| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Twin Mountain, South Twin Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
North Twin Trail, herd path, North Twin Spur |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, June 1, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parking is at the end of Haystack Road (aka FR304) right after the bridge over the Little River (in good shape). Large parking area with potential for many cars if carefully parked. Haystack Road is in excellent shape for a forest road. Haystack is a seasonal road and has been open for a week or two, but generally closes late fall for the winter. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Several feeder streams or run-off (North Twin Trail - both lower and upper sections) - all easy step-overs, rock hop or walk through 2 inches or less of flowing water.
"The" crossing of the (not so) Little River - Scouted out possibilities for 5 minutes and determined no possible way to rock hop without getting boots filled with water so got to use my new water shoes for the second time this year. The routes (up and back) I choose had some steps that were between ankle and mid-calf deep with calm to moderately flowing water (not enough to cause a problem with trek pole anchors.) |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
North Twin Alternate (they should just make this the trail) was not blazed, had several blowdowns that were not difficult and had plant growth encroaching on the footpath or scraping various body parts. Mostly defined footpath with only a couple of areas that caused some analysis to determine correct direction.
North Twin Trail - lower section before the crossing has very few blazes until about .1 mile from crossing, then well blazed as there are several possible side paths; encroaching plants and several blowdowns (all easily navigated).
North Twin trail - section from crossing to summit contains many more blazes (yellow) than lower section and they appear to have been recently freshened, but trail generally easy to follow anyway. Some encroachment on some narrow sections. Several blowdowns, but problematic ones have been cut or removed.
Twin Spur - several very tight sections with evergreens encroaching on both sides. Arms and legs would have many scratches if not wearing long sleeve shirt and pants instead of shorts and t-shirt. Showers made these sections hiker washes. A few blue blazes, but footpath was easy to follow. A few easy to navigate blowdowns.
All junctions signs appeared to be in place. North Twin has a small cairn marking the true summit on the "View" path. I didn't see any specific summit marker on South Twin (junction sign on the AT?). |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Would be ok for dogs if they don't have a problem with a wet river crossing. There are many wet, muddy and very rough (rocks, rocks, and more rocks) sections so dogs who don't like those conditions would not be happy on these trails. The only water above 3400 feet (generally) is standing water on the trails. There may be a stream or two between 3400-4000, but I didn't take notes so not sure. |
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 | Bugs: |
Today was cool, overcast and showers occurred from mid-morning on in 10-30 minute sessions. Saw a few flying about, but maybe weather conditions keep them mostly at home. One brave mosquito landed on me while putting on water shoes. I suggested he go elsewhere and he agreed. With the amount of water along and on these trails, I would expect there to be many on warmer days. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None today |
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 | Comments: |
There is a lot of mud, water and rocks on these trails, with an occasional smoother and dryer section providing some relief, albeit brief.
There are a couple of difficult to negotiate boulder scrambles on the steep (above 3400) section of North Twin Trail and on the Twin Spur section between North Twin summit and col. None of these require a great deal of skill, but could be a bit challenging for the novice, elderly or those who have difficulty with such things.
I will not provide detailed descriptions of the trails as they are more than adequately covered in the AMC White Mountain Guide and Steve Smith's book on the 4Ks. I only point out the first two items as heads up to potential hikers. |
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 | Name: |
SpartyHikerfromME |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-06-01 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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