| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Cole Hill, Cooley Hill, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Blue Trail, Red Trail, Yellow Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, March 24, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
This was a little confusing. The trailhead is in a residential area and there is an obvious parking area that has a sign “Cooley Jericho Community Forest Parking” and another sign attached to it telling you that you are not allowed to park overnight between 6pm and 6am. The confusing part is that there are three “No Parking” signs within 20’ of this sign. ??
So, I didn’t park there (LOL). I parked on the shoulder of the road near the house under construction. I did not get a ticket or get towed so it all worked out ok! |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
N/A |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Pristine. Not a blowdown was seen and there would be absolutely no reason to get lost given how well marked the trails are! Thank you!! |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
None today. In fact, I didn’t see any people today, either!! |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
There is one microspike hanging from the kiosk. |
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 | Comments: |
These are new trails as of the 31st edition of the White Mtn Guide.
This would have been an entirely snowshoe adventure but for the postholes. The Blue Loop definitely gets the most traffic and is packed down and wide. There are flattened postholes so they are no bother. I hiked the Yellow Trail from the top down and it had only seen maybe one barebooter. Because I was heading downhill I was able to use gravity to help me flatten out the postholes. Mischief managed.
The Red Trail has also seen a good amount of traffic to the Cole Hill summit as well as the vista. Beyond that it was one or two barebooters with a dog. So lots of postholes but they are now flattened because it was downhill and my snowshoes took care of them.
The problem was the Yellow Trail between the Red Trail junction and the Cooley Hill summit. One barebooter postholed the entire 0.9 miles leaving postholes up to 18” deep. This part of the trail is flat and I couldn’t flatten the postholes with my snowshoes because gravity was not much help. In fact, it was that dangerous situation where I was afraid of breaking my ankle.
Well, if you can’t beat em, join em. The postholes were already there so I changed to light traction and walked in the postholes. Type 3 fun. Argh. I was super happy to put my snowshoes back on when I got back to the junction!!
Note that the Jericho Road Trail is not broken out at the Cooley Hill summit.
If you use Gaia, you can note that Gaia calls the Yellow Trail “The Mountain Bike Traverse” and the Red Trail is “Cole Hill Summit Trail.” On Gaia the “Cooley Hill Trail” also goes to (you guessed it) Cooley Hill and is being well used by snowmobiles. There are lots of ski trails along this route (and they sometimes share the hiking trail).
I saw no people but did see a grouse, a very busy pileated woodpecker, and a beautiful snowshoe hare. This is only the second time that I have seen a snowshoe hare so that was a real treat. It hopped along the trail for about 10’ and then took off into the woods; sadly I was not fast enough to get any photos!! |
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 | Name: |
Bikecamphikegirl |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-03-24 |
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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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