| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Stonehouse Forest (Barrington) , NH |
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 | Trails: |
South Trail, Locke Trail, Marsh Road Trail, Overlook Trail, Brook Trail, Forest Trail, Pond Trail, Wood Lop Loop, Newhall Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 2, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Room for a half dozen or so cars at the Merry Hill Rd trailhead. One other car there when we arrived at 11am and only car left at 4:45pm. The lot is dirt so could be rather soft in season though was fine today. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
You can pretty much expect any drainage crossing shown on Gaia in the area right now to be pretty chocked full of water from the snow melt and/or be bit flooded. Most crossings are bridged though and those that aren’t usually have some rocks placed or logs to help you across as these are pretty well used and local trails. The most difficult was the inlet to the northernmost pond that South Trail comes close to as it was a bit flooded. Worse that happens is you get your boots and pants a little wet but we eventually saw some planks that someone had put down that allowed for easier crossing. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
All signs SELT signs were intact. Good signage on the Barrington Conservation Land (BCL) Trails though I did pass right by the jct with Newhall Brook Trail and Wood Lot Loop the first time I passed them. The blazing on the BCL trails was a bit odd. I think the color on each was white but, for example, sometimes they were these new white plastic blazes on Pond Trail, and other times there were these very faded white blazed on that same trail. Woods Lot Loop in some places was regularly blazed (and a damn good thing given all the woods roads it criss-crosses) and other places, namely the west side of the loop, had little to no blazing. At its eastern start, it also had some orange flagging to help you out at the start. So all in all, the markings in the BLC seemed a bit inconsistent. There’s a trail map or two, one near the start but no trail maps left inside the wooden box and their map takes a second to really read. The SELT trails are all marked with circles of different colors that correspond to the color of the trail shown on the trails kiosks/maps and white arrows inside them: blue for South Trail, green for Locke Trail, orange for Overlook Trail, and white for Brook Trail. I don’t believe Marsh Rd is marked. All other trails are marked pretty regularly as I recall. Lots of small debris down in the trails but not a lot in the way of big blowdowns. The same ones I remember on Overlook Trail from a few weeks back and some small ones on the northern section of Brook Trail (which could use some love). Probably a few others I’m forgetting about. Some more rocks or planks across the flooded areas of trails for spring couldn’t hurt either. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw a few leashed. Good trails for dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Found a small glove. I don’t recall exactly where but I believe it was on Locke Trail a short distance west of its jct with Brook Trail. |
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 | Comments: |
A nice hike with mom and dad to finish my redlining of the Stonehouse Pond area :) We hiked a counterclockwise loop of South Trail, Marsh Road Trail, Locke Trail, Overlook Trail, then Locke Trail again back to South Trail. The southernmost portion of South Trail was the one “stick” part of the lollipop. I also hiked OABs on the easternmost part of Locke Trail, the portion of Locke Trail north of Stonehouse Pond that connects Stonehouse Pond parking area to Overlook Trail, and all of Brook Trail. When I hiked the southern portion of Brook Trail, I decided to continue into the BLC and hike all the trails there as well. First, I hiked Forest, Pond, then Forest Trail again out to the road, then back up Forest Trail to Woods Lot Loop (eastern section first) to Newhall Brook Trail back to Forest Trail. Then I hiked an OAB on the missing section of Forest Trail and Woods Lot Loop I needed before hiking back on Forest Trail and Brook Trail to Locke Trail.
Was that confusing enough? The standard loop itself is only about 5mi, but throw in the needed OABs for redlining and I think you’re over 7mi. Throw in the BLC stuff too and Gaia had me at 11mi/600-650ft of gain.
I didn’t regret not bringing spikes. There were spots where they would’ve been helpful but these were small patches and I imagine they’ll be gone pretty soon. Overall, noticeably less snow than last weekend when my mother and I were here. Mid wasn’t as bad as it was on Marison Trail last weekend; this weekend it was all about avoiding large puddles of water along the road instead. The northern section of Brook Trail is rather obscure and lightly trodden once it reaches the marsh and turns right to walk alongside it to the viewpoint. Not only is the footpath itself obscure but there’s a turn here that’s east to miss. If you find yourself continuing straight into the marsh, head back and look for a sharp right turn at the edge of it. There’s three white SELT circles here but mostly gave the other direction so could easily be missed. Also, there’s some debris placed at the start of this turn which adds confusion AND the trail is not marked at all beyond this. When you reach an obscure fork 0.1mi ahead, go left and that’s the view over the marsh and this is roughly where Gaia shows the path ending. A path leads to the right as well but seemed to quickly fizzle out. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-04-02 |
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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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