You Are Here: Neville Peak & Epsom Town Forest

Another grey and overcast day. Today I headed for Epsom Town Forest and Neville Peak. This has been on my radar for years as there is opportunity for a bushwhack to Nottingham Mountain, which is Deerfield/Rockingham County's highpoint. I had a vague notion of doing that bushwhack today, but ended up encountering more snow than I had thought would be there, and being alone, I didn't want to toy with deeper snow off trail, so I'll save it for a Summer day! There is a small parking area for Epsom Town Forest at the end of Tarleton Road, however you are unable to access it during Winter as the town plows snow and blocks the entrance (for lack of anywhere else to put it). They have allotted some space at the intersection of Tarleton Road and Old Mountain Road, which is wide enough to pull off to the side and still allow plenty of access for vehicles to pass. An old sign is at this corner showing where exactly to park. I had heard that nearby landowners are very particular about this and not blocking any of their access, however as I was pulling in and parking a neighbor drove past and didn't say anything, so I figured I was OK. There were 2 more cars there when I returned. I wore spikes for the entire hike, and I'm glad I did as most of the trail was crusty snow on top of ice. I had no issues with the spikes. There are 4 trails on this property. Neville Ridge Trail and Neville Ridge Scout Foot Trail make up a loop to Neville Peak. Mill Brook Trail and Mill Sluice Foot Trail make a loop to a pond and along the brook with some pretty cascades. The trail starts as a wide trail and was broken out to the Mill Brook Trail intersection. There were some footsteps a little ways beyond that, but they abruptly stopped and turned back around, so I was first tracks beyond that point. Neville Ridge Trail is unmarked with the exception of a sign at the beginning and another sign at a sharp left turn a couple tenths before the summit. It's a pretty climb, moderately steep up to an open ledge with views right over to Franconia Ridge and even Mt Washington if it's clear enough! I found it very peaceful up there so actually stayed a little while enjoying the view. I had thought the trail continued back where the ledges began, but was walking towards the edge of the ledges when I saw what kind of looked like a foot bed continuing down and over them. Not having any previous tracks to follow I was a bit confused, so I went back to where I thought the trail was and realized it didn't really look like a trail after all. Thankfully I had downloaded a previous hikers .gpx files and was able to determine the trail I accidentally found was in fact the correct way. I knew this side of the peak was blazed, so I was looking all around for any sign of anything and finally saw a faded red blaze on a tree. There was 1 other point soon after leaving the summit that I needed to reference the .gpx files to be sure of where to go. The trail is blazed, but in this area they could do with a couple extra. Otherwise the rest of the trail was easy to follow. I enjoyed the walk down, though there were quite a few blowdowns and branches. I had read a previous trip report from the Summer that indicated the same, so it seems this trail network isn't super maintained. Once I had completed the Neville Peak loop, I headed back to Mill Brook Trail, which is unmarked, but a snowmobile corridor, so easy to follow. This lead to a frozen pond with huge beaver dam and some cascades. The Mill Sluice Foot Trail branched off the snowmobile trail at this point and weaved through the woods and alongside some more pretty cascades before reaching back to the main junction a couple tenths from the start of the trail. Overall, despite the "messiness" of some of the trails, it's a pretty hike and worth the effort.

Strava Activity