It was May 3, 2003. A Saturday morning. Clouds were heavy over Franconia Notch. When the mist finally pulled back, people rubbed their eyes because something was wrong. The profile was gone. Just... gone. The Great Stone Face, that jagged granite icon that had stared out over the notch for thousands of years, had crumbled into a heap of debris.
People cried. Honestly, they really did. New Hampshire lost its identity overnight. Even now, decades later, the Old Man of the Mountain New Hampshire remains the most famous face in the state, despite existing only in memories, old postcards, and the back of a quarter.
What Really Happened That Night in the Notch?
Geology is patient, but it’s also brutal. For years, people thought the Old Man was invincible. He wasn't. The Old Man was a series of five granite ledges that, when viewed from just the right angle near Profile Lake, looked like a stern, craggy face. But those ledges were held together by little more than luck and some serious 20th-century engineering.
Water was the real killer. It always is in the White Mountains.
Moisture would seep into the cracks of the Conway granite, freeze, expand, and push the rocks apart. This is basic "frost wedging," but on a massive, heartbreaking scale. By the time the 1920s rolled around, the forehead was already slipping.
The Tinkers Who Tried to Save Him
We have to talk about Niels Nielsen. He was the official "Caretaker of the Old Man." He and later his son, David, spent decades climbing up that cliff to patch cracks with epoxy, tighten steel turnbuckles, and clear out debris. They were basically performing plastic surgery on a mountain.
It was dangerous work. They were hanging off a 1,200-foot cliff. In the 1950s, they installed huge steel tie rods to anchor the "forehead" to the main mountain. For a long time, it worked. But you can't fight gravity forever. The heavy rains and high winds of that first week in May 2003 were the final straw. The turnbuckles snapped. The epoxy gave way. The face slid into the talus slope below.
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Why the Old Man of the Mountain New Hampshire Matters So Much
It’s just a rock, right? Wrong.
To people in New England, the Old Man was a symbol of rugged independence. Daniel Webster, the famous statesman from New Hampshire, once wrote about how God hangs out signs to show what kind of people live in a region. In Pennsylvania, it’s a warehouse; in New York, a ship; but in New Hampshire, God hung a sign of a man in the mountains.
That’s a lot of pressure for a geological formation.
The Nathaniel Hawthorne Connection
Most people forget that the Old Man became a global celebrity because of a short story. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote "The Great Stone Face" in 1850. It’s a bit of a moralizing tale about a local boy named Ernest who waits for a great man to appear who looks like the mountain profile. He waits his whole life, only to realize that by living a simple, kind life, he has become the image of the mountain.
That story turned the Old Man of the Mountain New Hampshire into a pilgrimage site. Before the story, it was just a landmark for surveyors like the ones who "discovered" it in 1805 (Francis Whitcomb and Luke Brooks). After Hawthorne, it was a piece of American mythology.
Visiting the Site Today: Is It Worth It?
You might think there’s nothing to see now. You’d be wrong.
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The state built "The Old Man of the Mountain Profiler Plaza" at Franconia Notch State Park. It’s actually pretty clever. They have these large steel "profilers" on poles. When you stand at the right height and look through them toward the cliff side, the profile of the Old Man "reappears" against the mountain. It’s a weirdly emotional optical illusion.
You’re standing exactly where millions of tourists stood for 200 years.
Best Ways to Experience the Notch
If you're heading up I-93 (the Franconia Notch Parkway), don't just look at the empty cliff and keep driving. Stop.
The Basin: It’s a short walk from the parking lot. It’s a 30-foot wide pothole in the Pemigewasset River formed by melting glaciers 25,000 years ago. The water is crystal clear and freezing.
Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway: This is the best way to get a bird's-eye view of where the Old Man used to sit. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Canada and Vermont.
Artist's Bluff: If you want that iconic "Instagram" shot of the notch without a grueling 10-mile hike, this is the one. It’s a short, steep climb that looks down over Echo Lake. You can see the spot where the Old Man’s chin used to point toward the water.
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The Mystery of the "New" Profile
Here is something weird. After the Old Man fell, some hikers started claiming they could see another profile further down the ridge. People call it the "Old Woman" or the "Young Man."
Geologists just shrug. The White Mountains are full of "simulacra"—rocks that look like things. There’s the Indian Head further south in Lincoln and the Watcher nearby. But none of them have the same soul as the original Old Man of the Mountain New Hampshire.
The loss was so profound that there was briefly a plan to build a fiberglass replica on the cliff. Thankfully, the people of New Hampshire shot that down. It would have been tacky. It would have been fake. Part of the Old Man’s power was that he was natural. If nature takes him back, you let him go.
Practical Insights for Your Trip
Don't expect to find pieces of the Old Man to take home. The area where he landed is a "talus slope," which is basically a giant, unstable pile of sharp rocks. It’s dangerous to climb up there, and it's actually illegal to remove rocks from the state park.
If you really want a souvenir, go to a local antique shop in Littleton or Plymouth. You can find original glass slides from the 1800s or kitschy 1970s plates. Those are the real deal.
What You Need to Know Before You Go
- Parking fills up fast. I’m talking 9:00 AM on a Tuesday fast. If you’re going to the Profile Plaza or Echo Lake, get there early.
- The weather is bi-polar. It can be 75 degrees in Manchester and 45 degrees with 40 mph winds in the Notch. Pack a shell jacket even in July.
- The bike path is underrated. There is a paved Franconia Notch Recreation Path that runs the length of the park. It’s 8.7 miles and takes you right past all the Old Man viewing sites. It's much better than fighting for parking at every single stop.
The Old Man of the Mountain New Hampshire might be gone from the cliff, but he isn't gone from the culture. You still see him on every road sign. You see him on the state license plates. He’s a ghost that haunts the Notch, reminding everyone who visits that even mountains are temporary.
Actionable Next Steps
If you’re planning to pay your respects to the Great Stone Face, start by visiting the Old Man of the Mountain Legacy Fund website to see the archives of the Nielson family. When you arrive at Franconia Notch State Park, skip the main visitor center at first and head straight to the Profiler Plaza at the north end of Profile Lake during the "golden hour" just before sunset. The light hits the cliff in a way that makes the absence of the profile feel almost tangible. Afterward, hike the Artist's Bluff trail for the best perspective of the landscape that the Old Man watched over for centuries.