| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Pisgah, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Davis Hill Trail, Old Davis Hill Trail, Winchester Road, Old Chesterfield Road, Reservoir Trail, Baker Pond Trail, Pisgah Ridge Trail, Pisgah Ridge Connector, Parker's Perch Spur, Chestnut Hill Trail, Parker Trail, North Ponds Trail, Lily Pond Trail, North Round Pond Spur, Town Forest Trail, Kilburn Loop |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, May 24, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
I parked at the Kilburn trailhead on Rt 63. Room for over a dozen cars. I was the only one at 6:45am and there was just one or two others at 7-7:15pm. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All easily rock hopable or bridged. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
(See comments, below.) |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Fine trails for dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
They were out. I reapplied the bug spray at least once. I imagine there's a lot of ticks at some spots in here too but I didn't find any. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Davis Hill Trail is marked with white diamonds with the trails name inside and the occasional blue diamond with white outline to mark the route of the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail 9(WMT). Small, easy, but not delimbed stepover just north of its jct with Old Davis Hill Trail. Large widowmaker high above the trail just after. A small-mid sized tree that's getting uprooted and will probably fall soon and a large broken tree top that will probably fall soon 5-10min after, followed by a mid-sized trivial stepover shortly thereafter. Old Davis Hill Trail is also marked with the white diamonds with its name inside. Old Davis Trail just had a trivial stepover and an easy duck under on it but it was also very overgrown and clearly not well used anymore. The spur trails to the shelter were marked with white triangles. I do not recall any blowdowns on them. Hubbard Hill Trail was marked with the white diamonds with its name inside. I don't recall any blowdowns. I'm not so sure Winchester Rd or Old Chesterfield Rd were marked. I don't recall any blowdowns on them. Reservoir Trail was marked with the white triangles with its name inside. A small cluster of mid-sized widowmakers above the trail about a half hr into it. A smaller but lower widowmaker about 10min beyond but this may have been on Baker Pond Trail whose markings I do not recall. There's a smaller blowdown on the east side of Baker Pond that's going to fall into the trail sooner or later. Some small trees hanging down into the trail you've got to duck under a short ways in followed by a mid-sized leaner that's getting uprooted along Pisgah Ridge Trail which was marked with the white diamonds with its name inside to the north but seemed to become the older white diamonds further south. Around the northernmost viewpoint, there's a small, trivial stepover or two and a small leaner/widowmaker not long after. A couple more trivial stepovers further south along the ridge. Pisgah Ridge Connector is marked with the white diamonds with its name inside and is now rerouted above slightly above the marsh to avoid some wet footing. No blowdowns. Chestnut Hill Trail is marked with white diamonds with its name inside. There is a reroute around a very muddy section about a 1/2mi north of its southern terminus but the reroute is not really a trail just yet and its start is obscured by a blowdown and the trail over the very muddy section also has several blowdowns in it. About a half hr later, there's a mid-sized widowmaker above the trail followed by a small tree with its limbs in the middle of the trail. Parker Trail is marked with white diamonds with its name inside. There is a large but trivial and old stepover at its start. A small duck under that hasn't been delimbed about 15min in. North Pond Trail and Lily Pond Trail were marked with the white diamonds with their names inside. The latter was very overgrown at times and could be trimmed back and had a small duck under about 5min from its southern end followed by a small but more troublesome to get around blowdown about 5min later. I don't recall markings (I don't think there were blowdowns on the North Round Pond Spur). Town Forest Trail was marked with both older white diamonds and the newer ones with its name inside. There was a small stepover blowdown about 5min in. I don't think any trail signs were missing but some are set back a ways from roads (like the jct of North Ponds Trail and Old Chesterfield Rd for example) and could be easy to walk by so a GPS could be helpful.
A crazy redlining loop to kick off (my) summer and finally finish the trails in Pisgah for SNH redlining. My route: Davis Hill Trail --> OAB on Old Davis Hill Trail --> Davis Hill Trail --> Hubbard Hill Trail --> "spur of Hubbard Hill" view spur and loop then continued on FOP Shelter Spur --> Davis Hill Trail and Hubbard Hill Trail back to where I left for the trail for the view and shelter --> Hubbard Hill Trail --> Winchester Rd --> Reservoir Trail --> Baker Pond Trail to Davis Hill Trail then back to --> Pisgah Ridge Trail --> OAB on Pisgah Ridge Connector (referred to as "unnamed, yellow-blazed connecting path" in guidebook) --> Pisgah Ridge Trail --> Reservoir Trail (south) --> Chestnut Hill Trail to Old Chesterfield Rd and back to --> Parker Trail --> Reservoir Trail (north) --> North Ponds Trail --> Lily Pond Trail --> Old Chesterfield Rd (south) --> North Ponds Trail --> Reservoir Trail (north) --> OAB on North Round Pond Spur --> Reservoir Trail Baker Pond Trail --> Town Forest Trail --> Kilburn Loop.
The trails were actually quite dry for the first few miles but I eventually came to a massive mud pit. There's seem to be putting some reroutes in but they're still being worked on and are very obscure. That being said I think my trail runner only got wet once the entire hike. The spur to Baker Pond, the shelter and view, the old Davis Hill Trail, Pisgah Ridge Connector, Parker's Perch Spur, and North Round Pond Spur were all either signed in some way (the spur to the shelter from Davis Hill Trail with nothing more than a "Not a maintained trail" sign) or easy enough to see. Baker Pond, the summit of Mt Pisgah, Parker's Perch, Lily Pond, and North Round Pond were probably the highlights. Some nice random views interspersed too. Mostly flat or gradual with an occasional more moderate or steeper pitch. Gaia had me at 27mi, 3000ft of gain, 11hr15min. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-05-28 |
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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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