South Hanock

South Hancock – White Mountains, NH

Elevation: 4,278 feet

Distance of Hike: 9.8 Miles

The Hancock Loop offers another enjoyable 4k-footer day hike, with the South Hancock Mountain as a main attraction. The first two miles on the Hancock Notch Trail are relatively easy, with minimal elevation gain. However, the last two miles present a considerable increase in elevation, with the final mile being quite steep. We chose to summit the North Peak, Mount Hancock, first. The 0.7-mile ascent from the split to the summit was steep and took us about an hour to complete. The 1.4-mile stretch from Mount Hancock to South Hancock Mountain wasn’t too steep and provided a pleasant hike. The 0.5-mile descent from South Hancock was very steep and took us about 45 minutes. We encountered other hikers who suggested summiting South Hancock first, but we believed tackling the steeper section to Mount Hancock was a better choice.

This hike was highly dog-friendly, and even the steep sections leading up to the summits posed no significant challenges for Java. He had to navigate some rock scrambles, but nothing too extreme. We definitely recommend this hike as a fantastic day hike option.