Day hikers can walk through an area where one of the most famous alien abductions allegedly took place.
The 3.6-mile round trip Indian Head Trail climbs to the top of Mount Pemigewasset in New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest. During 1961, Betty and Barney Hill claimed to have been abducted by aliens in this area while driving along nearby U.S. Hwy. 3.
To reach the trailhead, from Lincoln, N.H., take N.H. Route 112 west. In North Woodstock, turn right/north onto Hwy. 3. The road crosses under the freeway. Watch for a brown national forest sign that says “Trailhead Parking” and go left/west onto a short, one-lane gravel road, which ends at a small parking area.
To the summit
The trail crosses a small field then heads northwest along Hanson Brook, passing under the freeway. After that, the route enters Franconia Notch State Park. It’s a steady incline of about 1557 feet, with some steep sections. You’ll head over rocky terrain through a hardwood forest. An old logging road, the trail can be muddy.
Around 1.2 miles, the trail enters White Forest National Forest. Near the peak, it hooks southeast, intersecting the Mount Pemigewasset Trail about a tenth of a mile before the summit.
You’ll reach the top at 1.9 miles. There, granite ledges offer fantastic, unhindered views of the surrounding forest from 2557 feet above sea level. To the east is the Franconia Notch, a pass that stretches between the towns of Franconia and Lincoln with the Pemigewasset River running through it.
Hill abduction
The notch is where New Hampshire couple Betty and Barney Hill encountered a UFO the night of Sept. 19, 1961, while driving home on Hwy. 3 from Montreal, Canada.
They first noticed a light in the sky north of the trailhead east of Franconia. Stopping at a picnic area near Twin Mountain, they watched the light through binoculars and then continued driving south.
The light grew brighter and closer, however, as they drove through the notch. About a mile south of Indian Head, the craft descended toward them, causing Barney to stop driving. He got out of the car as a circular craft hovered about 80 feet above them. Several humanoid beings could be seen in the craft looking at them. The Hills sped away.
The next thing they remembered was suddenly waking up in the car and realizing they were near Concord, N.H., about 58 miles away, though two hours later than they should have been if they had not stopped driving.
After several nightmares, the couple underwent hypnosis. The sessions revealed that aliens had abducted and performed medical tests on them. One alien showed Betty a map of his species’ star travels. A few years later, an amateur astrologer claimed to have identified the stars on the map and stated the aliens’ home star was the binary system Zeta Reticuli.
The incident was the first widespread report of alien abduction in the modern era, described in the 1966 book The Interrupted Journey. A made-for-TV movie in 1975 re-enacted the events, making the Hills a household name.
North of the trailhead on Hwy. 3, a historical marker near the Indian Head Resort just past Shadow Lake Lane commemorates the abduction. The marker is located where the craft bean approaching the Hills’ car.
Final notes
After taking in the sights from the summit, trace your steps back to the trailhead.
Avoid this hike after a rainfall. Water often flows down the trail. You need not worry about a flash flood, but your feet will get soaked and the rocks slick. Still, this a great trail to take if you’re seeking quiet and solitude; most hikers use the Mount Pemigewasset Trail to reach the summit.
The trail is named for a craggy rock profile of what looks like a Native American warrior’s face on Mount Pemigewasset. The formation is best seen from Hwy. 3 in the Indian Head Resort parking lot.
Older maps and guidebooks often refer to Mount Pemigewasset as Mount Indian Head.
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