Parking
Begin at the Profile Plaza / Old Man of the Mountain Historic Site parking area beside Profile Lake. The full Pemi route is one way, so plan pickup at the south end or arrange your own return.
Overview
About Pemi Trail
Why go
- Links Profile Lake, a beaver wetland, and The Basin on one walk.
- A natural-surface river route beside the paved recreation path.
Heads up
- Point to point; the return needs advance planning.
- Rough shore rock and bog bridges slow the walk and rule out smooth rolling.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Franconia Notch map
Full mapElevation1,516–2,057 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Franconia Notch alerts
- ClosureFlume Gorge Short Trail closed; seasonal closure Oct 26The Flume Gorge Short Trail/Rim Path is closed; before the seasonal closure, visitors must use the full 2-mile loop.Official details
- ClosureCannon Mountain Aerial Tramway closed and retiredThe Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway (Tram II) is closed and retired; do not plan on a tram ride.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Franconia Notch Tour Guide
Your drive to Pemi Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Franconia Notch State Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Franconia Notch audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Old Man of the Mountain Profile Plaza0:00 / 0:35
“You're approaching the Old Man of the Mountain Profile Plaza, a short lakeside stop beneath Cannon Cliff. The granite face itself collapsed in two thousand three, so come for the memorial and the story.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Franconia Notch Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Cannon Mountain via Kinsman Ridge
- Greenleaf Trail and Eagle Pass
- Cannon Tramway Base and New England Ski Museum
- Profile Lake and the Eagle Cliff View
- 32 audio storiesacross Franconia Notch’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Moose, Wild Turkey, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 29 trails, 33 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Pemi Trail
The route in a nutshellPemi Trail is a roughly 4-mile point-to-point hike south from Profile Plaza along the…
Pemi Trail is a roughly 4-mile point-to-point hike south from Profile Plaza along the Pemigewasset River, past Lafayette Place and The Basin toward the southern Whitehouse access. Allow about 2–3 hours for the walk and stops. This is a rough natural-surface footpath beside the paved Franconia Notch Recreation Path, not the recreation path itself. Sort out a ride or return plan before you start; the four-mile route is one way.
Profile Lake and the riverbankFrom Profile Plaza, the trail climbs cut granite steps before dropping to Profile Lake’s…
From Profile Plaza, the trail climbs cut granite steps before dropping to Profile Lake’s undeveloped west shore. The footing is broken rock beside the water, and the view opens across the lake toward Eagle Cliff. The short, accessible Profile Plaza walk is a different route. South of the lake, the Pemi follows the river corridor between the parkway and bike path; wetland bridges and small rises replace the lakeshore rocks, and an open marsh gives a view toward Cannon Cliff.
Through Lafayette Place to The BasinThe path passes briefly through Lafayette Place Campground, then returns to the woods before…
The path passes briefly through Lafayette Place Campground, then returns to the woods before reaching The Basin. Check the marked through route with park staff at Lafayette Place; the exact public connector across the campground is the route’s unresolved access point. Here the river pours through a large granite pothole and cascades; Baby Flume lies just downstream. The Basin is a busy attraction, while the river path between stops is a quieter walk. Frame the pothole and cascades together to show the rounded granite around the water. Take care on the uneven granite and bog bridges, especially when damp.
Where the longer route goesThe named Pemi section ends in the Whitehouse area. A longer 5.
The named Pemi section ends in the Whitehouse area. A longer 5.5-mile through-hike described locally continues from there by Cascade Brook Trail, under the parkway, along a short stretch of bike path, and back onto Whitehouse/Pemi Trail to the hiker lot north of the Flume Visitor Center. That adds connectors beyond this four-mile Pemi route. Pets are allowed on hiking trails in the park, but not in Lafayette Place Campground; because this route crosses the campground, check with park staff before taking a dog through that section.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Franconia Notch
66 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
38 sightingsMooseMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
19 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
19 sightingsGreat Blue HeronMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
13 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around noonSighting map
23 sightingsRavenMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Franconia Notch. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
