Cannon Mountain Backcountry Skiing

Cannon’s unique location within New Hampshire’s Franconia Notch State Park allows skiers and riders looking for a backcountry experience to get creative following hiking trails and open slides in the area. Though these options are numerous, caution is emphasized as Cannon Mountain itself features a variety of massive unmarked cliffs that bring climbers to its walls throughout the summer. As always, knowing before you go is the name of the game.

Utilizing parking areas alongside the stretch of Interstate 93 that accesses Cannon, there are a number of hiking trails that also may bring backcountry skiers atop massive chutes and slides off nearby Mt. Lafayette and Mt. Liberty. The White Mountains are the only mountains in the northeast that prominently feature slide paths, areas where trees have been cleared by rock slides of avalanches. These can make for awesome expert backcountry runs if skied under the right conditions, and the only avalanche association in the Northeast issues advisories from nearby Mt. Washington.

While not technically a backcountry trail, a short, fun hike from the top of the tram to the observation deck atop the mountain offers all guests an uninterrupted sight of Mt. Lafayette across the notch, and views into New York, Vermont, Maine, and Canada.