| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mudgetts Pond, Cummins Pond, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Green Woodlands trails |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, September 16, 2012 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parking for a couple of vehicles at the trailhead off of North Dorchester Road, but more cars could park along the road. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
One nicely bridged, all the rest culverted. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
One blowdown near Cummins Pond that a bowsaw could handle. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Superb hike for dogs -- not a lot of water but some, and plenty of mud to thrash in and small animals to chase. And Cummins Pond offers great swimming for water dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
A single fly buzzed by us and that was it for the day. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Finally got to explore a bit of the 22,000-acre Green Woodlands preserve between Dorchester and Lyme, NH, which is open to the public for hiking, mountain biking, fishing, and, in season, X-country skiing and snowmobiling.
160-acre Cummins Pond, the centerpiece of the preserve, is one of the most gorgeous spots in this part of New Hampshire. With Smarts Mountain rising at the north end of the pond, the view across the water is spectacular.
There are no published maps of Green Woodlands, which is problematic, as the reserve is latticed with old logging roads and X-country ski trails. At some of the major junctions there are maps posted on scenic-view-type stands, but these maps are not terribly accurate: they're incomplete and in some cases difficult to follow. In fact, we took a wrong turn at one point and wound up way over on Cummings Pond Road (which is nowhere near Cummins Pond) and had a two-mile roadwalk back to the car. (Mapquest is completely wrong in its depiction of the Cummins Pond area.)
That said, this is a spectacular area that seems all but unused. We saw two mountain bikers and not another soul. We will return again and again.
Green Woodlands website: http://www.greenwoodlands.com/home/overview.html
By the way, there's an old home at the highpoint on North Dorchester Road called "Hilltop" that has one of the best views of the Moosilauke region you'll see anywhere. It extends from Black Mountain all the way over to Stinson Mountain, with the impressive mass of Moosilauke in the center and, way off in the distance, the peaks of Franconia Ridge. It's breathtaking. |
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 | Name: |
The Feathered Hat |
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 | E-Mail: |
stevebjerklie at yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2012-09-16 |
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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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