now a stream crossing)- 13.6 miles
- Thoreau Falls – 18.7 miles
- Shoal Pond – 19.5 miles
- Stillwater Junction – 23.2 miles
- Carrigain Brook – 24.0 miles
- Carrigain Summit – 25.9 miles
- Hancock Notch – 34 miles
Source: https://sectionhiker.com/backpacking-white-mountain-4000-footers-guidebook/backpacking-the-desolation-loop/
Please note the relationship to the Hancock Loop to N and S Hancock - https://fastestknowntime.com/route/mt-hancock-loop-nh
