The Belknap Mountain Range is a prominent range west of Lake Winnipesaukee in the towns of Gilford, Gilmanton, and Alton, NH. The range and the county in which it rises were named for Jeremy Belknap (1744-1796), author of the first comprehensive history of New Hampshire and a member of one of the early (1784) scientific expeditions to Mt. Washington (though Belknap himself did not reach the summit). The principal peaks on the main ridge, from north to south, are Mt. Rowe (1,690 ft.), Gunstock Mtn. (2,250 ft.), Belknap Mtn. (2,382 ft .), and Piper Mtn. (2,044 ft.). A fire tower on Belknap and the cleared summit of Gunstock, as well as numerous scattered ledges on all the peaks, provide fine views of Lake Winnipesaukee, the Ossipee and Sandwich ranges, and Mt. Washington.