Like Cardigan, Monadnock is another of those places that is a bit intimidating... there are a lot of trails, and just about everywhere you go is steep in some way, shape of form. I've done a few trails in the area before, and today decided to tackle a few more. I started at HQ and instead of heading up towards the summit, much like last week, I turned away from everyone else and headed for some of the lower lying trails. I actually walked down Poole Road a couple tenths from the entrance gate and started on Hinkley Trail. The trailhead sign for this trail is a few hundred feet in from the road, and not marked on the road at all. I wouldn't have even seen it if I wasn't watching a digital download so I could see where I was. When I reached the trail on my download, I was thinking "this can't be it" then I happened to catch sight of the sign a little ways in! In case you don't have a digital map, head down Poole Road and when you reach a chained off road on the right marked "No Parking", look left and the Hinkley Trail sign is hidden in the trees. The trail starts in the woods and then (again like last week) meets up with a brook and follows it for a while. More beautiful cascades were the order of the day. There were a few small blowdowns and it was very buggy. We had rain during the week prior so there was some standing water on the trail and it seemed whenever that was the case, the bugs were en masse. About halfway along the trail, there is an intersection with Harling Trail, which would be my return and one of the prettiest intersections I think I've seen yet with a bridge over the brook and more cascades! I stayed on Hinkley Trail and followed to the end meeting Birchtoft Trail. I turned right and headed towards the campground. This trail was clear of debris and was really nice and flowy following a stone wall much of the way. Next to the campground is Gilson Pond and the area around (on this side of the pond) was beautiful and open with views over the pond. I followed Birchtoft Trail to the road and turned left, crossed a field and joined Pond Loop Trail, which as the name suggests follows the pond all the way around. There were a couple nice open viewpoints looking up over the surrounding bumps around Monadnock. The far side of the pond was a little more rustic and buggier, but still easy to follow. Back on Birchtoft Trail, I retraced my steps, this time going past Hinkley Trail and continuing on and up... and up and up and up to Cascade Link Trail. I took this section slow as it was some of the steepest trail I'd done in a while, which made the bugs pretty unbearable, so I broke out the bug net for the first time this year. I made it to Cascade Link Trail and turned left following the brook.. the trail itself was pretty wet too so care was needed to not slip on the rocks. Just before Cascade Link Trail meets up with White Dot Trail, Harling Trail heads left. There were some more blowdowns on this trail, some step overs, some skooch arounds.. but overall this trail was so soft and flowy. I was really pleasantly surprised how nice it was. Back at that beautiful intersection, I picked up Hinkley Trail again and returned to Poole Road and the car. No major scenic spots, except Gilson Pond on this hike.. but it was really nice to be in a super crowded area (parking lot was beyond full upon my return) and only have seen a handful of people all day!
Strava Activity
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| where Hinkley Trail starts on Poole Road |
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| sign is a few hundred feet in |
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