| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Orange Mountain, Crane Mountain, Grafton Knob, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Manning Trail, Holt Trail, Vistamont Trail, Skyland Trail, Woodland Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, July 21, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of parking at the AMC Cardigan Lodge. |
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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: |
None were an issue -- water levels are a tad low. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trails are in relatively good shape, except for Vistamont between Clark Trail and Skyland Trail intersections. See notes, below. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
A few mosquitoes, but nothing really, unless out of yesterday's stiff breeze. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
For old times' sake, we did the classic Vistamont-Skyland-Woodland Trail loop from the AMC Cardigan Lodge. Incredible day -- cool, breezy, with occasional sunshine.
Oh, dear: the poor Vistamont Trail, doesn't seem to be actively maintained any longer, west of the intersection with the Clark Trail and all the way to the Skyland Trail. Very brushy with a number of old blowdowns with herd paths around them. Blazes are mostly faded or non-existent here. It's been like this for at least a couple of years? Still, if you know this trail, it's a great way to get to Orange Mountain quickly.
Skyland Trail is mostly in good shape -- a bit brushy in a few places (Grafton Knob, in particular), and with a few chain-sawable blowdowns, including one relatively new duck-under. The others are older, above-ground stepovers that aren't too bad, but if you're bring the saw for the duckunder, well...(If the trail maintainer wants the coordinates/locations for these, drop us a note.)
Woodland Trail between Skyland Trail and the creek crossing inlet for the old beaver ponds (near the State Forest Boundary) is in decent shape -- we brushed a bit, cleared the worst deadfall and blowdowns, and where the blowdowns were too large to move (two, one could use a large Silky, the other, an e-saw), we used a small handsaw to cut a path. This section is in decent shape: recent blazing really helps here!
From the State Forest Boundary creek crossing all the way to the old camper/trailer, near the old Clark farm creek crossing, an ATV has pretty much rutted the trail wherever there are muddy sections -- including parts of narrow footpath where there had been stepping stones across drainages, but also the old woods road section that had been draining nicely. Not any longer, unfortunately. This portion of the route was always an adventure; now it's moreso. Quite a few small blowdowns along the way add interest.
The only other portion of the route that bears mentioning is the final section of the Woodland Trail, where it turns west from the old Clark Path and runs about three-quarters of a mile into the woods to the AMC Lodge -- blazes are mostly faded or non-existent and have been this way for a couple of years. There's still a piece of old flagging we put up last winter to mark the trail where there's a wide drainage going off to one side that looks like corridor if you're heading southeast on the trail -- follow the flagging.
One other note: it's a banner year for wild blueberries on the area trails, and this is true of the Skyland Trail between Orange and Crane Mountains; haven't seen this many and of such a large size for years. |
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 | Name: |
Pancks and Tesco Heaney |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-07-22 |
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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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