Carrolls Hill

 It was too nice of a day to not get back out again, but I knew my legs were tired from yesterday. I headed over to the town of Swanzey to grab the last 2 hikes I needed there from the AMC South Trail Guide. First up was Carroll's Hill. Make sure you read trail descriptions should you decide to hike this trail. It's a bit obscure to find, but once there, the trail was straight forward. Located on private land off Westbrook Court in Swanzey, parking is in a field. There is a small upside down sign saying "Enter" with 2 brown "P" signs along some brush on the left side of the field. The field was very wet, and I was afraid of getting bogged in, so I opted to park off the road in the far right hand corner of the field. I followed the perimeter of the field and at the woods line is a sign and box with maps. Although on private land, the trail is maintained by the Swanzey Conservation Commission. The first tenth or so was in the woods, and while there were signs of trail maintenance with big trees chopped and moved aside, there was a lot of small debris over the trail. About a tenth in, you meet up with a private driveway. This was a bit unnerving as there is a (fabric) garage which had a car in it, a gate and a path to a house. The gate has a lot of No OHRV type signs, but foot travel is permitted. For the next half mile or so, the trail follows an old rough road. There are no blazes, but orange flagging tape was hanging periodically from the trees. At any major turns there were wooden signs with arrows or the word "Trail" so it was not difficult to follow. About 3/4 of the way in, the trail turns off the road and enters the woods. Until now the climb had been easy to moderate. At this point it did become quite steep, although just a short climb. At the top of the climb, the trail veered left with a sign and followed along a ridge reaching some huge rocks and ending at a lovely viewpoint with a bench. That last little section was my favorite of the hike, I didn't love the rest of it, but the view was pretty and made it worth the effort. Total was 1.1 miles to the viewpoint. 

Strava Activity

Carrolls Hill from where I parked in the corner of the field

trail as it turned off from the road