| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Spruce Hill, West Moat Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Boulder Loop Trail, Bushwhack, Logging Roads |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, July 24, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at covered bridge lot |
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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 was happy to get his redemption as we had to skip this one a few weeks back after he tore a dew claw on S Potash. |
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 | Bugs: |
briefly buggy in a few spots, but not bad |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Took the southern leg of the boulder loop to the junction with the view spur and headed up on the obvious ridge from there. We skirted around the western edge of the knob and then saw some evidence of trail maintenance as we were ascending from the minor col between Spruce and the know, towards spruce. Followed that path for a bit and found the giant boulder summit with brand new jar. From here, we headed north, aiming for the western side of the col. From the col, we contoured north, beneath some impressive cliffs, until we were west of the peak and some young growth started forcing us to ascend. This was steep but decent footing and woods were never awful. Found the summit/jar easily.
In the spirit of adventure and to add some intel for future whackers, we decided to descend towards the logging road network to the west. The woods weren't great getting off the summit. Some awkward topography and sticky trees. It got better as we reached the minor drainage WNW of the peak.
Since I was already ascending/descending the west side of the summit cone, I had eyed two different logging roads as descent options. There's a tributary that merges with Deer Brook quite close to the Kank - there's one road on the east of that tributary and one road on the west of it (which is shown on google maps). My plan was to intersect the eastern road around 1600 and if it looked good, follow it south. If it looked bad, I'd follow it north and cross the tributary and get to the more established western road. When we reached the eastern road, it looked lovely so we followed it SW, but it quickly deteriorated after a landing and became pretty thick regrowth. So we fought through on/off thick stuff all the way to where this road makes a hairpin turn heading north, at which point we ducked into the woods again, whacking down to the road on the east side of the Swift River. This whack was easy and we followed the road back to the car.
I think it was about 3:30 total. Probably would have been quicker to just climb back over spruce to the boulder loop. |
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 | Name: |
Big Al Dente |
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 | E-Mail: |
bigaldentenh@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-07-27 |
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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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