| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Rowe, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Rowe's Revenge, Ridge Trail Road Bypass, Ridge Trail, road walk |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, January 11, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parking is at a small pullout next to the gate on Area Rd. Space for 4-6 vehicles. Only a few vehicles there today. The much larger parking areas on the other side of the gate (accessed via the main entrance to the Gunstock ski resort) are usable too, but they're intended more for skiers. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Slush, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
No blowdowns, and in fact I noticed the large blowdown on Ridge Trail near the summit of Rowe that had been there for several years has finally been cleared. Thanks BRATTS! There are signs at some of the intersections, but definitely not all - I was glad I had my Alltrails for a few unsigned trail forks. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
None. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Nothing. |
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 | Comments: |
I only had a few hours this afternoon, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to finally redline Rowe's Revenge, since it had been added to the redlining spreadsheet just a year after I had finished redlining the Belknaps. It was easy to find, since there are small signs where the trail leaves the road and then at the first split (where Alpine Slide Trail leads to the left). Rowe's Revenge had only about 2 inches of soft, mushy snow on it, so I started off barebooting but was slipping and sliding since the soft snow provided no traction. After maybe 150 feet of elevation gain, the trail swings to the left and soon the snow got a little bit deeper - maybe 3-4 inches now. I decided it was time to put my snowshoes on, and kept them on for the remainder of the hike. They provided good traction, and I wasn't slipping as much. This was important since after the trail bears right through a multi-way junction (where most of the tracks went to the left), it climbs more steeply for a bit. This section goes right behind a house with a superb view of Lake Winnipesaukee, then becomes more gradual for a bit, and then has one more steep climb to the ridge crest. Starting in this section, it was effectively "raining" - small chunks of ice that were stuck to the tree branches were breaking off and falling due to the above-freezing temperatures. This continued all the way to the summit of Rowe and partway down. Once on the ridge crest, the trail became much more level, with nice views through the trees. In this section, the trail forks in a few places, and these junctions (unlike the ones near the bottom) are unsigned. At one point, most of the foot traffic had taken the left fork, but I looked at my Alltrails and determined that the right fork was the correct route of Rowe's Revenge, so I went that way. The snow was still easily snowshoeable and not that deep. Ultimately I reached the four-way junction with the Ridge Trail Road Bypass, which was signed (continuing straight was a short spur to the road). The Bypass had been used, and was easy to follow to its junction with Ridge Trail at the summit of Rowe. Rowe's Revenge didn't seem particularly vengeful, but it was an interesting route that I enjoyed.
Ridge Trail was clearly well traveled. I took it south until the viewpoint over the Gunstock ski area, and then turned around and headed back to the summit of Rowe. I took a short, unofficial path from the summit back down to the junction with Rowe's Revenge and Ridge Trail Road Bypass.
The locals here apparently refer to the Ridge Trail Road Bypass as BTTR - Better Than The Road. This was my second time hiking it, and now that I've done it in both warmer (May) and colder (January) times of the year, I must respectfully disagree with that assessment. The bypass goes across steep sidehills in several places which I don't like, it utilizes switchbacks in some areas so it's longer than the road, and when I hiked it in May it had a lot of loose rock and gravel. I found it to be a surprisingly tedious trail. There was no good footwear for the conditions on the Bypass - there was plenty of soft snow in most places, so barebooters would've been slipping and sliding, there was very little ice so spikes wouldn't have helped, but the snow cover was also thin with some exposed rocks so my snowshoes kept on banging up against them. When the Bypass eventually crossed the road near the bottom, I saw that the road was well packed out and traveled, and almost certainly would've been a quicker descent route than the Bypass. Once at the bottom, I walked Area Rd. back to my car - this was about 0.8 miles.
This was a fun little hike, and the trails on this side of Rowe are definitely worth exploring! |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-01-11 |
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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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