Hiking,  Outdoor Adventures,  Travel

Welch-Dickey Loop: Two Summits, One Hike

April 11, 2019 /

Looking for a fun, rewarding, two summit hike? Look no further than the Welch-Dickey Loop in Thornton, NH! It’s a 4.5 mile loop that goes up one mountain, across to the next summit, and back down to the start. This hike is in the southern part of the White Mountain National Forest, very close to Waterville Valley ski area, so it’s a little closer than some of the other hikes we have done. It’s definitely a hike for a nice day, though; there are lots of big boulder and ledge sections, so trying to navigate an icy or wet trail could be difficult. We lucked out with a gorgeous sunny day in September, and it was amazing!

Since the Welch-Dickey hike is in the White Mountain National Forest, you do have to pay a day use fee of $5 per vehicle. There is a self-service station right there, so there is no need to make a special stop at a Ranger Station.

Welch-Dickey pay station

Everything I read before the hike suggested that we hike counter-clockwise, summiting Welch first, so that is what we did; we only saw a few people going the other way.

Welch-dickey sign

There are some (easy) rocky parts at the beginning of the trail that I think are there just to get your legs warmed up…

Welch-Dickey trail

As you get higher, the rocks become larger…

Welch-Dickey rocks

About halfway to the top of Welch, you hit an open, flat area. This is a perfect place to take a quick break before you start the steeper climb to the summit.

Welch-dickey flats

There are some beautiful southern views from this point.

Welch-dickey views

The next part of the hike is a little steeper and pretty much all rock. This is me pretending to admire the views, when I was actually just trying to catch my breath… 🙂 Little Man is definitely getting heavier!! Ha!

Welch-dickey granite

There were a few areas we had to scramble up, but I was able to do it all with Little Man on my back. It was definitely a struggle at the end and I was doing power 10s (any rowers out there?) during the final push to the top. A few other hikers were looking at us, I’m sure wondering why Dad didn’t take Little Man when I was clearly struggling. I felt a little badly for Dad and the looks he was getting, but we’re married for a reason; he knew better than to offer to take Little Man. He knew that I would give him Little Man if I felt it was unsafe for me to continue with him, and he also knew that I would bite his head off if he tried to take him! 🙂

After some pretty solid scrambles and steep walks up ledge, we made it to the summit!

welch-dickey summit

There are multi-directional views from the top, so make sure you take them all in!

Welch-dickey summit views

After some snacks and a little rest, we continued on over to the Dickey summit.

Dickey summit

This part of the hike also has some boulders to navigate,

Welch-dickey hike

but also includes some forest walking.

Dickey forest

The Dickey summit isn’t as defined as the Welch summit, and we actually almost missed it! (So pay attention!!)

Welch-dickey summit

We really enjoyed the top part of the decent down Dickey, as there were some wide ledges that were super cool.

Dickey boulders

You can also see the summit of Welch!

Welch summit

Our favorite part was the ridge line – though I did have a super tight grip on L!

Dickey ridge views

We did find that we had to really pay attention to the trail markers coming down; they sometimes were hard to spot, especially when leaving the summit of Dickey. There are also some other trails that intersect up there, so make sure you stick with your shape and color trail marker (from experience…:)).

Once you’re past the ridge, the rest of the hike down is fairly typical – no crazy scrambles or tough spots. Our legs were definitely tired by the end and there was a little bit of whining, but overall, L held up really well! She managed the hike like a pro, and scrambled up the challenging parts with more ease and grace than I did! Make sure to check out our Tips for Hiking with Kids; we follow our own tips and it helps L be a successful hiker!

Welch-Dickey is a great family hike and we saw many other families hiking together. I wouldn’t recommend this loop as your first hike, though, as it does have some challenging parts and it is on the longer side for kiddos. (Check out my post on Mt. Willard if you’re looking for a great first or beginning hike!) Definitely think about the hiking ability of your kiddos before embarking on the Welch-Dickey Loop, but if they are adventurous and have strong little legs, I would certainly consider it!

Make sure to look at the Hiking Gear We Love before you go, as well!

Do you think you would like this hike? Let me know in the comments!

I hope that your family enjoys this adventure as much as mine did!

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