It is named after Nathan Kinsman, an early resident of Easton, New Hampshire, and is part of the Kinsman Range of the White Mountains.

The east side drains into Cascade Brook, thence into the Pemigewasset River, the Merrimack River, and into the Gulf of Maine in Massachusetts.

The Appalachian Mountain Club considers both North and South Kinsman to be "four-thousand footers" because the divide between them gives the former more than 200 ft (61 m) of topographic prominence.

South Kinsman is the sixth most prominent of the White Mountains, and is the highest point between Franconia Notch and Kinsman Notch.

The summit of North Kinsman Mountain is viewless, but a short bushwhack to the east takes hikers to steep granite ledges that fall off to Kinsman Pond and offer views of Cannon Mountain, South Kinsman, Franconia Ridge, and Lonesome Lake.