Mount Pemigewasset

{{short description|Mountain in the U.S. state of New Hampshire}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Mount Pemigewasset

| native_name =

| photo = Indian Head.jpg

| photo_caption = Mount Pemigewasset with its distinct head profile

| elevation_ft = 2530

| elevation_ref =

| prominence_ft =

| prominence_ref =

| listing =

| location = {{unbulleted list

|Lincoln

|Grafton County

|New Hampshire, U.S. }}

| range = Kinsman Range

| map = New Hampshire#USA

| map_caption = Location in New Hampshire##Location in the United States

| map_size = 200

| label_position = none

| coordinates = {{coord|44|5|52|N|71|41|56|W|region:US-NH_type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref =

| topo =

| type =

| age =

| first_ascent =

| easiest_route = Hike

}}

Mount Pemigewasset, or Indian Head, is a mountain in Franconia Notch in the White Mountains in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. It lies near the town of Lincoln.{{cite gnis|872479|Mount Pemigewasset|November 22, 2022}}{{cite book |last1=Densmore Ballard |first1=Lisa |title=Hiking the White Mountains : a guide to New Hampshire's best hiking adventures |date=2020 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Guilford, Connecticut |isbn=9781493043330 |page=53 |edition=Second|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ui_XDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA53}}{{cite book |last1=Feinberg Densmore |first1=Lisa |title=Best hikes with dogs. New Hampshire & Vermont |date=2005 |publisher=Mountaineers Books |location=Seattle, WA |isbn=9781594852367 |pages=126–128 |edition=First |url=https://archive.org/details/besthikeswithdog0000dens/page/126/mode/2up?q=%22Indian+Head%22+%22Mount+Pemigewasset%22}}

The mountain is known for the distinctive cliff along the southern side of its summit, which resembles the profile of a Native American head. Such shapes are formed when water enters cracks in the granite. Over time, the water freezes and expands, which further shapes and cracks the rock.{{cite book |last1=Buchsbaum |first1=Robert |title=Nature hikes in the White Mountains |date=2000 |publisher=Appalachian Mountain Club Books |location=Boston, Mass. |isbn=9781878239723 |pages=64–69 |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/naturehikesinwhi00buch/page/64/mode/2up?q=%22Mount+Pemigewasset%22}} The "face" measures {{convert|98|ft|m}} from chin to forehead, and the mountain itself has an elevation of {{convert|2530|ft|m}}.

The head shape has been noted since the early 19th century. It was partly hidden by trees near the chin, but a 1901 forest fire revealed the full profile. The mountain received more attention after a better-known rock formation in the White Mountains, the Old Man of the Mountain, collapsed in 2003. The "Indian Head" will eventually lose its shape as well.{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-05-10-indian-head-new-hampshire_N.htm|title=Four years after Old Man's fall, another N.H. rocky profile gets attention|publisher=Associated Press|via=USA Today|date=May 10, 2007|accessdate=November 4, 2021|archivedate=March 7, 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307123605/https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-05-10-indian-head-new-hampshire_N.htm}}

Pemigewasset is an Abenaki Indian word meaning "rapidly moving", and it also names the nearby Pemigewasset River. The Native American Pemigewasset tribe lived in the area in the 17th and 18th centuries,{{cite book |last1=Monkman |first1=Jerry |last2=Monkman |first2=Marcy |title=Discover the White Mountains : AMC's guide to the best hiking, biking, and paddling |date=2009 |publisher=Appalachian Mountain Club |location=Boston, MA |isbn=9781934028223 |page=44 |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/discoverwhitemou00monk/page/44/mode/2up?q=%22Mount+Pemigewasset%22}} and a legend of the Abenaki people tells that Chief Pemigewasset spied for enemies from the top of the mountain.{{cite book |last1=Heald |first1=Bruce D. |title=A history of the New Hampshire Abenaki |date=2014 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Charleston, SC |isbn=9781625849656 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3iACQAAQBAJ&pg=PT82}}{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=John |last2=Morse |first2=Stearns |title=The Book Of The White Mountains |date=1930 |publisher=Minton, Balch & Company |location=New York |pages=45–46 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.87168/page/n9/mode/2up?q=%22indian+head%22}}

According to an 1898 guidebook, "The view on a moonlight night from the top of this vast cliff is awe inspiring."{{cite book |last1=Carpenter |first1=Frank Oliver |title=Guide Book to the Franconia Notch and the Pemigewasset Valley |date=1898 |publisher=A. Moore |page=112 |url=https://archive.org/details/guidebooktofran00carpgoog/page/n128/mode/2up?q=%22Mount+Pemigewasset%22 |language=en}} The Indian Head Resort, a more than one-hundred-year-old tourist facility, has a view over the mountain as well as a viewing tower.{{cite web |title=Indian Head Resort {{!}} The Center for Land Use Interpretation |url=https://clui.org/ludb/site/indian-head-resort |website=Center for Land Use Interpretation |access-date=22 November 2022}}