Hiking Caribou Mountain: A Quiet White Mountains Loop in Western Maine
Caribou Mountain sits on the far northeastern edge of the White Mountains, tucked into a quiet corner of Maine where the ridges roll gently and the crowds thin out. It’s one of those peaks you might overlook on a map, but once you hike it, you wonder why more people aren’t wandering these trails. The woods are calm, the grades are steady, and the summit ridge gives up wide views that easily rival more famous mountains to the south. The Caribou–Mud Brook Loop is the classic way to explore the mountain—a 7-mile lollipop that offers a bit of everything: rushing streams, hardwood forest, a few rocky scrambles, and long stretches of open ledge. It’s the sort of hike that rewards an unhurried pace and a willingness to stop and look around. Trailhead Notes & the Route 113 Seasonal Closure If you’re planning this one, it’s worth mentioning right up front that Route 113 through Evans Notch is a seasonal road. It closes for winter and doesn’t reopen until late spring, which puts the trailhe...
