| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Crystal Mountain - South Peak, Crystal Mountain - North Peak, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Road, Bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, September 1, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked about 100 yards up Roaring Brook Spur, which forks off Roaring Brook Rd after about 0.5 miles.
I had seen a report from 2023 saying Roaring Brook Rd was high clearance only, so elected not to try and drive it. Turns out, there's a massive washout at about 1.5 mile mark that makes this road completely impassible (maybe a few ATVs were skirting around it, but no car is getting passed this). There were a few sketchy 'high clearance' spots prior to this point on Roaring Brook Rd. No issues accessing the base of Roaring Brooks Spur in mid-clearance. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Champ and Tucker had a lovely day. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Plan was to walk up Roaring Brook Road to Liam's starting point to the west of Crystal N, ascend from there, traverse the ridge south, then descend in the logged areas, (where it looked like there was a decent skidder road on sat imagery) to the landing near base of Roaring Brook Spur. I was worried about the ridge being nasty based on Carl's report, but no good way to avoid the ridge. Plan worked pretty well and I would certainly do this route again.
We walked north on Roaring Brook Rd (see parking section for a report on the road), until we found a minor drainage, WNW of the peak which looked like a good launch point. Woods were lovely ascending here - some ferns, but never too dense or super steep. Dry drainages were helpful.
From Crystal N, we headed on a pretty straight heading for Crystal S, skirting the little SW knob to the east. Woods were pretty good, except for a steep and very thick stretch to the east of the SW knob. But this wasn't too long. The southern ridge down to the col has some unusual contours, so I had to exercise caution not descend too far and fall off to the east, but we made it to the col pretty easily. Ascending Crystal S, we tried to stick to the softwoods on the NE ridge visible on sat imagery in hopes of avoiding Carl's 'miserable sea of hobblebush' and after a steep ascent out of the col, this route worked great as no seas were encountered.
From Crystal S, the plan was to head SSW, into the drainage and hook up with what looked like descent skidder roads around 2500ft on the northern edge of a clearcut (from my Garmin sat imagery). Before hitting the clear cut, we found an old woods road which was in great shape, heading NW, which took us to the edge of an older, very overgrown clearcut to the north - no thanks! we whacked back into the drainage and over to the more southern clearcut. The skidder roads were not as helpful as I had hoped - the type with young growth on either side of the tire track, so you have to put your head down and sort of plow through it. That said, they were still more helpful than harmful (as the woods seemed very hobblebushy) and eventually we popped out right at the car.
Hike took just about 3 hrs, 40 mins of road walk, 40 mins from road to Crystal N, 1:00 from Crystal N to Crystal S and 40 mins from Crystal S to the car.
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 | Name: |
Big Al Dente |
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 | E-Mail: |
bigaldentenh@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-09-02 |
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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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