Mt. Monadnock (3,165 ft) - All Hikes in 2025

Hike #1

Date: 6-2-25
Distance: 4.36 mi.
Elevation: 1,920 ft (total)
Trails: Marlboro Trail
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

I haven't hiked Mt. Monadnock for a couple years now, so I took advantage of an evening with nothing going on after work to go and grab a quick hike of it to try and keep myself in hiking shape for later this year. I haven't been up the Marlboro Trail in quite some time (for me at least), so I did this trail as a quicker out and back hike up to the summit. The weather was nice and the hike was enjoyable, I just tried to keep moving more than normal and not rest as much to get some better exercise out of the hike.

Pink Ladyslipper near the trail

Steep rocky section of trail

View from an open section of trail

The Rock House at the junction with the Marian Trail

View northwest from the summit

View north from the summit

View north from the trail

Sunset coming on the descent

Hike #2

Date: 6-11-25
Distance: 5.19 mi.
Elevation: 1,936 ft (total)
Trails: Old Halfway House Trail, Monte Rosa, Smith Summit Trail, White Arrow Trail, Sidefoot Trail, Old Toll Road
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

I had some extra time after work while the rest of the family was busy, so I took a hike up so that I could get some exercise and try to be in better shape for other hikes planned later in the year. It was a bit warm this day, but the summit breeze felt nice. Unfortunately the views were more limited than normal due to smoke from Canadian wild fires that were currently going on. I stayed just a bit off from the main trails for the most part and avoided most of the other hikers that were out, and was also able to make it back to my truck before needing my headlamp.

Heading up the Old Halfway House Trail

View of the summit from near Monte Rosa

View northeast from the summit

Hazy view to the south from the summit

Sunset colors from the Halfway House Site

Hike #3

Date: 7-4-25
Distance: 7.62 mi.
Elevation: 2,554 ft (total)
Trails: Birchtoft Trail, Cascade Link Trail, Spellman Trail, Pumpelly Trail, White Cross Trail, Abandoned section of Smith Connector Trail, Red Spot Trail
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

My wife works in healthcare and had to work on the holiday, so I wanted to do something with my daughters and we picked hiking Mt. Monadnock, using some of the lesser used trails to add to the adventure. It was my oldest daughter's second time up the mountain, and my youngest daughter's first time. The weather was great, just a bit windy above treeline. They enjoyed the adventure of going up the Spellman Trail, and on the way down we helped get a hiker that had gotten off trail back onto the trail and safely to her car.

My daughters on Pumpelly Ridge

Summit view to the northwest

My daughters on the summit

The view northeast over Pumpelly Ridge

View from a nice plateau on an old section of trail

Hike #4

Date: 8-22-25
Distance: 5.24 mi.
Elevation: 1,948 ft (total)
Trails: Parker Trail, Lost Farm Trail, Cliff Walk Trail, Smith Connector Trail, Amphitheatre Trail, White Arrow Trail, White Cross Trail
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

This hike was mainly to get out and get some exercise on an evening after work. I used some side trails that I haven't been on in a while to get to the summit to keep working on personal project of remapping trails and gathering information. I didn't stay at the summit for sunset as it didn't look like it would be anything out of the ordinary, and I wanted to get further down the mountain before needing my headlamp. I came down a direct route from the summit.

Rocky section of the Lost Farm Trail

Kiasticuticus Peak rock on Bald Rock

Billings Fold

The summit casting a shadow as the sun sets

Rock spire near the summit

Sunset colors on the descent

Hike #5

Date: 11-8-25
Distance: 9.30 mi.
Elevation: 2,691 ft (total)
Trails: Pond Loop Trail, Birchtoft Trail, Hinkley Trail, Harling Trail, Cascade Link Trail, Red Spot Trail, Pumpelly Trail
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

This hike was so that I could hit some trails I hadn't done in a while we remapping a few more trails for some personal projects. This route was meant to be longer than it needed to be so that I could get as many trails as I wanted, plus get some good exercise in using a longer hike on a small mountain. It was cloudy to start, but it cleared off nicely by the time I got to the summit.

Sun coming out on the Cascade Link Trail

Brook crossing on the Cascade Link Trail

Nearing the summit on the Pumpelly Trail

Summit area - looking north

Summit area - looking west

Summit area - looking northeast

Summit area - looking west

View of the summit from an abandoned section of trail

---

Mt. Monadnock (3,165 ft) 6-22-19

Distance: 7.01 mi.
Elevation: 1,646 ft (overall) 1,790 ft (total)
Time: 4:58 (Summit) 8:48 (Total) -- With a 5 year old setting the pace
Trails: Old Halfway House Trail, Thoreau Trail, Cliff Walk Trail, Smith Connecting Trail, Amphitheatre Trail, White Arrow Trail, Old Toll Road

Today's hike of Mt. Monadnock would be a bit different than normal for me. Today would be my oldest (5 yrs) daughter's first attempt to hike it all under her own power. After a couple other test hikes earlier this year, I think she is ready to try hiking her first "big" peak. I choose a route that would let her do things she likes. Multiple views on the way up, some of my favorite spots, and plenty of rocks to scramble up and over.

Ready to start the hike

We started off on the Old Halfway House Trail as I'd much rather hike the trail next to the road than walk up the road, plus I figured we would be coming down the road at the end when she was more tired. After our first view at the Old Halfway House site, we went up the Thoreau Trail which at it's end brought us to another view. From there we continued up the Cliff Walk Trail which has scattered views and some scrambly bits before a great view at Bald Rock.

