The Flume and Liberty Loop is a 9.4-mile loop with 3,539 ft of elevation gain.
Submitted by doobe01
9.4 mi • 3,539 ft gain • 5-8 hours • Whitehouse Trailhead
Pemigewasset Wilderness Food Storage Requirement
Effective May 1st, 2026, all overnight campers in the Pemigewasset Wilderness must store all food, food containers, scented items (such as soap, lip balm, and toothpaste) and refuse in a cylindrical, hard-sided, non-pliable Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) certified bear resistant canister. Alternative methods, including bear hangs, for storing food and bear attractants in the Pemigewasset Wilderness will no longer be permitted as they have proven to be less effective than canisters. The only exceptions are the bear resistant food boxes located at the Thirteen Falls Tent Site.
Source: Forest Service
Feels like 53°F
Recent Precipitation
Rain: 0.01" (24h) · 0.01" (48h)
Best Hiking Window
Thursday morning through early afternoon, finishing well before dusk and before winds ramp up that night; Friday is not recommended due to rain, gusty winds, and possible thunderstorms; Saturday turns much colder with clouds lingering early
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.
Summit-level conditions by time of day at 4,328' elevation
Tap a day header to expand to 3hr or hourly detail
Today Oct 1 | Tomorrow Oct 2 | Saturday Oct 3 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | |
| Temperature & Wind | |||||||||
| Weather | sunny | fog | fog | fog | rain | fog | fog | sunny | clear |
| Temp °F hi / lo | 56° 54° | 55° 54° | 58° 55° | 59° 57° | 55° 47° | 46° 39° | 39° 37° | 42° 38° | 42° 38° |
| Chill °F | — | — | — | — | 38° | 27° | 27° | 31° | 30° |
| Wind mph | 13 | 31 | 44 | 49 | 33 | 33 | 19 | 10 | 13 |
| Gust mph est. | 21 | 50 | 62 | 69 | 53 | 53 | 30 | — | — |
| Precipitation | |||||||||
| Precip in (rain/snow) | - | - | - | - | 0.4 | - | - | - | - |
| Chance of precip | 1% | 11% | 15% | 39% | 39% | 12% | - | - | - |
| Freezing ft | 13,659 ft | 12,282 ft | 10,344 ft | ||||||
| Conditions | |||||||||
| Cloud cover | 22% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 79% | 5% | 7% |
| Vis mi | clear | <0.1 | <0.1 | 0.3 | <0.1 | <0.1 | 4 | clear | clear |
| UV | 4 | 5 | — | 0 | 1 | — | 4 | 5 | — |
Tap a day header to expand AM/PM/Night detail
| Elevation | Today Oct 1 | Tomorrow Oct 2 | Saturday Oct 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| lo/hi °F · wind mph & dir · chill °F | |||
| Summit 4,459 ft | 54/56° 13 | 57/59° 49 | 37/39° 19 |
| 4,100 ft | 55/56° 12 | 58/60° 47 | 38/39° 18 |
| 3,300 ft | 57/58° 10 | 61/62° 35 | 41/42° 16 |
| 2,500 ft | 59/60° 7 | 64/65° 25 | 43/46° 13 |
| Trailhead 2,000 ft | 60/62° 5 | 65/67° 20 | 44/48° 11 |
4 more days of forecast — plan around the weather window, not just tomorrow.
Full hourly summit forecasts: Mount Liberty weather · Mount Flume weather
The Flume and Liberty Loop is a 9.4-mile loop in New Hampshire's White Mountains, starting at Whitehouse Trailhead. It climbs about 3,539 ft, an average of 377 ft per mile, which works out to roughly 5-8 hours at AMC book time. It summits 2 named peaks, topping out on Mount Liberty at 4,459 ft: Mount Liberty (4,459 ft), Mount Flume (4,328 ft). HikerNerd rates it Most demanding for effort and terrain. Check the current conditions above before committing, since weather above treeline changes the day far more than the numbers do.
Distance
9.4 mi
Elevation Gain
3,539 ft
Duration
5-8 hours
Trailhead
Whitehouse Trailhead
The Flume and Liberty Loop is 9.4 miles around the loop, starting at Whitehouse Trailhead. At AMC book time (half the distance in hours plus 30 minutes per 1,000 ft of climbing), that works out to roughly 5-8 hours. Most parties take longer than book time on rough or above-treeline terrain, in winter, or with a heavy pack.
The Flume and Liberty Loop climbs about 3,539 ft over 9.4 miles, an average of roughly 377 ft of gain per mile. That figure is cumulative ascent across the whole loop, not the difference between the trailhead and the high point.
HikerNerd rates the Flume and Liberty Loop Most demanding on a six-tier scale from Easy to Most demanding. The rating comes from the route itself: its 9.4 miles, 3,539 ft of gain, and the steepest quarter mile of trail, with routes known for scrambles or ledges rated a step harder. It is the same scale our NH 4,000-footer difficulty ranking uses. Above-treeline exposure, water crossings, and winter conditions can still make a well-rated route the hardest day of your year, so check current conditions before committing.
The Flume and Liberty Loop summits 2 named peaks: Mount Liberty, Mount Flume.
The Flume and Liberty Loop starts at Whitehouse Trailhead. Check the trail alerts on this page before you drive: trailhead access and parking in the White Mountains change with closures and construction.
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