The mountain is on the south side of the Pemigewasset Wilderness, the source of the Pemigewasset River in the heart of the White Mountains, between Franconia Notch and Crawford Notch. Mount Hancock is flanked to the northeast by Mount Carrigain, to the south by Mount Huntington, and to the west by Mount Hitchcock. Prior to the completion of the Kancamagus Highway, Mount Hancock was one of the most remote, inaccessible peaks in the White Mountains.