| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Table Rock, Mt. Gloriette, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Table Rock E-Z Trail, Mt. Gloriette Trail, access road, road walk |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, August 31, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of room at the trailhead of the Table Rock E-Z Trail on Route 26. Due to trespassing concerns mentioned below, this is the trailhead that should be used here. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Blowdowns were not an issue on Mt. Gloriette Trail. A few damp areas on Table Rock E-Z Trail, but overall drainage wasn't an issue. Signs for all the trails are in place. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Keep them close on Table Rock, since it's a sheer dropoff. |
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 | Bugs: |
A few buzzing around, but they weren't bothersome. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
This was an interesting loop I devised by looking at a few maps and wondering what Mt. Gloriette was like. Table Rock E-Z Trail may be the easiest way to Table Rock, but it's still a stiff climb, particularly the first half-mile or so. Parts of this section are eroded, and would probably be wet and muddy if we weren't in a drought. There's one section where the trail was rerouted to go around a steep gully rather than directly up it - the ends of the reroute should be more clearly designated so people don't continue to use the gully. At the top of the trail, it meets up with the southbound Cohos Trail - this section is signed as "Mt. Gloriette Trail", which is appropriate since it leads to Mt. Gloriette. I first headed over to Table Rock itself - the views were superb (the clouds and fog of the morning had luckily burnt off), and there was just one other person there. This was a stark contrast to my previous visit to Table Rock, which was for the eclipse in April 2024 when there were dozens of people on Table Rock.
After admiring the view, I headed toward Mt. Gloriette on the southbound Cohos Trail. This section is clearly less used, and it was brushy in a few places, but overall I didn't have trouble following it. Grades were mostly easy the whole way, and there was significant evidence of trail work clearing blowdowns and rerouting away from muddy areas. About 0.2 before the summit, the trail (which was well blazed in yellow) entered an overgrown ski trail, which the trail followed to the summit. It was about 1.4 miles from Table Rock to the summit of Mt. Gloriette. Views were excellent from the top of the ski slopes, and the windmills on Dixville Peak looked quite close as well (probably closer than they actually were). It wasn't too difficult to find the top of the gravel summit access road that I could follow back down to the bottom of the old ski resort.
This "gravel" access road wasn't actually entirely gravel. The uppermost section, as well as some of the flatter areas of the road, were somewhat overgrown and were pretty much just the double tire tracks through taller grass. Meanwhile, some of the steeper sections of the road were extremely gravelly with a lot of very loose rock - footing wasn't the best on those sections. But it was easy to follow and a nice quick way to get down. The access road dropped me into a field with a building (possibly a residence?) to the right. I wasn't sure if it was private property, so I proceeded across the field to the road without delay and without taking any pictures. I followed the road to the right back to Route 26. Right where the road meets Route 26, there are two signs (both facing Route 26, not the direction I was coming from), that said No Trespassing. Oops! But in my defense, 1) There weren't any No Trespassing signs at the top of the summit access road, where it meets the Cohos Trail, and 2) The signs seemed more geared toward vehicles and skiers than hikers. I can understand why they wouldn't want vehicles to go into the old ski area, and it makes sense that they wouldn't want skiers on the mountain in the winter, but hikers aren't going to cause any harm. It was finally a very short road walk on Route 26 to get back to the trailhead for Table Rock Trail and my car.
This was a very interesting and fun hike! Hopefully at some point the hiking opportunities in this area can be expanded - it's an amazingly beautiful place. |
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 | Name: |
Circle/Almond |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-09-01 |
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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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