Happily hiking up the trail

View from the Cliff Walk Trail

Climbing a rocky section

From Bald Rock we went up the Smith Connecting Trail and then across part of the Amphitheatre Trail. Both of these trails have some interesting things to look at along them if you are paying attention. Whether it be interesting rocks or trees in odd shapes from dealing with the weather and continuing to grow. Once to the White Arrow Trail we took that up to the summit since it had more climbing up and over child sized rocks. My daughter seemed to always want to go over those rocks rather than around.

Made it to Bald Rock and still happy

A small downpour just missing the mountain

At the summit it was pretty breezy, so my daughter didn't get very far from my side since it was a bit hard for her to walk without getting blown around. After pointing out some of the things you can see from the summit (unfortunately she couldn't make out Boston when I tried to show her that) we found a place for some snacks and drinks away from the most crowded spots. It was busy at the summit, but not as busy as I expected.

Made it to the summit

Trying to stay out of the wind

Summit views

Summit views

For the descent we went down the White Arrow Trail and then the Old Toll Road. I thought being the most direct route this would help with my daughter's tired legs. In hind sight I should have thought about her needing to climb down over all the rocks on this route. Next time I think I would come down the Sidefoot Trail as it has better footing and wouldn't really add much if any distance. Near the bottom of the Old Toll Road I could tell my daughter was getting pretty tired. I offered to carry her backpack at this point and it was the first time I had to help her carry her stuff. I was super impressed with how well she did for the entire hike and how much fun she was having the entire time. She was thrilled to tell everyone about the hike, even while we were still on our way down.

Interesting clouds on the descent

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug

Mt. Monadnock (3,165 ft) 2-4-19

Distance: 7.06 mi.
Elevation: 1,691 ft (overall) 2,601 ft (total)
Time: 2:10 (Bald Rock) 2:49 (Summit) 3:55 (Bald Rock) 5:07 (Total)
Trails: Halfway House Trail, Hello Rock Trail, Cliff Walk Trail, Point Surprise Trail, Sidefoot Trail, Do Drop Trail, Cliff Walk Trail, Smith Connecting Link, White Cross Trail, Smith Summit Trail, Amphitheatre Trail, Smith Connecting Link, Cliff Walk Trail, Parker Trail, Old Toll Road

Today it was time to check another day of the year off the calendar and re hike some trails I haven't been on for a while in the winter. My planned loop for the day certainly wasn't very direct, but did get me onto some trails that are nice to hike and it kept me away from the few other hikers that were out today. I started off on the Old Halfway House Trail and headed up to the Old Halfway House Site. Along this trail there was a thin layer of snow that wasn't too bad. Eventually I did start to run into ice though and at that point I put on my Microspikes, which I kept on for the remainder of the hike except some above treeline.

The Halfway House Trail

From the Old Halfway House site I took the little used Hello Rock Trail. This trail had two sets of tracks ahead of me, but partway up it they veered off trail and didn't come back. The trail is pretty easy to hike as it goes up, down, then back up again while only gaining a few feet of elevation before getting to the Cliff Walk Trail.

Hello Rock Trail

Next I hiked up the Cliff Walk Trail until the Point Surprise Trail, which I then turned down. I descended the Point Surprise Trail quickly and easily back to the Old Halfway House Site. From there, I headed back into the trees going up the Sidefoot Trail briefly until the start of the Do Drop Trail. This trail is a bit steeper and had some ice flows along it, but it is an enjoyable trail that goes through some nice sections of forest.

Point Surprise

Start of the Do Drop Trail

Once back to the Cliff Walk Trail again, I went up it again until the end at Bald Rock. I then continued up the Smith Connecting Link until the White Cross Trail. This trail was another enjoyable hike, but it did have one very large ice flow on it that wasn't there one month earlier. Luckily with spikes it wasn't too hard to hike up it. The White Cross/Dot Trail was straightforward as always with just some ice and water as it comes out of the trees.

Frost on a large rock

The summit from Bald Rock

Ice flow on the Smith Connecting Link

View from the summit

View from the summit

Miles on the summit

After a nice time at the summit with only one other visitor, I headed down the Smith Summit Trail. Above treeline I left my spikes off as the rock was clear of snow and ice except for a couple minor sections. Once back to the trees, I put them back on. Climbing down through here was the only place I ran into other hikers while on a trail. At the junction with the Amphitheatre Trail, I turned left and headed up it. The conditions on the trail were good and there are a number of open spots with some good views.

The Black Precipice

After crossing over the Amphitheatre Trail, I headed back down the Smith Connecting Link to Bald Rock for the second time of the day. I then descended the Cliff Walk Trail to the bottom of it. There was less ice than I expected with just some short spots of it. There was however a large ice flow at the base of the ladder which made the climb down the ladder that much trickier.

At the base of the Cliff Walk Trail I hiked up the Parker Trail until the Old Toll Road. Once there I finished up my hike with a leisurely walk down the road back to my truck. Today's hike was a longer route with a path that most probably wouldn't think of. But it did keep me hiking for more time than normal with more miles and elevation gain. The hike was quite nice in the end while visiting lesser traveled trails and keeping away from any sort of crowd that might have been out today.

Another view from Bald Rock

Ladder and ice flow on the Cliff Walk Trail

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug