Tags: Monadnock Mountain, Monadnock Trails, White Arrow Trail, Old Toll Road, Halfway House Trail, Halfway House Site, Mount Monadnock, maps, hiking trails, Jaffrey, New Hampshire hiking, Mt Monadnock, NH
Old Toll Road and White Arrow Trail
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Above: White Arrow Trail
The hike to the summit via the Old Toll Road and White Arrow Trail is a little easier, less steep and a little longer than the White Dot Trail from Headquarters. The Halfway House Site offers nice views west as well as to the summit after the forest society cleared the site. The White Arrow Trail reaches treeline at .6 miles, offering fine alpine-like scenery with views south. The Old Toll Rd. from route 124 is now closed to public vehicles
but open for hikers. The Halfway House Trail starts right by the gate of the Old Toll Road and makes for a shady alternative to the road walk to the White Arrow Trail to summit. The White Arrow Trail is the main trail to the summit and reaches the Halfway House Site in about 75 yards from the Old Toll Road. Monadnock's Halfway House trails emanate
from the former Halfway House Hotel up
Bald Rock Ridge, Monte Rosa and the summit of Monadnock which is separated into pages.
Hiking Trails:
Old Toll Rd. is an easy to moderate uphill roadwalk starting at a lot on route 124.
From the gate the road is closed to public vehicles only but is open for hikers. The Old Toll Road is a direct route leading to the White Arrow Trail and to the summit. The road is lined by a mixed forest of mostly hardwoods primarily Red Oak. The forest is mixed with Eastern White Pine at first then mixing with Red Spruce evergreens near the Parker Trail on up the road. At
a steeper grade at .5 miles the Old Toll Rd. reaches the Parker Trail which heads east to the Cliff Walk and
headquarters. At 1 mile the Cart Path heads west from the road and at 1.1
the Old Toll Road reaches the White Arrow Trail which leads to the summit. The White Arrow Trail resembles a severly washed out road like a rocky riverbed. The road turns
to a private residence.
Halfway House Trail
starts on the left just past the gate climbs a ridge and then the grade
eases and parallels closely to the Old Toll Rd. The Halfway House Trail can
be a shadier alternative to the road. The Halfway House Trail can be muddy in spots. The forest goes from a mix of pine
and northern hardwoods then spruce mix in. The grade eases and the Cart Path
is reached in about a mile. Then there is a short brushy section before the
Halfway House Trail heads up to the White Arrow trail at the Old Toll Rd. in
about 1.1 miles.
;)
Halfway House Site
White Arrow Trail is one of
the oldest main trails to the summit starting at the Old Toll Rd. 1.1 miles
up from route 124 as the road turns east toward a private residence. The White Arrow trail heads north and looks like a very washed out road resembling a rocky brook bed. Fifty yards
up is the Half-way house site, which has been recently cleared and offers views to the west and summit. The Halfway House Site is also a juncton point with a number of side trails to Bald Rock ridge and the summit. April 2012:There is a sign missing at the Half Way House Site for the Sidefoot, Hedgehog, Do Drop, and Noble Trails. The White Arrow continues straight through
the site and re-enters woods then in 20 yards reaches the Royce Trail (south), Monte
Rosa Trail junction (west, not well signed) then in 15 feet; the Fairy Spring Trail
junction (west, sign). The White Arrow Trail heads up on a wide rocky
trail which can covered with ice flows in winter (use proper gear and stay
on trail) until it reaches, in a half mile, a level spot just before
tree-line at the Amphitheater trail
junction no sign but there are yellow paint blazes. Fifty yards beyond on
the right the abandoned Paradise Valley Trail veers up a valley to the White
Dot trail. Just beyond the White Arrow Trail breaks out of the forest and
the upper 400 feet is mainly bare rock with spectacular views. The White
Arrow Trail heads up to a false summit then continues on bare ledge then
gets steep just before cresting the summit dome. The White Arrow Trail is
blazed with white arrows making the route easy to follow pointing you in the
right direction. Just below the summit ridge to the right is a direct steep
gully making for an alternative climb up to the summit. From the summit to descend look for "To 124 - Old Halfway House Trail " painted in rock and follow White Arrows down.
To summit via Old Toll Road and White Arrow Trail is 2.3 miles.
Allow for about 3 1/2 to 4 hours for a round trip to the summit and back via Old Toll Road and White Arrow Trail for the average visitor.
Side Foot Trail parallels the White Arrow Trail and heads through a shady spruce forest
until reaching the Amphitheater Trail. The Side Foot trail is a less used
alternative to the White Arrow Trail and accesses Bald Rock via side
trails. The Side Foot bears northeast from the White Arrow trail from the
Halfway House Site. The Side Foot turns north at the Do Drop Trail, then on
a northeasterly course passes the Noble and Do Drop Trails on right,
continues up at moderate grades to the Amphitheater Trail then marked with
white/yellow blazes on rocks heads to White Arrow Trail.
M and M Trail
A. K. A. Royce Trail
has no parking at the trailhead and is on a busy road. Via the Cart Path
the Royce trail can be utilized as a shady alternative to the sunny Half-way
house site on hot days. From 124 to the Cart Path, the path through mixed forest is less used,
however, is well marked by white painted blazes.
Revised: August 2010
Below: Old Toll Rd.
;)
Monadnock Trails:
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 Mountain, Monadnock Trails, White Arrow Trail, Old Toll Road, Halfway House Trail, Halfway House Site, maps, hiking trails, Mount Monadnock, Jaffrey, New Hampshire, Mt Monadnock, NH