The thickly wooded, unmarked summit may be approached from trailheads to the north (on the Kancamagus Highway) or from Wonalancet to the south.

Passaconaway was originally named "North Whiteface" by Arnold Guyot, who probably was the first white person to ascend it.

State geologist Charles Henry Hitchcock gave it its present name in honor of Passaconaway, a Pennacook chieftain.

In the 1700s, Old Mast Road was cut to haul white pine trees for the Royal Navy.

In 1914, the forest in the glacial valley below the mountain, named The Bowl, was added to the WMNF to prevent logging.