Tags: Monadnock Trails, Monadnock Mountain, New Hampshire Hiking, New Hampshire Maps, Mount Monadnock, Jaffrey, NH, Hiking New Hampshire
Other Main Trails
;)
Above: Along the Pumpelly Trail
Birchtoft Trail starts at scenic
Gilson Pond camping area and from Dublin Road is a longer 3.5 mile route to the summit via the Red Spot
and Pumpelly Trail. The Birchtoft Trail is well marked with red tags, however, care still may be needed to follow Birchtoft at ski trail jcts. The Birchtoft trail heads west from the camp road following along the south shore of Gilson Pond. The trail veers away from Gilson Pond along mostly easy grades passing some X-C ski junctions; 30, 29, 28 then about 1 mile from the camp road reaches X-C ski marker 27 and the Hinkley Trail junction which leads to Poole Road (south 1.2 miles). Birchtoft Trail continues west past X-C ski junction 22 continuing on easy to moderate grades to Cascade Link junction (2.1 miles from parking) where Cascade Link leads south to State
Park Headquarters then in 20 yards the Red Spot Trail leads west to the
summit and Cascade Link heads north to the Pumpelly Trail.
Gilson Pond Loop is a path around the shore of Gilson Pond with views of the mountain.
Ravine Trail starts north from Gilson Pond Loop at the dam and goes through a valley of Hemlock
forest along a small brook and ends at Gilson Pond remote campsites trail.
Red Spot Trail is less steep than the Spellman Trail and is much less crowded than the main
trails from Headquarters. The Red Spot Trail is reached by Birchtoft Trail from Gilson Pond (2.1 miles from Gilson Pond parking) as well as Cascade Link (1.2 miles from headquarters) from Falcon junction via the White Dot trail. The Red Spot Trail starts at the junction of Cascade Link and Birchtoft Trail, shortly passing the Cascade Link junction to Spellman Trail. The Red Spot trail heads uphill at a moderate grade reaching the Old Ski Trail in .4 miles. The Red Spot Trail climbs up along woods that have been hit hard by recent ice storms. The Red Spot Trail trail climbs past the Doric Temple with views east at a steep ledgy section (.8 miles from Birchtoft jct.). The Doric Temple was named because the cliffs resembled a simple Greek temple from a distance. There are some views on the trail (.9 miles from Birchtoft jct.) as Smith Connecter is reached (no longer on map but jct. is still marked on rock). The grade eases over open ledge with views of the summit and in a short distance reaches the Pumpelly Trail 0.4 miles to the
summit (1 mile from Birchtoft Jct.).
Marlboro Trail
is a scenic direct path up the mountain starting at Shaker Farm Road.
Shaker Farm Road is a rough dirt road leading north from route 124 and is
generally not maintained in winter. The Marlboro Trail is also one of the
oldest trails on the mountain although the route became lost in the 1920’s
the route re-opened up a slightly different course soon after. The trail
begins at easy grades through a forest maturing from pasture then at a stone
wall heads up on moderate to steep grades up the mountain and passes open
ledges with views passing the Marian path that leads south to Monte Rosa
(pay attention to markings on rocks) and the Marlboro Trail continues east
up the mountain through spruce and ascending on ledges with views. The trail gets steep before cresting a bare ridge where
the grade eases with 180º views then joins the Dublin trail before reaching
the summit. The Marlboro Trail tends to be icy above tree-line in winter as
it follows along a northwest gully. The path is well marked with paint
blazes and cairn rock-piles up the barren summit cone.
Dublin Trail has a new trail entrance a short distance south of the old entrance. The
Dublin Trail formerly known as the Farmers Trail and is one of the oldest
paths on the mountain, and is considered one of the shorter easier trails to summit. The trail is well marked by White Tags nailed to trees and by white painted D's higher up. The Dublin trail starts on Old Troy Rd. may not be
maintained for winter use and the road can be deep mud in early spring. If anybody wishes to hike the old trail it has been wiped out by logging and is unrecognizable (I followed it using a GPS track). The
new current path passes through an area of young trees with noticeable logging on
both sides nearby. The path crosses a logging road and soon joins the
original Dublin Trail. The trail becomes more rocky and heads uphill through a forested ridge and the
forest changes from hardwood to spruce a short way up. The path can be
muddy in spots. The path starts to become exposed ledge with views to the
north and west as the trail gets near the Marlboro junction. From the
Marlboro junction the path continues on ledge along a gully that can be icy
in winter. The path is well marked with paint blazes and cairn rock-piles
to the open barren summit cone.
Pumpelly Trail offers a scenic route up Dublin Ridge and at 4.4 miles the longest direct
route up the mountain. The trail begins on East Lake Road by Dublin Lake is
not well signed and there isn’t a parking lot. The path starts on private
property (stay on trail). The hiking is easy for the first mile then the
path starts up the ridge heading up switchbacks. The first views on the
trail when nearing the crest of the first crag are halfway to the summit.
The path passes over a shoulder through spruce woods with some open ledge
and views along the way then reaches the Cascade Link junction. Then heads
up by a Bare Crag is a short climb up from the Pumpelly to a fine
viewpoint. The Pumpelly passes by another crag called Town Line Peak. Just
past Town Line Peak is a path leading north to the peak and views beyond.
The Pumpelly heads south toward the summit down to the Spellman junction,
where the Spellman heads east steeply down to the State Park, the Pumpelly
then starts uphill across increasingly more bare ledge passing the
Sarcophagus (looks like a large stone crypt) and nearby 2 acre Thoreau Bog
(not visible from trail). The Pumpelly Trail is marked by cairn rock-piles
as the ridge becomes bare then reaches the Red Spot Junction, where the Red
Spot Trail heads east down the mountain to the State Park. The Pumpelly
heads west and dips into a patch of spruce woods then heads steeply uphill
with fine views of Mountain Brook Valley. Then the Pumpelly Trail continues
up the bare summit cone following cairn rock-piles in 4.4 miles.
From the summit: the Pumpelly Trail is painted in the rock (freshly painted 2010) but if the paint is faded the path is not well marked with cairns at the start, head ENE along the high ridge from the summit and in a short distance the Pumpelly trail is well marked with cairns.
Monadnock Trails website: Author, Creator, and photos by Frederick Pitcher 2011
Use of the information on this site is the sole risk of the user. The author is not responsible for the trails or anyone's ability to follow them. In addition to the trails there are certain places in this website described that are off trail. Anyone exploring Monadnock does so at their own risk.
Tags: Monadnock Trails, Monadnock Mountain,New Hampshire Hiking, New Hampshire Maps, Mount Monadnock, Jaffrey, NH, Hiking New Hampshire
