Trails / New Hampshire / Northern White Mountains

Wild River Wilderness: Carter Dome and Perkins Notch Loop

Wild River Wilderness, White Mountain National Forest (east of Pinkham Notch)

The Wild River Wilderness fills the valley east of the Carter-Moriah Range, between the Appalachian Trail and the Maine line. Congress designated it in December 2006. Wilderness Connect describes it as a former logging valley, much of it burned in a 1903 fire, that has grown back into forest. SectionHiker calls it “the wildest designated wilderness area in the White Mountain National Forest.”

This loop, from SectionHiker’s Carter Dome-Wild River trip plan, climbs Carter Dome from the east, drops into the Wild River valley, and comes back through Perkins Notch.

The hike

The loop starts at the Bog Brook Trailhead. The Bog Brook Trail crosses its brook three times in the first two miles; SectionHiker says the crossings are usually rock-hoppable but a gated forest road offers a drier, longer bypass in high water. After a short stretch of the Wild River Trail, the Rainbow Trail climbs through a birch grove (mile 3.5) to the South Knob of Carter Dome (6.0) and the summit (7.0). SectionHiker warns that moose and bears frequent the birches and berry bushes, and that old fire-tower debris on Carter Dome is protected and must be left alone.

A short stretch of the Carter-Moriah Trail leads to the Black Angel Trail, which descends 4.9 miles into the valley. SectionHiker says it has rock scrambles that “can be sketchy if the rocks are wet or covered with ice” and is lightly blazed and hard to follow under fall leaves. The Wild River Trail junction comes at 12.3 miles, and the Spruce Brook tentsite at 13.1, up a steep spur.

Wilderness Connect says the Wild River Trail, the main corridor, follows “an old railroad grade along the river” to No Ketchum Pond, the river’s source below Carter Dome. The loop heads upstream past the pond (16.5 miles) to the Perkins Notch tentsite (17), then returns on the Bog Brook Trail. On a 2022 fishing trip, SectionHiker found the trail unblazed, signed only at junctions, and overgrown in places, and the river stained red by tannins near the East Branch junction.

Alice Bodnar of Far Out Guides, who hiked a different route through the valley in 2013, wrote that “everything felt more like a wild forest than like a well-trodden hiking trail.” The Appalachian Trail runs along the wilderness’s western edge on the Carter-Moriah Range.

Tips

Carry extra water from the Bog Brook Trail over Carter Dome until halfway down the Black Angel Trail.
Bring a bear canister. The SectionHiker author says there are no bear boxes at the tentsites. The Forest Service lists bear-resistant canisters among its accepted food-storage methods and allows a hang only when the listed options aren’t possible.
Navigate carefully in fall. Leaves hide the tread on lightly blazed trails.
Check river levels. The upper Wild River now has to be forded.
Keep it small. Wilderness groups are limited to 10.

Camping

SectionHiker lists Spruce Brook and Perkins Notch as free Forest Service tentsites with pressed-earth pads and water. In White Mountain wilderness areas, groups are limited to 10 people and mechanized equipment is banned; no permit is needed (Forest Service). The Forest Service brochure sets a quarter-mile no-camping zone around shelters and developed tentsites outside designated sites, and a 200-foot zone along the Wild River Trail for one mile south of Wild River Campground. Elsewhere, camp at least 200 feet from trails and water.

Far Out Guides found Perkins Notch “a beautiful spot, but not so great as a campsite”: a wind funnel, with official pads that flooded. SectionHiker skipped it in 2022, calling it heavily worn, with a fire-scarred eating area, and reported that the Forest Service appeared to have felled trees to discourage camping at the Black Angel ford.

Inside Intel: SectionHiker’s 2022 report recommends Spruce Brook over Perkins Notch, with “a good swimming hole out front,” and the trip plan calls Spruce Brook an excellent stop for a two-day loop.

Trail facts

Distance: About 21 miles (SectionHiker)
Route type: Loop
Difficulty: Strenuous; about 4,400 ft of gain
Campsites: Spruce Brook tentsite (mile 13.1), Perkins Notch tentsite (17)
Water: None from the Bog Brook Trail’s north end until midway down Black Angel; river and brooks below; poor at Perkins Notch
Permits: None; groups of 10 or fewer
Bear storage: No bear boxes reported; carry a bear-resistant canister (a hang only if that isn’t possible, per the Forest Service)
Trailhead: Bog Brook Trailhead
Last verified: October 17, 2026

The Lowdown

Fording the upper Wild River:

The Bog Brook Trail crosses its brook three times in its first two miles, and the page notes the upper Wild River now has to be forded. Read five tips for crossing more safely.

See the water-crossing tips →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.