The Zealand-Bonds Out and Back is a 19.3-mile out-and-back with 4,928 ft of elevation gain.
Submitted by doobe01
19.3 mi • 4,928 ft gain • 9-15 hours • Zealand 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 31°F
Recent Precipitation
Rain: 0.69" (24h) · 1.15" (48h)
Best Hiking Window
Conditions improve through the week; Tuesday afternoon (Sept 30) offers the best window with drying trends, no precipitation, and calmer winds. If hiking Monday is unavoidable, aim for a full daylight window (6:39 AM to 6:34 PM) and be prepared to turn back if fog and wind worsen near the summit.
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 4,698' elevation
Tap a day header to expand to 3hr or hourly detail
Today Sep 28 | Tomorrow Sep 29 | Wednesday Sep 30 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | |
| Temperature & Wind | |||||||||
| Weather | fog | drizzle | rain | fog | drizzle | fog | cloudy | cloudy | cloudy |
| Temp °F hi / lo | 51° 50° | 51° 50° | 51° 49° | 50° 48° | 51° 48° | 51° 47° | 51° 48° | 53° 49° | 54° 53° |
| Chill °F | 41° | 43° | 42° | 41° | 41° | 43° | 47° | 47° | — |
| Wind mph | 37 | 26 | 22 | 18 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
| Gust mph est. | 59 | 42 | 35 | 29 | 29 | 13 | — | — | — |
| Precipitation | |||||||||
| Precip in (rain/snow) | - | 0.0 | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Chance of precip | 27% | 54% | 56% | 11% | 6% | 2% | - | - | 1% |
| Freezing ft | 11,788 ft | 12,123 ft | 13,675 ft | ||||||
| Conditions | |||||||||
| Cloud cover | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Vis mi | <0.1 | <0.1 | <0.1 | <0.1 | <0.1 | <0.1 | 1 | clear | clear |
| UV | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 2 | — | 4 | 5 | — |
Tap a day header to expand AM/PM/Night detail
| Elevation | Today Sep 28 | Tomorrow Sep 29 | Wednesday Sep 30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| lo/hi °F · wind mph & dir · chill °F | |||
| Summit 4,698 ft | 50/51° 37 | 48/50° 18 | 48/51° 4 |
| 4,100 ft | 49/51° 36 | 49/51° 18 | 48/51° 5 |
| 3,300 ft | 49/51° 29 | 51/51° 14 | 48/51° 6 |
| 2,500 ft | 51/53° 19 | 53/53° 8 | 49/56° 4 |
| Trailhead 2,000 ft | 52/55° 15 | 54/55° 6 | 50/58° 3 |
4 more days of forecast — plan around the weather window, not just tomorrow.
Full hourly summit forecasts: Mount Bond weather · West Bond weather · Bondcliff weather · Mount Zealand weather
Option available to overnight at Guyot Campsite or Shelter.
Distance
19.3 mi
Elevation Gain
4,928 ft
Duration
9-15 hours
Trailhead
Zealand Trailhead
The Zealand-Bonds Out and Back is 19.3 miles round trip, starting at Zealand Trailhead. At AMC book time (half the distance in hours plus 30 minutes per 1,000 ft of climbing), that works out to roughly 9-15 hours. Most parties take longer than book time on rough or above-treeline terrain, in winter, or with a heavy pack.
The Zealand-Bonds Out and Back climbs about 4,928 ft over 19.3 miles, an average of roughly 255 ft of gain per mile. That figure is cumulative ascent across the whole out-and-back, not the difference between the trailhead and the high point.
HikerNerd rates the Zealand-Bonds Out and Back Most demanding on a six-tier scale from Easy to Most demanding. The rating comes from the route itself: its 19.3 miles, 4,928 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 Zealand-Bonds Out and Back summits 4 named peaks: Mount Bond, West Bond, Bondcliff, Mount Zealand.
The Zealand-Bonds Out and Back starts at Zealand 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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