Mount Lafayette is the highest peak in the Franconia Range and the sixth highest in the state. It offers views of the White Mountains and the Presidential Range from its summit, which is above the treeline. One of the most common routes to reach Mount Lafayette is the Franconia Ridge Trail Loop, which also crosses two other peaks: Mount Lincoln and Little Haystack Mountain.

In the decades prior to 1911, the unregulated logging practices of private timber companies in the White Mountains had resulted in a damaged landscape susceptible to both fire and flood. Fires had burned thousands of acres, and flash floods affected the water power necessary to the mills of major industrial centers downstream, such as Manchester, New Hampshire, and Lowell, Massachusetts. Concerns over losses to industry, business, and tourism, and the growing conservation movement led to citizen action. The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) and Society for Protection of New Hampshire Forests (SPNHF) spearheaded an effort to ensure the permanent protection of the White Mountains from further depredation. After years of lobbying and intense public pressure, Senator John Weeks of Massachusetts, a native of Lancaster, New Hampshire, introduced legislation that became known as the Weeks Act. The Weeks Act was passed by Congress in 1911, appropriating 9 million dollars to purchase 6 million acres of land in the Eastern U.S. In turn, this led to the creation of the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) in 1918, and twenty-one other national forests throughout the north and southeast. Many of the groups who were instrumental in the passage of the Weeks Act, including the SPNHF and the AMC, are still active today, and the WMNF has grown from 7,000 acres to almost 800,000. Today, the reforested mountains and hillsides supply forest products and provide magnificent recreational opportunities while maintaining healthy watersheds and ecosystems.

The Franconia Ridge Trail Loop is about 8.9 miles long and starts and ends at Lafayette Place, a parking lot near I-93. The trail is challenging and exposed, so hikers should be prepared for variable weather and terrain conditions.

The Hiking Project website and the AllTrails website have descriptions and maps of hikes on the Franconia Ridge Trail Loop.