List of New England Fifty Finest

The New England Fifty Finest is a list of mountains in New England, United States, used in the mountaineering sport of peak bagging. The list comprises the 50 summits with the highest topographic prominence — a peak's height above the lowest contour which encloses that peak and no higher peak. The list includes 20 peaks in Maine, 15 in Vermont, 14 in New Hampshire, and one in Massachusetts.

This list differs substantially from lists of peaks by elevation, such as the New England 4000 Footers. For instance, only one peak in the Presidential Range is on this list because the others do not have a major prominence, being connected to Mount Washington by ridgelines that are nowhere below 4,900 ft (1,490 m). Mount Washington has an elevation above sea level of 6,288 ft (1,917 m) but has a prominence of about 6,150 ft (1,875 m) because it stands that high above its key col — the lowest ground on the ridge line connecting Washington to the higher peaks of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Washington's key col is at the Champlain Canal in New York, the lowest ground on the water divide between the watersheds of the Hudson and Saint Lawrence Rivers.

Of the 48 New Hampshire Four-thousand Footers, only eight are also on this list, including Mount Lafayette and Carter Dome, which are the high points of the Franconia Range and the Carter-Moriah Range, respectively. The list includes several monadnocks, including the eponymous Mount Monadnock, and the high points of several small mountain ranges which have high prominence by virtue of their isolation from higher peaks by surrounding low ground.

List

Rank Peak State Prominence [1] Elevation
1 Mount Washington New Hampshire   6,150 ft   1,875 m   6,288 ft   1,917 m  
2 Katahdin Maine 4,290 ft 1,310 m 5,268 ft 1,606 m
3 Mount Mansfield Vermont 3,640 ft 1,110 m 4,393 ft 1,339 m
4 Mount Lafayette New Hampshire 3,360 ft 1,025 m 5,249 ft 1,600 m
5 Killington Peak Vermont 3,320 ft 1,010 m 4,241 ft 1,291 m
6 Sugarloaf Mountain Maine 3,180 ft 970 m 4,250 ft 1,295 m
7 Equinox Mountain Vermont 3,060 ft 935 m 3,850 ft 1,175 m
8 Jay Peak Vermont 2,975 ft 906 m 3,858 ft 1,176 m
9 Mount Moosilauke New Hampshire 2,932 ft 894 m 4,802 ft 1,464 m
10 Mount Bigelow Maine 2,855 ft 870 m 4,145 ft 1,263 m
11 Dorset Mountain Vermont 2,840 ft 865 m 3,770 ft 1,150 m
12 Carter Dome New Hampshire 2,821 ft 860 m 4,832 ft 1,473 m
13 Old Speck Mountain Maine 2,720 ft 830 m 4,170 ft 1,270 m
14 Mount Cabot New Hampshire 2,670 ft 815 m 4,170 ft 1,270 m
15 White Cap Mountain Maine 2,610 ft 795 m 3,654 ft 1,114 m
16 Coburn Mountain Maine 2,510 ft 765 m 3,717 ft 1,133 m
17 Mount Greylock Massachusetts 2,470 ft 755 m 3,487 ft 1,063 m
18 Mount Putnam Vermont 2,470 ft 755 m 3,642 ft 1,110 m
19 Saddleback Mountain Maine 2,446 ft 746 m 4,120 ft 1,256 m
20 Kinsman Mountain New Hampshire 2,420 ft 740 m 4,358 ft 1,328 m
21 Stratton Mountain Vermont 2,410 ft 735 m 3,940 ft 1,201 m
22 The Traveler Maine 2,340 ft 715 m 3,541 ft 1,079 m
23 Mount Shaw New Hampshire 2,340 ft 715 m 2,990 ft 911 m
24 Snow Mountain Maine 2,330 ft 710 m 3,960 ft 1,207 m
25 Mount Ascutney Vermont 2,290 ft 700 m 3,140 ft 955 m
26 [2] Kibby Mountain or Maine 2,260 ft 690 m 3,654 ft 1,114 m
Caribou Mountain 3,650±10 ft 1,112±3 m
27 Mount Carrigain New Hampshire 2,240 ft 685 m 4,700 ft 1,435 m
28 Baldpate Mountain Maine 2,240 ft 685 m 3,790 ft 1,155 m
29 East Mountain Vermont 2,230 ft 680 m 3,439 ft 1,048 m
30 Grass Mountain Vermont 2,200 ft 670 m 3,109 ft 948 m
31 Baker Mountain Maine 2,190 ft 670 m 3,520 ft 1,073 m
32 Smarts Mountain New Hampshire 2,190 ft 670 m 3,238 ft 987 m
33 Mount Monadnock New Hampshire 2,160 ft 660 m 3,165 ft 965 m
34 Cold Hollow Mountains High Point[3] Vermont 2,146 ft 654 m 3,327+ ft 1,014+ m
35 Signal Mountain Vermont 2,140 ft 650 m 3,370 ft 1,025 m
36 Mount Ellen Vermont 2,132 ft 650 m 4,083 ft 1,244 m
37 Big Moose Mountain Maine 2,130 ft 650 m 3,196 ft 974 m
38 Mount Kearsarge New Hampshire 2,100 ft 640 m 2,937 ft 895 m
39 Doubletop Mountain Maine 2,080 ft 635 m 3,489 ft 1,063 m
40 Elephant Mountain Maine 2,060 ft 630 m 3,772 ft 1,150 m
41 Mount Osceola New Hampshire 2,040 ft 620 m 4,340 ft 1,325 m
42 Boundary Bald Mountain Maine 2,010 ft 615 m 3,638 ft 1,109 m
43 Gore Mountain Vermont 1,982 ft 604 m 3,332 ft 1,016 m
44 Mount Cardigan New Hampshire 1,922 ft 586 m 3,155 ft 962 m
45 Big Spencer Mountain Maine 1,920 ft 585 m 3,206 ft 977 m
46 Camel's Hump Vermont 1,880 ft 575 m 4,083 ft 1,244 m
47 Belknap Mountain New Hampshire 1,850 ft 565 m 2,382 ft 726 m
48 Saddleback Mountain Maine 1,850 ft 565 m 2,998 ft 915 m
49 Mount Blue Maine 1,840 ft 560 m 3,190 ft 970 m
50 Moxie Mountain Maine 1,820 ft 555 m 2,930 ft 895 m

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Measurements of prominence generally have less precision than those of elevation, since the elevations of the key cols are seldom surveyed, and must be estimated from the contour lines above and below on topographic maps. The values in this table are intermediate between the maximum possible ("optimistic") and minimum possible ("clean") prominences. The values are rounded off to the nearest 10 ft or 5 m unless known more precisely. The determination of precise values would require only minor alterations in the order of the list — with one exception.
  2. ^ Caribou Mountain's elevation is in the range of 3,640–60 ft, so it may be higher or lower than Kibby Mountain (3,654 ft). Whichever of them is higher has a prominence of about 2,260 ft (690 m). The other stands only about 1,220 ft (370 m) above the lowest point on the ridge line between them — well below the lowest prominence on the list.
  3. ^ "Cold Hollow Mountains High Point, Vermont". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2021-06-11.