You Are Here: Cooley & Cole Hills

Happy 4th of July weekend! I headed out early today to try and beat the storms that were forecast. I chose Cooley Hill in Easton, NH as it is on the NH Fire Tower list. In researching trail reports, it seemed most people hike up the snowmobile trail called Jericho Road Trail. Most reports said it was rather uninteresting, with little to no views even at the summit outside a couple peekaboo views through the trees. I noticed a trail coming in from the other side of Cooley Hill from Cole Hill, in which NEMBA has a small maintained mountain bike network. Considering I was looking at 3ish miles either way, I figured why not bag another peak while I'm at it and hopefully something more interesting to see. Turns out I made the right choice. I parked at the end of Trumpet Round Road in which there is ample area for several cars. The trail begins a few hundred feet from the end of the road at a kiosk for the Cooley-Jericho State Forest. From here there is a Blue Loop Trail and Yellow Trail, which is designated for mountain bikes, but also open for hikers to use. I opted for the Yellow Trail having read it was a little easier on the ascent grades. The trail winds gently up for about 1.5 miles before merging with the Blue Loop Trail. I found it easy going with good footing. I had to keep reminding myself it was also a bike trail, it did seem a little technical in places, but I guess if you ride mountain bikes, you know what to expect! It was rather damp and muddy in areas, but I was able to skirt the edges and avoid ending up with wet feet. The merged portion of trail climbs up and past a wonderful ledge with fabulous views over to Cannon Mountain before splitting again. I stayed on the Yellow Trail which ended up being a great ridge walk over to Cooley Hill. It was mostly shaded, which was great on this hot and humid day. A couple of tiny views through the trees along the way. I really enjoyed this portion of the trail. Once you leave the Ammonosuc Conservation Trust area, the trail gets a little rougher and overgrown, but is still easy enough to follow. I arrived at the fire tower before I knew it, which is just past the summit of Cooley Hill. The tower has fallen over at this point and is in shambles among the trees, covered in moss. There wasn't really much to see, so I took a few quick photos before heading up a few hundred yards to hit the actual summit. I backtracked on the Yellow Trail to the Red Trail, 0.4 miles from the Cole Hill summit. The trail for this short section was fine, but off trail was littered with a lot of blow downs making it less pleasing aesthetically. Combined with it being quite steep and it being rather hot out, I didn't love this little section so much. I was glad to reach the summit, which is open but mostly swampy. The trees do unfortunately obstruct the views. I stopped at a turn in the trail to reapply my bug spray and happened to notice a summit sign and canister hidden in the trees. I later learned that Cole Hill is on the NH 500 list, so a nice bonus peak bag! I tried to open the canister to sign in, but it was so tightly sealed and up high in the tree, I couldn't get it open. I took a picture to count as my "sign in" and continued on my way. It was rather buggy and hot in the open sun, so I wasn't in the mood to linger. Coming down from the summit on the other side of Cole Hill appears to be a snowmobile trail, and at this time of year, the grass was knee high, but still easy enough to follow. There are some nice views here, much nicer than the swampy summit. I met up with the Blue Loop Trail, and continued all the way back to the kiosk on this trail. It was definitely steeper than the Yellow Trail had been, so I'm glad I chose up on the Yellow and down on the Blue. I had mapped my route on the AllTrails app, which showed 5.5 miles, turned out to be 6.75 miles. I was definitely hot and sweaty and tired when I got back to my car, but it was another great day exploring.

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