Aziscohos Mountain (pronounced ə-zɪs-kə-hɑs) is nice, because you get that wilderness feeling while hiking it, but it is also easily accessed, with its trailhead being on Route 16 between Rangeley and Wilsons Mills. Its name comes from the Abenaki language, meaning “small pine trees.” The last two syllables of the word, “cohos,” (pronounced “koʊ-ɑs”) meaning “pine tree,” is shared with the names of other nearby features in and around Northern New Hampshire: The Cohos Trail in Northern New Hampshire, Coos County in New Hampshire, and Coos Canyon on Route 17 in Byron (both sometimes spelled “Coös”), the Cowasuck Indian tribe that inhabited Northeast Vermont and Coosauk Falls in the Northern Presidential Range (both meaning “place of pine trees”), and the village of Cowass in Newbury, Vermont. Aziscohos Mountain has two summits, both nearly identical in height. The taller, western summit is fully vegetated, and has no views or trail access. There used to be a fire tower on the top of Low Aziscohos, with access via the Tower Man’s Trail, which climbed the mountain to the West of the current North Trail. The tower has been gone for quite some time, and the old Tower Man’s Trail is completely grown in, making the North Trail the only way to access the summit. At the summit , there are gorgeous panoramic views.
The summit sign. August, 2011 The North Trail up Low Aziscohos Mountain. October, 2015 The summit of Low Aziscohos Mountain, looking at the true summit of Aziscohos Mountain. May, 2006 The North Trail up Low Aziscohos Mountain. October, 2015 View North toward Aziscohos Lake. October, 2015 View toward the Rangeley Lakes. August, 2011 View South toward Baldpate, the Mahoosucs, the Presidentials, Umbagog Lake, and Sturtevant Pond. October, 2015 Aziscohos Mountain from Route 16 near Wilsons Mills. September, 2019 The North Trail up Low Aziscohos Mountain. October, 2015 The old fire tower footings at the summit. October, 2015
Summit panorama looking South. August, 2011
View toward the Bigelow Range. August, 2011
View toward the Rangeley Lakes. August, 2011