Zealand Mountain via Zealand Trail: Zeacliff, Zealand Falls & Twinway Trail

Though the summit may not offer any views, Zeacliff is one of the most outstanding views in New Hampshire. The hike up is well worth it, and you even get the bonus waterfall and ponds on the way up. Total trip from Zealand road to summit and back: 11.2

Height: 4,260 feet

Distance: 11.2 miles round trip

Rating: Difficult

Elevation Gain: 2,467 feet

Hike Time: 5-8 Hours

Zealand Trail

This trail is relatively flat for 2.3 miles heading towards Beaver Ponds and Zealand Falls. Well traveled by many who are doing a short hike to the falls, to stay at the Zealand Falls Hut, or those who are peaking or continuing on elsewhere. It follows along the river for quite some time offering great river views. It would be classified as an easy trail. For .2 miles it gets a bit steep heading upwards past the falls, and the hut with some small river crossings.

Zeacliff looking at Carrigain

Trail Map

Trail Map Zealand Mountain Courtesy of 4000footers.com (always one of the best pre-hike reads)

http://4000footers.com/zealand.shtml

Zealand Falls

The falls are absolutely gorgeous, both from the bottom and the top. In the fall they also have great foliage. Come after some heavy rain, and it is awesome to see a heavy flow of water.

Zealand Falls Hut

All of the AMC huts are awesome, but this one not only has a waterfall 50 feet away, but is also relatively easy to access. Only around 2.5 miles from the parking lot with minimal elevation gain makes it one of the easiest to access in the Whites.

Twinway Trail

This connects Zeacliff to the summit, and continuous on to Mount Guyot and beyond. It gives easy access to the Twins or the Bonds from their. This is a pretty easy and flat trail with some bumps mixed in throughout. (1.3 miles from the hut to Zeacliff and another 1.6 miles from Zeacliff to the summit.)

Zealand Cliff

The views say enough. Good lunch spot too.

Panoramic photo from Zeacliff

Summit

Pretty much no views here. Completely surrounded by trees. It is a little .1 mile cutoff from the Twinway trail. If you don’t care about the summit, there is at least a cool summit sign.

Directions

Additional Hikes:

Some may enjoy adding in Mount Hale to the mix, especially if you are trying to efficiently bag some peaks. The most efficient way to do so would be to take the Lend-A-Hand Trail either from the parking lot about a mile before the Zealand parking lot. This will add only a little over a mile of walking on the road on top of the 4.9 miles of trail to hit Mount Hale.