| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Pawtuckaway Mountain, South Pawtuckaway Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Reservation Road, North Mountain Trail, Boulder Trail, South Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, March 16, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Reservation Road is in pretty good condition - there's just one short section with some mud and potholes. The new parking area is in good shape. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Wet/Sticky, Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow - Spring Snow |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Despite all the melting, the water crossings were still easy. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few blowdowns, most notably on South Mountain Trail going around Round Pond (that one was difficult to get past since it's a large tree and there was ice on both sides). |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
The sign at the trailhead says that dogs are required to be leashed. I saw several. |
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 | Bugs: |
Not yet. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Obviously lots of water and mud on the trails - the worst section was the descent off South Mountain. Signs are all in place, and I noticed a few new ones that hadn't been there the last time I did this loop. They were very nice!
This hike had a hodgepodge of conditions, not that I expected any less. The road walk on Reservation Road from the parking area to the start of North Mountain Trail is easy, and the first section of the trail is muddy in sections and icy in others. In some spots you have to choose between them. The steep climb up North Mountain was quite wet but luckily had very little ice or snow. No views from the outlooks today though. The ridge walk over to the summit of North Mountain was also mostly free of ice and snow, but the rocks and ledges were frequently slippery and caution needed to be exercised on them. When I reached the summit of North Mountain, I noticed a new sign proclaiming that it is in fact the summit. That was nice to see - I'm glad these trails are getting these sorts of improvements. The first section of the descent, down to the former location of the "old billboard", was more of the same, but the next section that switchbacks down a steep, rocky evergreen grove, had more of an icy monorail and needed to be taken very carefully. At the bottom of that section was a short area of unavoidable ice. The next section along a shoulder was mostly free of ice and just had wet, slippery rocks. The final descent, though, was icy, muddy, and slow. I had to do a very short bushwhack around one section to avoid the ice. The steep pitches near the bottom that are overlooked by the huge cliffs didn't have much ice, but they were very muddy. At the bottom, the ice returned, and the next section had on again-off again ice. The final section before Round Pond, going around the marsh, was mostly free of ice, and I saw two climbers on one of the rock faces there - they said the climb was wet. The river crossing just before reaching Round Pond was a simple rock hop.
Round Pond still had a little bit of ice on it, but it was clearly melting fast. The first portion of South Mountain Trail was one of the most annoying on the hike - it frequently had long icy sections, and they alternated between an icy trail with snow on both sides and a true ice monorail surrounded by bare ground. A few sections were precarious because they cling to steep sidehills overlooking the pond. The first steep section, climbing away from the pond, was very muddy with a small ice monorail in spots. The section between the junctions with Shaw Trail and South Ridge Connector was very wet, with water running down the trail. After getting past the beaver pond adjacent to that junction, the trail had less running water. When I reached the second steep section going up to South Mountain, the trail was mostly clear. However, I was so busy watching my foot placement that I accidentally strayed from the trail - I went straight up where the trail bears slightly to the left. I had climbed 50 steep vertical feet before I realized this, and I didn't want to go back down and find the trail, so I continued to climb straight up until I reached the top of the ridge and found the trail again. The final ridge walk to the summit was again mostly free of ice and snow but still had a lot of wet ledges.
At the summit of South Mountain, I met another hiker who had done a loop similar to mine, and said that he had put on spikes at some of the tougher sections of trail (I was too stubborn to do that, even though I was carrying them and they definitely would've been useful). The descent off South Mountain was mostly wet, slippery rock in the upper section and mostly mud in the lower section.
I thought the weather was nice - temps in the 50s and foggy but not raining. It was certainly quite wet, but I was expecting that, and it felt warm compared with the bitter cold and biting wind we've seen a lot this winter. I enjoyed this hike. |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-03-16 |
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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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