4,054 ft | Twin | 1 route
As of October 6, 2026
Trail conditions on Mount Hale are currently rated Moderate. At 8:20 PM ET it was 31°F at the summit (4,054 ft), feeling like 21°F, with WNW winds at 12 mph. The listed route, Mount Hale via Hale Brook, is 4.3 miles round trip with 2,222 ft of elevation gain, taking about 2-4 hours. Mount Hale (4,054 ft) is #38 of 48 on the NH 48 list. See the hour-by-hour Mount Hale weather forecast for summit temps, wind chill, and the best hiking window.
Mount Hale weather forecast
Hourly summit temps, wind chill & freezing level, trailhead to summit
Best time to hike Mount Hale
Month-by-month conditions from our daily records
Feels like 21°F
~3.2°F drop per 1,000ft
Conditions summary as of October 7, 2026
Cold, clear, and dry through Wednesday, with a freezing level crossing the hike and gusty northwest to west winds. Hale's summit is forested, which shelters it from the worst of the regional wind seen on Mount Washington, but residual ice and rime may linger on upper trail sections into Wednesday morning. Rain showers and falling temperatures return Thursday, so aim for the Wednesday midday window.
Expect roughly 35-44°F at the trailhead dropping to the upper 20s to mid 30s at the summit, with the freezing level in the 2,600-4,500 ft range, so you will likely cross from damp trail into icy sections. Start with a light base and add a warm mid-layer and windproof shell before the upper half of the climb, since winds increase and wind chill falls toward single digits near the top.
Best Hiking Window
Wednesday late morning through early afternoon, after the overnight chill eases and the clear skies hold, while finishing well before clouds, stronger winds, and the incoming showers Wednesday night into Thursday.
Last synthesized Oct 6, 8:20 PM ET
Planning a hike here this week?
Trailblazer adds the full 7-day summit forecast, the best day to go for every peak, and conditions for each route up.
Trail: Hale Brook Trail
Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail
“Perfectly blue skies and a nice breeze on Hale. Trail is a little wet, but overall in great shape.”
Trail: North Twin Trail, Fire Warden's Trail, Lend-a-Hand Trail, Twinway, Zealand Trail
Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail
“Scott needed a car spot for his ZBonds-Twins loop, so I concotted a hairbrained scheme that was either going to be genius or have us both standing next to locked cars with no cell service. Feel free to gamble on it yourself: Exchange spare keys 3 days earlier One person starts their loop at Zealand TH The other sleeps in, grabs a muffin for breakfast and eventually makes their way to North Twin Trailhead The ambitious person does a ZBonds-Twins loop, coming out to North Twin TH The other meanders up to Hale, down Lend-a-Hand, through hut traffic and back to Zealand TH Whoever gets to the other car firsts drives over and swaps cars out With no texting this had the potential for two muddy men to be mad at each other with only a mountain between them. Somehow it worked and we both had great days out, bonding over the plan but never once encountering each other. Many would argue this is the best way to interact with either one of us. Anyway...Fire Warden's Trail has a lot of birches starting to fall down and Lend-a-Hand is very wet. Hike them anyway, it will be fun.”
Trail: North Twin Trail, Firewarden's Trail
Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail
“I had planned to take the day off since I was short on time but then I saw the weather looked interesting and opted for a super short hike instead. This was perfect! The trail was dry down low and the North Twin trail has a nice flat warm up for us old folks. The Fire Wardens trail was also dry down low but the misty conditions up high made everything wet. The trees were dripping as well but the temps were mild so it was lovely. The footing up high is so good that even with wet rocks and roots you can cruise both up and down. I saw just one person today as I was heading down and I was highly motivated to get back to my car for kettle cooked chips for the drive home.”
Tap a day header to expand to 3hr or hourly detail
Tuesday Oct 6 | Today Oct 7 | Tomorrow Oct 8 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | |
| Temperature & Wind | |||||||||
| Weather | cloudy | cloudy | cloudy | cloudy | cloudy | rain | cloudy | sun+drizzle | drizzle |
| Temp °F hi / lo | 28° 26° | 35° 29° | 40° 33° | 44° 40° | 48° 45° | 49° 47° | 49° 47° | 47° 45° | 44° 35° |
| Chill °F | 7° | 13° | 18° | 30° | 36° | 38° | 38° | 36° | 21° |
| Wind mph | 42 | 32 | 34 | 21 | 28 | 32 | 27 | 28 | 34 |
| Gust mph est. | 59 | 51 | 54 | 34 | 45 | 51 | 43 | 45 | 54 |
| Storm risk | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Precipitation | |||||||||
| Precip in (rain/snow) | - | - | - | - | - | 0.1 | - | 0.1 | - |
| Chance of precip | 2% | 2% | 2% | 5% | 5% | 13% | 30% | 30% | 18% |
| Freezing ft | 4,503 ft | 9,716 ft | 7,141 ft | ||||||
| Conditions | |||||||||
| Cloud cover | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 54% | 72% |
| Vis mi | 8 | 8 | clear | clear | clear | 4 | clear | 8 | clear |
| UV | 1 | 3 | — | 4 | 4 | — | 4 | 5 | — |
Tap a day header to expand AM/PM/Night detail
| Elevation | Tuesday Oct 6 | Today Oct 7 | Tomorrow Oct 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| lo/hi °F · wind mph & dir · chill °F | |||
| Summit 4,054 ft | 26/28° 42 | 40/44° 21 | 47/49° 27 |
| 3,300 ft | 29/32° 34 | 40/45° 16 | 49/51° 19 |
| 2,500 ft | 33/35° 24 | 42/48° 11 | 52/54° 13 |
| Trailhead 2,000 ft | 35/37° 20 | 43/50° 10 | 53/55° 11 |
4 more days of forecast: plan around the weather window, not just tomorrow.
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32°F
Summit low
Microspikes
Summit lows near 32°F, so expect ice on rock and the upper trail.
51 mph
Summit gusts
Waterproof shell
Daytime gusts near 51 mph above treeline, and a shell is what blocks it.
11h 21m
Daylight
Headlamp
Sunset around 6:13 PM, so a late start or a slow descent ends in the dark.
The rest of the list: Winter gear guide · How I pick gear
Conditions synthesized from: NWS Higher Summits Forecast, NOAA Open-Meteo, Mount Washington Observatory, NETC Trip Reports, NOHRSC Snow Depth, Mt. Washington Avalanche Center, USGS Stream Levels, OpenWeather Air Quality.
AI-generated from public data. Always verify conditions before heading out — backcountry weather can change quickly.
One of the easier 4000-footers with a gentle grade. Often done as a short day hike.
Elevation
4,054 ft
Range
Twin
Rank
#38 of 48
Difficulty
Easy
Coordinates
44.2217, -71.5120
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1 incident on file · 1 fatal · drawn from NH Fish and Game releases and regional reporting
a male hiker
On August 12, 2026, a male hiker collapsed and was found unresponsive on the Mt. Hale Brook Trail in Bethlehem, approximately 1 mile from the trailhead. Lifesaving efforts were attempted by bystanders on scene. Rescuers from Pemi Valley Search and Rescue Team and Conservation Officers carried the hiker out, arriving at the trailhead at approximately 10:30 p.m.; the hiker did not survive.