Echo Crag

Echo Crag (center of picture, inside the wood line...

Description 

Echo Crag is a small, single pitch trad climbing area on the northeast side of Franconia Notch that overlooks Echo Lake and the ski slopes of Cannon Mountain. Despite its diminutive stature when compared to most of the other Franconia Notch crags, Echo has a surprising diversity of good climbs at all levels. Most of the shorter, moderate routes are located on the left (north) side of the crag, while the right (south) side boasts the longer, more difficult routes. The quality of the rock is generally good on the well traveled routes, with a little loose stuff here and there and vegetation in between some of the climbs. Most of the routes have either bolted anchors or slings at the top, but due to the steep slope above the crag they have to be led to set up a top rope. Unfortunately, the cliff stays wet from seepage well into the spring, and after any amount of rain. But in the summer, the shaded cliff with great views back towards Cannon, Echo Lake, and Artist’s Bluff make this a great place to climb. If you make the hike in and find the rock too wet to climb, you can always try Profile Cliff (about 10 minutes up the hill from Echo). Echo’s a great alternative to avoid Rumney’s crowds and Cannon’s approach.

Getting There 

Drive north on I-93 into Franconia Notch State Park. Continue past the big walls of Cannon and Hounds Hump Ridge to the north side of the Notch. Take Exit 34C (the same exit for the Echo Lake beach) and turn right towards the Governor Gallen Memorial (if you go under the parkway overpass you’ve gone to far). The trail to Echo Crag starts behind the green highway sign just past the exit. To park, continue towards the memorial past the obvious right hand curve. The safest bet is to park at the end of the road near the memorial and hike back up. You can also park along the road after the curve (if you park on the curve or near the trail head you’ll get ticketed or worse). Be warned that a few break ins have occurred at Echo, so secure your valuables, don’t leave anything in plain sight, and lock your vehicle! Hike up to the road sign, and follow the easy path for about 10 minutes back to the crag. About half way down the trail, you’ll come to a jumble of boulders and tress. To the left is a faint trail that leads up to Profile cliff (another 10-15 minutes of hiking). Continue straight to Echo – the first wall will be a somewhat dirty, 20-foot high bouldering wall, fallowed by the Square Inch Wall. Continue along the base of the crag to reach the other walls.

Featured Route For Echo Crag

Skeletal Ribs 5.6  New Hampshire : Echo Crag : Square Inch Wall

Climb the crack that leads between the two trees. It starts out as a hand crack at the bottom and gets steadily wider near the top (up to a #3.5 or #4 Camalot). Continue up a second, smaller crack just left of the first tree (the crux is avoiding the tree). Climb through a small overhang right of the second tree, and follow a third crack (hands) to the anchors. Fun climbing, great protection....[more]

Add Photo Photos of Echo Crag

Close up of Echo from the west side of I-93.	BETA PHOTO: Echo Crag and vicinity (courtesy of Google Earth).	Echo Lake and the flanks of Cannon Mountain from E...
A common site at Echo Crag on a nice summer day.	Echo Crag from the lake.	Echo Crag and its reflection in the lake